500 Strong... Where to next?

Remember when quadcopter drones juggled balls and formed up into a Star Trek logo? That seems downright quaint compared to what we just saw at Lady Gaga's elaborately produced Super Bowl halftime show. During her first number, 300 Intel drones formed the shape of an American flag, punctuating the singer's wire-assisted fall to the stage below. 

https://www.engadget.com/2017/02/06/intel-drones-form-us-flag-for-lady-gagas-halftime-show/ 

What is WebVR?

What is WebVR

In the past year, Google has focused on making virtual reality a better user experience. At Google I/O 2016 the company introduced Daydream VR mode in Android Nougat, which is a far better VR experience than Google Cardboard ever was. Google is continuing this trend by adding WebVR support to Chrome, arriving in Chrome 56 as an origin trial.

WebGL, a subset of OpenGL that allows web pages to render 3D graphics, has been around for years. With WebGL and WebVR, web pages can create immersive 3D environments at high frame rates (if you have a decent device, that is). 

Below is one of the demos, running at a smooth 60FPS on my Google Pixel once everything is loaded (the recording itself is not 60FPS).Viewing works equally well in all VR headsets - whether it's a Google Cardboard or a Daydream VR headset. Developers can also choose to use the Daydream controllers, Google Cardboard button, and other input devices as controllers.

While WebVR in Chrome 56 does not require enabling any flags in Chrome settings to use, the WebVR API is still under development, and as such the feature is marked as an origin trial. This means that websites have to whitelist themselves with Google to use the feature. If you have Chrome 56, you can try out some WebVR samples here.