If you have young children, you’re probably familiar with the question that arises every Christmas Eve: “Where’s Santa right now?” Thanks to tracking tools like the NORAD Santa Tracker and Google’s Santa Tracker, everyone can keep tabs on Father Christmas and know exactly when he’ll be arriving. But this year, there are some new AI-powered tools that add an extra touch of holiday magic to the experience.
Here’s how you can follow Santa’s journey this Christmas Eve with the help of AI.
Track Santa Claus with NORAD
NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) introduced the first-ever Santa tracker back in 1955. What started as a simple animation of Santa’s sleigh flying across a map has now evolved into a robust platform with features like mini-games, videos, stories, and Christmas music.
Recently, NORAD’s Santa Tracker partnered with OpenAI to bring new AI-powered features to the platform. These include an image generator that turns your selfie into an animated elf character, a tool for generating toy ideas and creating printable coloring book pages, and a fill-in-the-blank storytelling tool that lets families create their own holiday stories.
Instead of a traditional 2D model, the NORAD Santa tracker now offers a 3D visual representation of Santa’s journey, built on Cesium’s open-source 3D mapping library. The platform also utilizes Bing Maps satellite imagery to create a more realistic depiction of the globe.
Users can also enjoy the “Santa Cam,” which provides videos of Santa as he travels around the world delivering gifts to children on the nice list. Additionally, NORAD’s website features Santa’s North Pole Village, complete with a holiday countdown, arcade-style games, kid-friendly music, an online library, and various videos on NORAD’s official YouTube channel.
The NORAD Santa tracker is available on noradsanta.org and can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The website is accessible in multiple languages, including English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, and Portuguese.
To track Santa through NORAD Tracker’s social media accounts, follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For a personalized experience, you can also call 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6732) to speak with a volunteer from the organization’s call center who can provide updates on Santa’s whereabouts.
Track Santa Claus with Google
Google’s Santa Tracker, launched in 2004, offers a simulated tracking experience of Santa’s journey. The website features a live map of Santa’s current location, his next stop, a live video feed of his route, and estimated arrival times for each location. It also displays the total distance Santa has traveled and the number of presents he has delivered.
Throughout December, the site transforms into Santa’s Village, where users can enjoy mini-games, quizzes, animated videos, and other interactive activities. Players can build their own elf in Google’s “Elf Maker” game, host a concert with the “Elf Jamband,” and learn to code with tutorials like “Code Boogie.”
Users can also engage with Google Assistant to stay updated on Santa’s whereabouts. Simply ask, “Hey Google, where’s Santa?” or inquire about what’s happening at the North Pole to tune into Google’s North Pole Newscast. Google Assistant also allows you to call Santa directly for a fun interaction.
Whether you choose to track Santa with NORAD or Google, these AI-powered tools add a touch of magic to the holiday season and create lasting memories for families around the world.
This story was updated after publication.
