New technology will allow visitors to view the National Museum of Scotland's collections from the comfort of their own homes.

The Edinburgh museum's galleries were captured digitally in partnership with Google for its Museum View service.

Users can move through the exhibits in a similar manner to Google Street View, viewing around 20,000 objects on display.

It is the first museum in Scotland to offer its material online, joining the Taj Mahal and the Palace of Versailles in the virtual experience.

Rob Cawston, head of digital media at National Museums Scotland said: "We're constantly looking at how we can make our collections more accessible and open them up to new audiences.

"Digital technology is offering us unparalleled opportunities to do just that, and our partnership with Google Arts & Culture gives people from around the world a novel new way to explore the museum and discover its world-class collections."

Suhair Khan of Google Arts and Culture said: "We are thrilled to bring the collections of National Museums Scotland to a global audience.

"The Google Arts and Culture platform is now showcasing the stories of this incredibly important museum's collections and its building, as well as displaying gigapixel resolution imagery of masterpieces - all of which can be experienced by visitors around the world."