Google Has a Feature That Lets You See How Your Dream Dog (or Dinosaur) Fits in Your House

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Published Feb 8, 2021

You've been wondering what type of dog would be best for your home for so long. But now, with the help of Google, you can actually see—literally—what dog breed might just suit your home best. Google's 3D animal feature allows users to indulge in some AR (augmented reality) from your very own smartphone to get a life-sized visual of how anything from a golden retriever to a Velociraptor would fair in your house. (Of course, some animals are little more realistic as pet options than others...)

Here's how to use the feature on your smartphone or tablet:
(works with iPhone or iPad iOS 11.0 or higher, or Android 7.0 or higher with pre-installed Google Play Store)

1. Google the animal on your phone, like "golden retriever" or "tiger" (if you're feeling adventurous)

2. Scroll down a bit to see if there's a "Meet a life-sized golden retriever up close" option (or whatever animal you searched). It should look like this:

Dara Katz

3. Click the “view in 3D” option

4. Then, the 3D animal will pop up and you'll be asked to “view in space” which accesses your phone's camera

5. From there, you can resize and move the animal around and/or snap some pics of the 3D critter in your space

And heads up: Google also includes the animal's sounds. My dog's ears definitely perked up when I was playing around with an AR Rottweiler in our kitchen.

Here are just a few examples of how I played with the AR tech on my phone—and yes, I started with dog breeds and moved onto some, uh, bigger players in the animal kingdom.

Dara Katz

Who messed up the bed? We'll blame it on the AR pug.

Dara Katz

With Google's additional dog sound FX, my actual IRL pup became very confused with the Pomeranian ghost sitting next to her on the couch.

Dara Katz

Should I get a panda???

Dara Katz

Executive Editor

Lifestyle editor and writer with a knack for long-form pieces
Has more than a decade of experience in digital media and lifestyle content on the page, podcast and on-camera
Studied English at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

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