Google Chrome Experiments

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Chrome Experiments
Logo of Google Chrome Experiments.jpg
Screenshot
Chrome Experiment Screenshot.jpg
Screenshot of Chrome Experiments website.
Type of businessNonprofit
Type of site
Showcase of web technology
Owner Google Inc.
Created by Google Inc.
URL www.chromeexperiments.com
CommercialNo
LaunchedMarch 1, 2009;15 years ago (2009-03-01)
Current statusActive

Google Chrome Experiments is an online showroom of web browser-based experiments, interactive programs, and artistic projects. Launched on March 1, 2009, Google Chrome Experiments is an official Google website that was originally meant to test the limits of JavaScript and the Google Chrome browser's performance and abilities. As the project progressed, it took on the role of showcasing and experimenting with the latest open-source web-based technologies, such as JavaScript, HTML, WebGL, Canvas, SVG, and CSS. All the projects on Chrome Experiments are user-submitted and are made using open-source technologies. As of 2024, the website continues to host a growing number of experiments, featuring over 1,500 projects.

Contents

History

Google's Chrome Experiments was launched in March 2009 with 19 experiments. [1] The main reason for its inception was to demonstrate and test the abilities of JavaScript and Google's V8 JavaScript engine. Over time, it also started featuring other open-source web-based technologies such as HTML, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), WebGL, Web Audio, and the Canvas element. The focus of the project throughout has been on open-source technology and thus does not feature proprietary software such as Adobe Flash. The website is steadily gaining popularity along with the number of featured experiments. The number of experiments increased to 50 by August 2009, [2] to 100 by July 2010, [3] and to 500 by September 2012. [4] As of 2024, the number of experiments on the website exceeds 1,500. [5]

The earliest projects featured on the site were mainly visualizations, interactive toys, and simple online games. [6] According to Google's official blog, the earliest contributors were artists and programmers like Casey Reas, Ricardo Cabello (Mr.doob), Ryan Alexander, Joshua T. Nimoy, and Karsten Schmidt (Toxi). Since its inception and launch, Chrome Experiments has featured only user-submitted projects on their site, with a few exceptions of projects submitted by Google's teams. However, these submissions are first curated by the Chrome Experiments team and then posted on the site for reviews and comments. It is also important to note that the user-submitted projects are not hosted on the Google site; Google Chrome Experiments only posts a verified link to the developer's website.

Major technologies used

Google Chrome Experiments was originally started to demonstrate the usability of JavaScript alone, but over time it has now become a platform to showcase capabilities of other open-source web-based technologies such as WebGL, HTML, SVG, and the Canvas element.

JavaScript

JavaScript is a scripting language that is mainly used for creating dynamic website pages and enhanced user interfaces for web browsers. Highly influenced by programming languages such as C, Java, Self, and Scheme, JavaScript supports object-oriented, functional, and imperative programming styles. Even though its name has Java in it, it is an entirely different language from Java. JavaScript is the main area of focus on Google Chrome Experiments, so nearly all of the experiments showcased on the site use JavaScript in some form or another.

HTML

Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML, is the most used markup language for displaying web pages and is the backbone language for the Internet itself. Since HTML5, it facilitates playing of audio and video elements in the browser itself, usage of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), and with the help of JavaScript or CSS3, programmers can even design animations.

All Google Chrome experiments are browser-based and nearly all of the paint and design tools on the site, along with some games, utilize HTML and 2-D Canvas elements.

Cascading Style Sheets

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language that is used to format the structure and look of a webpage written in markup languages such as HTML and XHTML. Along with markup languages, it can also be used to format XML documents. CSS allows developers to move formatting attributes such as font color, font style, font size, background color, borders, section sizes, and other elements to a single separate file, resulting in much simpler code and more flexible handling of final rendering. Because of this feature, CSS is heavily used in nearly all Chrome experiments.

WebGL

WebGL (Web Graphics Library) is a JavaScript API used for rendering 3-D and 2-D graphics and animations in the web browser itself without any additional plugin. The web browser should be compatible with the API. WebGL is an open-source API that is based on Open Graphics Library Embedded Systems (OpenGL ES) and draws inspiration from the Canvas 3-D element. WebGL is currently supported by Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, along with limited support by Safari and Opera. Internet Explorer, however, has no inbuilt support for WebGL until now, but a user can view WebGL content on IE using additional browser plugins.

Utilized by 529 experiments out of 1,127, WebGL is one of the most commonly used technologies on the site. The technology has also gained active use in famous and useful online apps such as Google Maps, [7] [8] and Zygote Body (formerly Google Body). [9]

Web Audio

Web Audio is the high-level JavaScript API used for processing and playback of audio content on the browser itself, without any additional plugins. All experiments on the Google Chrome Experiment site are designed to be interactive and attractive, thus Web Audio is an integral part of most of these projects.

Mobile

On February 7, 2012, Google launched its first beta release of Chrome for mobile, [10] and on June 27, 2012, Google added a new section on the Google Chrome Experiment website dedicated to only mobile-based applications. [4] [11]

In 2024, Google continues to update Chrome Experiments with new categories and cutting-edge projects. Recent additions include VR and AR experiments, as well as AI-powered interactive experiences. The platform remains a showcase for innovative uses of web technologies, demonstrating the potential of modern browsers and the web as a creative medium. [12] [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is an XML-based vector image format for defining two-dimensional graphics, having support for interactivity and animation. The SVG specification is an open standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium since 1999.

X3D is a set of royalty-free ISO/IEC standards for declaratively representing 3D computer graphics. X3D includes multiple graphics file formats, programming-language API definitions, and run-time specifications for both delivery and integration of interactive network-capable 3D data. X3D version 4.0 has been approved by Web3D Consortium, and is under final review by ISO/IEC as a revised International Standard (IS).

Vector Markup Language (VML) is an obsolete XML-based file format for two-dimensional vector graphics. It was specified in Part 4 of the Office Open XML standards ISO/IEC 29500 and ECMA-376. According to the specification, VML is a deprecated format included in Office Open XML for legacy reasons only.

Web standards are the formal, non-proprietary standards and other technical specifications that define and describe aspects of the World Wide Web. In recent years, the term has been more frequently associated with the trend of endorsing a set of standardized best practices for building web sites, and a philosophy of web design and development that includes those methods.

This is a comparison of both historical and current web browsers based on developer, engine, platform(s), releases, license, and cost.

Mozilla Firefox has features which distinguish it from other web browsers, such as Google Chrome, Safari, and Microsoft Edge.

A user interface markup language is a markup language that renders and describes graphical user interfaces and controls. Many of these markup languages are dialects of XML and are dependent upon a pre-existing scripting language engine, usually a JavaScript engine, for rendering of controls and extra scriptability.

The canvas element is part of HTML5 and allows for dynamic, scriptable rendering of 2D shapes and bitmap images. It is a low level, procedural model that updates a bitmap. HTML5 Canvas also helps in making 2D games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Web Toolkit</span> Free Java library

Google Web Toolkit, or GWT Web Toolkit, is an open-source set of tools that allows web developers to create and maintain JavaScript front-end applications in Java. It is licensed under Apache License 2.0.

jQuery is a JavaScript library designed to simplify HTML DOM tree traversal and manipulation, as well as event handling, CSS animations, and Ajax. It is free, open-source software using the permissive MIT License. As of August 2022, jQuery is used by 77% of the 10 million most popular websites. Web analysis indicates that it is the most widely deployed JavaScript library by a large margin, having at least three to four times more usage than any other JavaScript library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HTML5</span> Fifth and previous version of HyperText Markup Language

HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting hypertext documents on the World Wide Web. It was the fifth and final major HTML version that is now a retired World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML Living Standard. It is maintained by the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG), a consortium of the major browser vendors.

Web3D, also called 3D Web, is a group of technologies to display and navigate websites using 3D computer graphics.

Google Native Client (NaCl) is a discontinued sandboxing technology for running either a subset of Intel x86, ARM, or MIPS native code, or a portable executable, in a sandbox. It allows safely running native code from a web browser, independent of the user operating system, allowing web apps to run at near-native speeds, which aligns with Google's plans for ChromeOS. It may also be used for securing browser plugins, and parts of other applications or full applications such as ZeroVM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chromium (web browser)</span> Open-source web browser project

Chromium is a free and open-source web browser project, primarily developed and maintained by Google. It is a widely-used codebase, providing the vast majority of code for Google Chrome and many other browsers, including Microsoft Edge, Samsung Internet, and Opera. The code is also used by several app frameworks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WebGL</span> JavaScript bindings for OpenGL in web browsers

WebGL is a JavaScript API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics within any compatible web browser without the use of plug-ins. WebGL is fully integrated with other web standards, allowing GPU-accelerated usage of physics, image processing, and effects in the HTML canvas. WebGL elements can be mixed with other HTML elements and composited with other parts of the page or page background.

The Web platform is a collection of technologies developed as open standards by the World Wide Web Consortium and other standardization bodies such as the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group, the Unicode Consortium, the Internet Engineering Task Force, and Ecma International. It is the umbrella term introduced by the World Wide Web Consortium, and in 2011 it was defined as "a platform for innovation, consolidation and cost efficiencies" by W3C CEO Jeff Jaffe. Being built on The evergreen Web has allowed for the addition of new capabilities while addressing security and privacy risks. Additionally, developers are enabled to build interoperable content on a cohesive platform.

Modern HTML5 has feature-parity with the now-obsolete Adobe Flash. Both include features for playing audio and video within web pages. Flash was specifically built to integrate vector graphics and light games in a web page, features that HTML5 also supports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three.js</span> JavaScript library for 3D graphics

Three.js is a cross-browser JavaScript library and application programming interface (API) used to create and display animated 3D computer graphics in a web browser using WebGL. The source code is hosted in a repository on GitHub.

JWt is an open-source widget-centric web application framework for the Java programming language developed by Emweb. It has an API that uses established GUI application development patterns. The programming model is component-based and event-driven, similar to Swing.

WebGPU is a JavaScript API provided by a web browser that enables webpage scripts to efficiently utilize a device's graphics processing unit (GPU). This is achieved with the underlying Vulkan, Metal, or Direct3D 12 system APIs. On relevant devices, WebGPU is intended to supersede the older WebGL standard.

References

  1. ↑ "Chrome Experiments: not your mother's JavaScript". Google Chrome official blog. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "50 Chrome Experiments and counting!". Google Chrome official blog. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  3. ↑ "100 Chrome Experiments and counting!". Google Chrome official blog. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  4. 1 2 "500 Chrome Experiments and counting..." Google Chrome official blog. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  5. ↑ "Chrome Experiments - Experiments with Google". Experiments with Google. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  6. ↑ Sharma, Ekant. "Chrome Experiments: A Showroom of Innovative Web Technology". xhtmljunction.com. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Step inside the map with Google MapsGL". Google official blog. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  8. ↑ "MapsGL". Google Inc. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  9. ↑ Zeiger, Roni (January 9, 2012). "Google Body becomes Zygote Body; built on open source 3D viewer". Google Open Source blog. Google. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  10. ↑ "Introducing Chrome for Android". Google Chrome official blog. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  11. ↑ "Introducing Chrome Experiments for Mobile". Google Chrome's Official YouTube channel. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  12. ↑ "Chrome Experiments - Experiments with Google". Experiments with Google. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Experience Virtual Reality on the web with Chrome". Google. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
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