Google Goes Open Source With 3D Web Plug-In

The Internet is great and all, but compared to the real world it’s a little flat. The race is on, then, to create a programming standard that will bring 3D graphics to the Web. Mozilla’s been working on its own, and now Google has entered the fray with an open source plug-in, allowing third parties to tinker with the programming interface as they see fit. Gaming would be an obvious use for the 3D standard, as would richer displays of data. For its part, Google wants to develop a browser-based version of Google Earth. The whole concept is in its early stages right now, but there are some samples if you want to get a glimpse of the future — which could very well consist entirely of 3d Pong. [via Ars Technica]