Google Pushes the Limits of In-Browser Experiences With "Oz"

Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) Chrome Experiments has created in-browser game "Find Your Way to Oz" to showcase the Internet's technological advancement and what companies can now accomplish online. 

Developed in anticipation of Disney's upcoming film "Oz the Great and Powerful," the game takes players through a dusty 3-D Kansas circus, where they can compose their own music, create their own movie, and confront a tornado while following in the Wizard's footsteps. By finishing the game, movie fans gain access to exclusive, unreleased clips of the upcoming film.

Google says that, just a few years ago, such an immersive and beautiful, in-browser experience like "Find Your Way to Oz" would have been impossible. In building the game, Google used new technologies such as WebGL and CSS3 for the 3-D environment, Web Audio API for the audio effects, and the getUserMedia feature of WebRTC (accesses a computer's camera and microphone with your permission) for the photo booth and zoetrope.

For the best experience, Google recommends people check to ensure their computer hardware can handle the graphics and that they have a webcam and a modern browser that supports WebGL and WebRTC. Tablet and smartphone users can also play the game on their Android device, iPhone, or iPad.