Just select on the map where you want to build and zoom in to get a grid.

Once your creation is published it is viewable by all and may be featured in promotional material by Google and the LEGO Group.

Okay so their Youtube channel is a trip to the future, but back to the point. An impressive display of a detailed interactive 3D scene on a mobile device via a browser on open and standards based web technologies. Well done team IGD.

CityEngine is the software Esri acquired when they bought Switzerland based Procedural last year. CityEngine allows for rapid creation of 3D city models and is used in everything from movies and games (I first met the Procedural team at GDC) to architectural and proposed development visualizations. I have watched people create rather detailed cities in a matter of minutes with this powerful tool. Since CityEngine is a desktop solution, these models were only able to be viewed within the software until now with the release of this web player. Check out the CityEngine video below.

Beyond web3D scene basics like free navigation and zoom, CityEngine Web Viewer’s features include searching tagged content, turning on/off creator defined layers (trees, streets, buildings), and adjusting the lighting to reflect the sun’s position on a specific time of day on a specific day.

Check it out for yourself here with this 3D scene of a redevelopment in Philadelphia. Another cool example of a WebGL application and truly a great testament to the convergence of GIS data and web3D.

Opera released version 12 of its web browser today with a number of new features, improved performance, and enhanced support for modern web standards.

Feature Adds:

– Support for better personalization and wallpaper-like themes. A variety of browser wallpapers can be selected from the Opera public gallery.

– Support for CSS3 animations and transitions.

– Preliminary support for WebRTC, an emerging standard that is being drafted by the W3C Web Real-Time Communications Working Group. WebRTC will eventually enable standards-based audio and video chat in Web applications. There is also support for the WebRTC media capture APIs, which allow Web content to capture live media streams from the user’s microphone and webcam. Due to the potential privacy and security implications, the user is automatically prompted by the browser before the feature is allowed to be activated.

– Support for the Do Not Track header. When the user enables the Do Not Track feature, the browser will append a flag to every HTTP request to inform servers that the user wants to opt out of behavioral tracking. Opera users can enable the header by clicking the “Ask websites not to track me” checkbox in the Security section of the browser’s preference dialog. The feature is a welcome addition for privacy-conscious users.

– Process isolation for plugins that will considerably boost the browser’s stability. According to Opera, plugins like Flash account for approximately one-third of the browser’s crashes. Moving the plugins into a separate process will help address that issue.

– Hardware acceleration rendering to the entire browser, including the user interface and preliminary support for WebGL. Both features must be enabled in the opera:config panel in order to work.

Features Axed:

– Opera Unite and support for HTML desktop widgets that float over the user’s desktop.

Seems the problem for Microsoft with WebGL is over security concerns. A recent set of reports by UK-based Context Information Security, WebGL – A New Dimension for Browser Exploitation and WebGL – More WebGL Security Flaws, have not helped this issue. On the Microsoft Technet blog, there is now the explanation on why WebGL is considered harmful.

Of course the inter-web is full of comments and blogs talking about this, but one post that really stood out to me is from Avi Bar Zeev’s Reality Prime blog titled Why Microsoft and Internet Explorer need WebGL (and vice-versa). A great counterpoint to the concerns stated above and definitely worth the read.

I agree with Avi that there is much Microsoft could help with concerning these ‘security issues’ with WebGL. Already web developers that want IE to support WebGL and have begun telling this to Microsoft via Twitter ( hashtag #IEWebGL) with why they want it. Let’s hope they decide to participate with everyone else, and make 3D on the web safer and better in the way that only Microsoft can.

See the videos when available at the WebGL Camp Youtube Channel .

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7NmtWFCP18

Neil Trevett

April 28th was the first WebGL Meetup here in the Bay area with a great mix of industry titans to garage developers. Managed by the Khronos group, WebGL is a web-based graphics library that extends the capability of the JavaScript programming language to allow it to generate interactive 3D graphics within any compatible web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari).

Web3D veteran and fellow Meetup co-organizer Tony Parisi introduced Neil Trevett, President of Khronos & VP Mobile Content at NVIDIA, who presented on ‘What is WebGL?’

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy3uFupx5CM

Henrik Bennetsen gave a product demonstration on OurBricks. Built on WebGL, OurBricks lets you discover, interact with, and share 3D content right in your browser. Think of it as a 3D warehouse where you can freely examine the model and much more. A great site for 3D modelers that want to share their work with others. A proper write up on OurBricks will be coming soon, but do check out their website and the video below.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XpqL_fDmHM

Closing demonstrations came from Kenneth Russell, software engineer at Google working on support for WebGL and related 3D graphics technologies in the Chrome browser. Kenneth shared a variety of WebGL demos from this site.

Kenneth shared the example in the video below to which a member of the audience responded, “that is my demo!” Yes, Aleksandar Rodic was in the house to explain his amazing looking demo. Check it out with a WebGL enabled browser here.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EdivotNkGc

Visiting scholar from Denmark Ates Gursimsek had this nice write up.  For those interested in WebGL in the SF/Bay area, join the meetup group and see you at the next event.

First is Our Choice, an interactive e-book by Al Gore.  Our Choice is an interactive 400-page book with videos, photos, and info-graphic content that illustrates how powerful interactive story telling can be. It was developed in collaboration with Push Pop Press debuting their digital publishing platform. The e-book is available for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

Push Pop Press’s platform is still in private beta and states it is redefining the way we will publish and experience books. Authors can mix together text, images, sound, video, and interactive graphics into immersive multi-finger touch interactive books without, “dealing with the complexities and costs normally involved in software development.” I can’t wait for public beta!  Have a look at the video below.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fIA5F4dPbo

Next up is 3 Dreams of Black. 3 Dreams of Black is an interactive film by Chris Milk and some friends at Google that showcases the creative potential of combining 2D graphics, video, and hardware accelerated 3D to tell a story.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReH7zzj5GPc

Beyond the cool factor of being able to race a Tron light cycle, the game utilizes some new web3D technologies. Developer Shy Shalom built the game using HTML5 canvas elements, WebGL, and Javascript.

Test here to identify if your browser is WebGL enabled and then visit this link to start playing. See you on the grid!