If you spotted a big improvement in 3D web graphics when browsing on Google Chrome over the past few days, you’re not alone. Google recently announced that a major update to the WebGL JavaScript API in the form of WebGL 2.0 is now available for Chrome users with the latest graphics hardware running on Windows, macOS and Linux machines.
While Android is getting the same support soon, it is of significance that Google Chrome now supports it – even though Opera and Firefox already support WebGL 2.0. Why? Because Google Chrome has nearly 60 percent market share of desktop browser usage worldwide, with Internet Explorer a distant second with 19 percent.
That’s the reason it’s a big deal. The fact that more than half the world’s desktop users are on Google Chrome means there’s more of a chance that we’ll see a rise in next-generation 3D graphics on the web. And when it comes to Android, it’ll blow things out of the water in terms of being an incentive to 3D creators everywhere.
From a developer’s perspective, WebGL 2.0 offers newer and much faster 3D rendering capabilities. It is also more stable and consistent across various graphics platforms, so it doesn’t matter what GPU your system runs on.
Watch WebGL 2.0 in action in this interactive demo by PlayCanvas in collaboration with Mozilla:
See Demo of WebGL 2.0 in Action
Once WebGL 2.0 support comes to Android, it will be a tremendous boost to mobile AR/VR developers, who can render their 3D content easily and quickly for multiple GPU platforms and devices. Consistency is key when addressing multiple platforms, and Google Chrome claims to have passed all 340,000 test cases with flying colors. Great news for game studios and other professionals who create 3D content.
Look out for more 3D content on the web in the days to come.
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