The International Space Station is the most impressive structural achievement ever, and Google is giving anyone with internet access the chance to see that marvel of human industry. Google Street View now offers a tour of the space port in the same manner as the thousands of other spectacles that one can virtually visit from the comfort of their own desktop.
The Street View — if it can still be called that — of the International Space Station includes every corner, from the corridors through which astronauts float to the cupola that offers an outer space view of the earth. The virtual tour is meant to educate as much as awe, and so various sections of the station have small informational paragraphs about what they are, how they're used, and why they're essential for the space station's maintenance.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Virtual Space Tours
- The virtual tour industry now provides an opportunity to visit space stations without ever leaving home, this could disrupt the tourism industry with the possibility to attract more clients.
- Virtual Educational Tours
- This trend points to the disruption of traditional education, by providing both students and teachers with a new way of learning that is more immersive.
- Virtual Reality Technology
- As Google Street View has utilized virtual reality technology to create this tour, this trend could create revenue opportunities for tech companies designing virtual reality headsets, and create unique experiences for users.
Where This Applies
- Tourism
- Future space tourism could use this technology to offer cost-effective options, making space travel more accessible to people, inclusive of those who cannot afford to travel to space.
- Education
- This technology could revolutionize education and lifelong learning by enabling remote classrooms to demonstrate scientific principles even when conducting experiments outside of classrooms.
- Technology
- The production and the development of virtual reality headsets and other related components could bring increased sales growth, revenue opportunities, and innovation for manufacturers and developers.
