Google scraps plug-in, refashions 3D Web plan

From CNET News.com: Google has partly scrapped a browser plug-in project called O3D, instead throwing its full weight behind a 3D Web graphics technology called WebGL that got its start at Mozilla.

The move, first reported by CNET, has the potential to simplify the effort to bring hardware-accelerated 3D graphics to the Web, an idea that has appeal to those trying to refashion it as a foundation for applications such as games. However, it also means the functioning--if experimental--O3D technology is going back to the drawing board for a while.

The overall idea of O3D, a higher-level interface than the 3D nuts and bolts provided by WebGL, will live on, though. Google is rebuilding it as a library of pre-build software others can use on top of a WebGL foundation, Engineering Director Matt Papakipos and programmer Vangelis Kokkevis announced the move on the final O3D blog post Friday.

One of the big changes with the O3D rebirth is that instead of running as a fast, compiled C++ program, the library instead will use the relatively slow JavaScript used in Web applications. Fortunately for the project, the top five browser makers--Microsoft, Mozilla, Google, Apple, and Opera--all are making significant improvements in JavaScript execution speed.

Another tricky issue is that WebGL is a variant of the 3D graphics interface called OpenGL, which is used on Mac OS X and Linux as well as the iPhone and Android phones. On Windows, though, it's second fiddle to Microsoft's Direct3D interface. Google hopes to bridge that gap with its ANGLE project to translate OpenGL commands into Direct3D parlance.

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