Google Chrome and Disney unveil 3D web browser experience for ‘Oz: The Great And Powerful’

Élyse Betters | Jan 31 2013 - 10:50 am PT

Google apparently invited the press recently to witness its latest collaboration with Disney: an interactive 3D world that lets folks literally find their way to the land of Oz with just the Chrome web browser.

Babble.com’s Ana Flores attended the event yesterday at Google’s Los Angeles offices, where the Internet Giant unveiled the Google Chrome experiment FindYourWaytoOz.com. It’s not live yet, though, as it officially launches Feb. 5.

“This being the first time ever that Google partners with a major studio, what they have jointly created combines superior web technology and master storytelling,” Flores explained. “Google took the worlds of ‘Oz: The Great and the Powerful’ and brought it to life in a full interactive, 3-D browser experience that we can each make our own through pictures, videos and audio, without the need of messing with additional plugins or apps.”

Deadline.com’s Jen Yamato further described the Google tie-in as a “plugin-free, in-browser web experience linking the next advance in Google Chrome technology with the world of ‘Oz: The Great And Powerful’.” She specifically said it utilizes WebFL to showcase the experience without needing Flash or Quicktime plugins. Also, as part of the experience and journey to OZ, users can have fun at a circus, play games, and customize their photos and tunes.

“Within the Oz web experience users can capture photos and video via webcam and see them instantly integrated into the experience using emerging WebRTC technology, and compose, save, and send audio files from within the browser using a Web Audio API — accessible tools Google execs hope the web development community will adopt in their own projects,” Yamato added.

The ‘Oz’ movie debuts March 8, but the Google Chrome experiment will go live next week with a teaser clip from the film buried in the interactive world.