MapsGL
October 13, 2011From the Author:
[ EDITOR'S NOTE -- Click "Want to try something new?" in the bottom left corner to turn on the experiment ]
At this point it's almost hard to remember, but when Google Maps was first released in 2005, it was one of the first web applications to demonstrate what was possible with AJAX and the web platform. This project was a challenge technically but we’d like to think that it helped to fire the imaginations of web developers around the world.
Today, the Maps team is launching a beta of a brand new experience we call MapsGL. MapsGL is one of the first large scale applications to be built on top of WebGL. MapsGL makes use of 3D rendering and hardware graphics acceleration to provide an experience that is seamless, smooth, and runs directly in the browser.
Technically, MapsGL brings significant changes to how map and image tiles are rendered on the client and server. Rather than loading pre-rendered image tiles from servers, vector data for the map is sent to the browser and rendered on the fly using WebGL. This generally means that less data needs to be sent to the browser, but also that every aspect of the map needs to be rendered on the order of ~20ms per frame in order to achieve a reasonable frame rate. Imagery transitions in Maps are also enhanced by loading 3D metadata along with image tiles, allowing Maps to provide rich 3D transitions between different levels and angles of imagery.
While developing MapsGL, we found that WebGL draws from both native and web app backgrounds. For those used to working on web applications, WebGL adds a lot of functionality, but also increases the complexity of what you need to build and test. Even though WebGL is cross platform, performance varies dramatically across graphics hardware and operating systems - and what improves performance on one may hurt performance elsewhere - so testing across a wide array of setups is critical.
We also found that performance dependent Javascript and WebGL optimizations were needed in order for MapsGL to run properly on slower hardware. For example, there are a number of users with graphics cards that can't currently run WebGL content. In these cases, we don’t give the user the ability to opt-in and they can continue with the current Maps experience. Other graphics cards have somewhat poor performance for some key operations, which we measure with a small benchmark when the user first opts-in. In these cases, MapsGL falls back on a hybrid approach where we use pre-rendered raster tiles for the background of the map and only dynamically render labels on top of these.
We hope that MapsGL makes you excited to use WebGL in your own app. WebGL enables 3D graphics and immersive experiences in the browser that were formerly impossible. As WebGL becomes more robust and graphics card drivers improve, we can't wait to see what web developers will create with it. Check out the WebGL documentation and get started!
Technology:
WebGL
Comments
มีคนใช้บันชีฉัน
Reply to this commentthis is perfect for fb friendcaster & WoW !!! txt-+ !!!!
Reply to this commentOh yea black Glass.
este site eu nunca tinha visto mas achei o comentário muito interessante.
Reply to this commentvous etes super groupes google
Reply to this commentAnkit
Reply to this commentYhugtf
Reply to this commenteste site eu nunca tinha visto mas achei o comentário muito interessante.
Reply to this commentnerul
Reply to this commentشكرا على ه\ا البرنامج الرائع
Reply to this commentشكرا علي ه\ا البرنامج
Reply to this commentHow do I re-enable it?! I turned it on, but didn't want to try it at the time... now I can't re-enable it?!
Reply to this commentecho. I miss it all ready. How can we turn it back on!
Reply to this commentI've lost it too now!
First of all great work, Related to regular street view, I wish you can provide a slow motion video effect, so that the user can get a driving through the street experience.
Reply to this commentنشكر لكم برنامجكم اتمنى ان ينجح معي
Reply to this commenti can't able to use it
Reply to this commenti love it
Reply to this commentHow do I turn off the dang Experience MapsGL popup that keeps showing up over content in the bottom left of my Google Maps window....irritating!!
Reply to this commentooopöppö
Reply to this commentda hora esse maps gl
Reply to this commentAmazing Dev team, Instead of having virtually no dedicated graphics hardware and on a near to dead system, this worked beautifully and it was just amazing to see all those plastered buildings raising their heads up.. Amazing. Perfect this and it will be worth it.
Reply to this commentdata sait
Reply to this commentsomething is wrong on chrome dev 18.0.1025.3.I can't use it in chrome but at the same computer i can use it in firefox. And I don't know why it doesn't support my GT525 graphic card, however ,it support intergrated graphic card.
Reply to this commentdoesnt work at all please google more testing before releasing crap and try to get it right after
Reply to this commentme gustaria esperimentarlo gracias
Reply to this commentthanks evry body
Reply to this commentشكرا لكم على المساعدة
Reply to this commentالرمز غير واضح
Reply to this commentنشكر لكم برنامجكم اتمنى ان ينجح معي
Reply to this comment37.885049,-4.779224 indicates CORDOVA. It is CORDOBA.
Reply to this commentösterreich
Reply to this commentmapsGL98
Reply to this commentdfsgdfsdf
Reply to this commentdfdfhdfh
Reply to this commentkirály goodje bandi is szereti
Reply to this comment10
Reply to this commentnope, still no option in Opera Next 12, fully hardware accelerated. Even masking as FF doesn't work. Chrome Dev version doesnt work either.
Reply to this commentPlease enable SSL access to MapsGL - https://maps.google.com/gl redirects me to www.google.com as is...
Reply to this commentbom
Reply to this commentAmazing. This is the future.
Reply to this commentSalam
Reply to this commentbonjour ft le monde
Reply to this commentGit-R-Done!
Reply to this commentAwesome!
Reply to this commentI have tried on last version imac i5 quad-core but don't work... :(
Reply to this commentDon't work on iMac i5 last generation
Reply to this commentI'm very desapointed. I have a iMac i5, latest version. OS x LIon 7.2, Chrome 15 and my computer is not agreeded to maps GL. I have a AMD Radeon HD 6750M 512 MB. What's happening? I know my computer complete all requeriments for this aplications, then, what's hapenning?
Reply to this commentHow to enable MapsGL on FF7? I can't figure it out. Google tries to block it on Firefox, even when all other Web GL experiements will work like a charm.
Reply to this commentTsk, tsk. Blocking alternate & compatible browsers from using Mapsgl? That defeats the purpose of having web standards.
Reply to this commentNo problem on FF 7.0.1. I dont know why Google has blocked MapsGL for FF 7.0.1... But with a little knowledge I'm able to run MapsGL on FF 7.
Reply to this commentI am not seeing the "Try me" link and I am on Chrome 16 Dev Channel on a CR-48 Chromebook.
Reply to this commentFeature like from future:)!
Reply to this commentLinux Mint 11. HP Slimline HP Intel T2300 1.66Ghz Pentium M, 2007 3GB Intel 945gm integrated controler all that i say : Good work
Reply to this commenti5-470 hm55 intel graphic..driver crashed.. took me a whike to recover..
Reply to this commentNot giving the option to even try on Opera12
Reply to this commentAwesome on Ubuntu! One issue however, when using 45 degree satellite mode, after rotating the map, the little map view square in the upper right corner doesn't rotate.
Reply to this commentEven the latest i5-CPU MacBook Air doesn't work.
Reply to this commentIt works..... mind blowing... \m/
Reply to this commentThis is absolutely amazing. The web has come a long way
Reply to this commentmuy bueno..
Reply to this commentEn verdad estoy explorando esto, por primera vez
Reply to this commentDoesnt work here either. Mac OS 10.6.8 running Chrome 16 with an ATY,RadeonX1600 All other experiments work fine.
Reply to this commentDon't worry -- we haven't forgotten the AJAX roots. When I'm explaining AJAX to colleagues, I still point to Google Maps as the web app that popularized it. I can remember my awe when I first saw it in 2005 and realized that the whole web was about to change. The original Google Maps was, and still is, an amazing technical feat. It's great to see this team continue to innovate.
Reply to this commentIt doesn't work for me,my computer is win7, nvdia gt220, chrome 16 and firefox 8, it doesn't work on both browsers.
Reply to this commentafrcia egypt suez
Reply to this commentDoesn't work for me. New MacBook Air with OSX 10.7.1, 4gig RAM and Chrome 14.0.835.202. Other WebGL apps run fine in Chrome.
Reply to this commentPerhaps I'm missing something, but here's my issue. I opted in, and it worked great. I then clicked "Classic" since I *thought* it was a toggle, and I wanted to compare my view to the old map system. It then asked to take a survey about why I wanted to opt out (which I don't!) so I clicked "cancel" - it cancelled the survey, but opted me out of MapsGL. Now, as far as I can tell, there's no way to get back to the WebGL view. What the heck?
Reply to this commentI had troubles finding the "Want to try something new?". You need to make sure you start without an address first, then scroll to the bottom left as soon as the page is loaded. If you input an address first you will NOT see "Want to try something new?". It took me a few times to notice this.
Reply to this commentI don't get the "Want to try something new?" label using Mac OSX 10.6, Safari 5.1 with WebGL enabled, so I'm thinking you are checking for browser, not WebGL. The other WebGL experiments work fine on Safari, as do the fantastic lights.elliegoulding.com and http://operasoftware.github.com/Emberwind/ game.
Reply to this commenti am running chrome in mac-osx 10.6.7, worked well.
Reply to this commentI'm very disappointed, that this does not work on Windows XP. I won't to be required to take Windows 7.
Reply to this commentIt's working for me on XP.
Reply to this commentyou sure?
works ok, win7 on a quad core box with a fat video card (Nvideo GTx570). Fairly underwhelming plain white box 3d buildings. Regular old street view. I do not understand the hoopla, so far.
Reply to this commentI have a PC, works perfectly fine for me.
Reply to this commentworks fine on a pc with ubuntu very crisp
Reply to this commentI am the first to post here, yet also the first to say that my MacBook Pro w/ Mac OS X Lion 10.7.1 (11B26) and Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB and 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 can't use the experiment! Also, I am using the latest version of Chrome!! What Gives?!
Reply to this commentHA! I am the first sucker to try out this experiment, yet it WON'T Work for me 8)! HAHAHA! I am on a MacBook Pro, only a few months old, AND Chrome. Is there some update somewhere that I missed or something? My machine failed to meet the 'system requirements'. Oh well. As for those who Can use this experiment, HAHAHA:P Beat you!!!
Reply to this comment