Google Chrome users to explore “The Hobbit”’s Middle-earth (video)

 November 25, 2013 - 14:42 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Google Chrome has launched a journey through Middle-earth, inspired by the upcoming film The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Digital Spy said.

Built in collaboration with Warner Bros, New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Chrome users can uncover the history of the story and its characters by navigating through interactive locations including Trollshaw Forest, Rivendell and Dol Guldur. More locations will be added in the next few weeks.

Google built the interactive experience with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, as well as Web Audio API and WebGL.

The company said that it is the first Chrome experiment designed to bring the 3D experience to mobile devices with high-end graphics cards.

"The rich audio effects and sound manipulation are delivered through the Web Audio API, which is now supported on both Chrome for Android and Chrome for iPhone and iPad," Google's product marketing manager Christos Apartoglou said in a blog post.

"Although WebGL isn't supported on iOS, Chrome users can still experience most of 'Journey through Middle-earth' on their iPhones and iPads."

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will be released on December 13, with final film There and Back Again following in December 2014.