Google Earth already lets viewers travel virtually to places around the world, but a new feature could change the way users tell stories about their own real-life travels.

Tour Builder, still in its beta phase, allows users to weave narratives through photos, videos, text and Google Earth. Originally created as a way for U.S. military veterans to tell their stories, the tool, which only requires a Google account and the Google Earth desktop plug-in for Mac OS X or Windows, is now available for everyone.

See also: Google Street View Puts You on a Gondola Ride Through Venice

Google explained the idea behind Tour Builder on the Frequently Asked Questions section of the project's site:

We originally created Tour Builder to give veterans a way to record all the places that military service has taken them, and preserve their stories and memories as a legacy for their families. But we also thought it could be a useful tool for anyone with a story to tell, so we made it available to everyone.

To get an idea of what's possible with the tool, you can view Tour Builder creations from other users before making your own. One story follows electronic music act MNDR on tour, showing the viewer the different venues visited by the band, from Toronto to Los Angeles, via Google Earth. Viewers can also see photos from the band's shows and read stories about each stop.

Coming up with a title and filling in an introductory page starts the process of creating your own tour. The layout looks a lot like a slideshow presentation because viewers can see all the frames simultaneously and easily change the order on their own stories.

Every time you create a new frame, you're prompted to input a location, photos and text. Google Earth automatically selects the next location frame for you, but you can easily choose your own.

Street views, however, take a little more work because they require you to zoom in, drag in the Street View icon and drop a pin where you want the frame to stay. At some points, the pin-dropping can get complicated because the image may look a little wonky, or Tour Builder may fail to display the same point you've selected.

But if you manage to get the street view just right, it makes for a really interesting story frame that harnesses the power of Google Earth's technology.

Anyone viewing the story might, at first, get a little overwhelmed by all the elements. For example, if a user uploads multiple photos — the limit is 25 per frame — those photos play in a slideshow while Google Earth zooms in on the exact point the creator selected. The text sits underneath the photos, so a viewer might not know where to even start, given the numerous visual elements packed into the presentation.

Aside from those points, Tour Builder creates a more well-rounded way of telling a story that is definitely cooler than the average photo slideshow or album.

Image: Flickr, Quinn Dombrowski