Google changes course on 3D Web plans

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 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.

For more on this story, read Google scraps plug-in, refashions 3D Web plan on CNET News.