With large portions of the country under shelter-in-place orders due to the coronavirus outbreak, I’m betting Easter plans for most folks look a lot different now than they did back in the bygone era of March. Seemingly with this in mind, Google rolled out several holiday-themed Easter eggs, per tradition, including an Easter Bunny that doesn’t have to worry about social distancing.
This fuzzy-tailed augmented reality creation is the search giant’s newest addition to its AR animals feature, which lets users view 3D models as part of certain search results. As noted by 9to5Google, while the feature originally launched last year, its popularity has exploded over the last few weeks as widespread school closures leave kids everywhere with copious free time and parents struggling to keep them entertained.
If you search for “Easter bunny” on mobile, the little guy should pop up next to the option “View in 3D.” Tapping that brings up the 3D model, where supported phones (you can find the full list here) will have the additional option to “View in your space” to create an augmented reality object, aka one cute bun. As with most AR features, users can configure the model’s size and position via their phone screen, and you can see an example of the result on my desk in the image above. He’s even got a little bowtie, so you can tell he’s ready for his big day.
Most Easter-related search terms also bring up a few other holiday goodies, including a carousel of celebrity chefs answering common cooking questions and sharing Easter dishes as well as an immersive Google Arts & Culture exhibit that dives into the history of the holiday’s traditions.
As an unabashed trivia nerd, I thought Google’s exhibit had some genuinely interesting factoids. For example: Did you know Australians have an Easter bilby instead of a bunny? “What the hell’s a bilby?” I hear you ask (because I did too). They’re a native species of itty-bitty marsupials that, unlike rabbits, haven’t been a scourge on the continent for more than a century. The more you know!
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