Google Chrome Experiments is an online showroom of web browser based experiments, interactive programs, and artistic projects. Launched on March 1, 2009, Google Chrome Experiments is an official Google website that was originally meant to test the limits of JavaScript and the Google Chrome browser's performance and abilities. As the project progressed, it took the role of showcasing and experimenting latest open-sourceweb-based technologies, such as JavaScript, HTML5, WebGL, Canvas, SVG, CSS, and some others. All the projects on Chrome experiments are user submitted and are made using open source technologies. As of February 24, 2015, there were 1000 different Chrome projects posted on the website.
History
Google's Chrome Experiments was launched in March 2009 with 19 experiments The main reason for its inception was to demonstrate and test the abilities of JavaScript and Google's V8 JavaScript engine. With time it also started featuring other open source web-based technologies such as HTML5, Scalable Vector Graphics, WebGL, Web Audio, and Canvas element. The focus of the project throughout has been on open source technology and thus does not feature proprietary software such as Adobe Flash. The website is steadily gaining popularity along with the number of featured experiments. The number of experiments increased to 50 by August 2009, to 100 by July 2010, and to 500 by September 2012. As of August 2013 the number of experiments on the website were way over 600. The earliest projects featured on the site were mainly visualizations, interactive toys, and simple online games. The earliest contributors were made by artists and programmers like Casey Reas, Ricardo Cabello, Ryan Alexander, Joshua T. Nimoy, and Karsten Schmidt. Since its inception and launch, Chrome Experiments has featured only user submitted projects on their site, with a few exceptions of projects submitted by Google's teams. However these submissions are first curated by the Chrome Experiments team and then posted on the site for reviews and comments. It is also important to note that the user submitted projects are not hosted on the Google site; Google Chrome Experiments only posts a verified link to the developer's website.
Major technologies used
Google Chrome Experiments was originally started to demonstrate the usability of JavaScript alone, but with time it has now become a platform to showcase capabilities of some other open-source web based technologies such as WebGl, HTML5, SVG, and Canvas element.
JavaScript
is a scripting language that is mainly used for creating for implementing dynamic website pages and enhanced user interfaces for web browsers. Highly influenced by programming languages such as C, Java, Self, and Scheme, JavaScript supports object oriented, functional, and imperative programming styles. Even though its name has Java in it, it is an entirely different language from Java. JavaScript is the main area of focus on Google Chrome Experiments, so nearly all of the experiments showcased on the site use JavaScript in some form or other.
HTML5
Hyper Text Markup language or HTML is the most used markup language for displaying web pages and the backbone language for internet itself. HTML5 is the 5th revision of HTML standards. It facilitates playing of audio and video elements in the browser itself, usage of Scalable Vector Graphics, and with the help of JavaScript or CSS3 programmers can even design animations. All Google Chrome experiments are browser based, thus all have some relation to HTML, and because of new Canvas element unique to HTML5, nearly all of the paint and design tools on the site along with some games, utilize HTML5 and Canvas 2-D element.
Cascading style sheets is style sheet language that is used to format the structure and look of a webpage written in markup languages such as HTML and XHTML. Along with markup languages it can also be used to format XML documents. CSS allows developers to move formatting attributes such as font color, font style, font size, background color, borders, section sizes, and other elements, to be moved in a single separate file resulting in much simpler code and much flexible handling of final rendering. Because of this feature, CSS is heavily used in nearly all Chrome experiments.
WebGL
is a JavaScript API used for rendering 3-D and 2-D graphics and animations in the web browsers itself without any additional plugin. The web browser should be compatible with the API. WebGL is an open source API that is based on Open Graphic Library Embedded systems and draws inspiration from Canvas 3-D element. WebGL is currently supported by Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, along with limited support by Safari and Opera. Internet Explorer, however, has no inbuilt support for WebGL until now but a user can view WebGL content on IE using additional browser plugins. Utilized by 529 experiments out of 1127, WebGL is one of the most commonly used technologies on the site. The technology has also gained active use in famous and useful online apps such as Google Maps, and Zygote Body
HTML5 Audio
Web audio or HTML5 audio, is the high level JavaScript API that is used for processing and playback of audio content on the browser itself, without any additional plugins. All experiments on the Google Chrome Experiment site are designed to be interactive and attractive, thus Web-audio is an integral part of most of these projects.
Mobile
On February 7, 2012, Google launched its first beta release of chrome web browser for mobiles, and on June 27, 2012 Google added a new section on the Google Chrome Experiment website dedicated to only mobile based applications. As of August 2013, there are 22 applications on the site. The major technologies utilized by these applications include JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3.
