Google Adds 8 Trillion Virtual Lego Bricks to Chrome

From DailyTech: Let's face it; geeks love Lego. I'd wager almost all of us have played with Lego bricks at one time or another, be it yesterday or when you were a kid. Many Lego fans want to have as many Lego bricks as possible, but that can get very expensive. It can also be a challenge to store huge numbers of Lego bricks.

If you're huge fan of Lego, but you don't want to bother with storage or spending your hard-earned money buying real kits, Google just added 8 trillion virtual Lego bricks to Chrome. The virtual bricks and building center comes from a partnership between Google and Lego Australia and the result is called Build.

Not only do you get to play with these virtual Lego blocks, but also you can choose a plot from a map of Australia (naturally made from those flat Lego plates) and place your creation on Australian streets or landmarks. Users can also save and share their creations. The sharing comes in the ability to send links to your creation via e-mail or to a Google+ account.

Google writes, "Build may look simple, but this collaborative 3D building experience would not have been possible a couple of years ago. It shows how far browser technology has come and how the web is an amazing platform for creativity. We made the bricks with WebGL, which enables powerful 3D graphics right in the browser and demonstrates the upper limit of current WebGL graphics performance. We then mixed in Google Maps (another Aussie invention) so you can put your creation in a LEGO world alongside everyone else’s."

There is a bit of oversight built-in on Lego's part. Once you finish your construction, you have to submit for approval before it's sent live and can be seen by anyone else. This is to make sure people don't build anything offensive that younger users of Build might see.

View: Article @ Source Site