Imagine being able to walk through some of the greatest museums around the world without leaving your chair, this is now possible!

Google has announced that more than 150 international museums across 40 countries have joined its second phrase of Google Art Project (http://www.googleartproject.com ).

Launched in 2011 by a group of Google engineers who are arts lovers, with just 17 art museums from US and Europe on board, the newly expanded Google Art Project now contains more than 30,000 works from every era and medium, and from the collections of 151 museums from 40 countries.

The website now stores information and high-resolution images of the artworks, which can be viewed in beautiful, bracing detail. Google has also adopted the Street View technology in the museums so users can access any partnered museums in 3D.

Google Art Project (http://www.googleartproject.com )於2011年2月成立，起初是由Google內部一群愛好藝術的工程師每天投放兩成工作時間製作而成。首階段集合了來至9個歐美國家的 17間美術館的展品。今年Art Project將推行第 二階段，Google將囊括範圍增加到了 40 個國家、151 間文化機構，把30, 000多件展品都放在這個為藝術而設的網上平台。

Google 將藝術品數碼化， 就是要告訴大家藝術並非一些遙不可及的是， 並 期望借計劃拉近群眾和藝術的距離。Google藉實景拍攝技術，把美術館以360度呈現出來，好讓大眾足不出戶亦能遊覽不同美術館。此外，網頁提供可放大功能，大家能參透作品的細節，更可以把喜愛的作品「收藏」。