Di8it - Interactive Development and User Experience Consultancy

Google releases Chrome Experiments

by Shawn de Freitas on 21/03/2009

This week Google released http://www.chromeexperiments.com/ a collection of Javascript-based experiments designed to show off the speed of the Google Chrome browser. The site displays 15 games, apps, and visualizations - designed to specifically push JavaScript to its limits and display the capabilities of Chrome.

One of the core developments and efficiencies of the Chrome browser is V8, Google's open source, high performance JavaScript engine. According to, Ben Goodger, tech lead for Chrome development at Google: “It's a completely new approach to the JavaScript engine," “It generates native machine code that runs on your machine in the same way that compiled code runs natively on your computer. The code is not interpreted. There is no intermediate representation, so it runs at greater speed."

Google approached a handful of renowned Web designers and JavaScript developers with the task to develop JavaScript application to showcase what the engine and the browser can do. The designers include the likes of REAS, Mr. Doob, Ryan Alexander, Josh Nimoy, and Toxi among others. The results of their experimentation have been great, with each project turning the browser window into an interactive application, a game, or even a piece of art.

One of the experiments called "TWITCH" created by artist Casey Reas takes advantage of Chrome's feature to launch each window or tab as a separate process on a computer; allowing multiple windows to function as if they were separate applications. Essentially,TWITCH is a series of miminal games happening within small windows, each game is a puzzle based on moving a ball from one side of the window to the other. Each game only responds to clicking; mouse position and keyboard are ignored. A new window opens everytime the user achieves his task and skillfully navigates the ball to the other side of the window; the ball jumps seamlessly over to the next window and a new game begins.

Another interesting experiment,"Browser Ball" by Mark Mahoney begins with one open window open and a beach ball, the user can move the ball around using the mouse. The user can also launch new windows and drag the ball between them. According to Mahoney, "Browser Ball attempts to allow the configuration of a seemingly endless array of continuous spaces using multiple overlapping browser windows. Within this multivariate space, users are invited to toss a beach ball both hither and yon". It is quite a simple proposition but the effect teases our normal conventions about desktop windows, the space within them and boundries.

My personal favourite is “Google gravity” designed by the talented Mr Doobod of London based design Studio HI-Res! I find the visual concept of the effect to be uplifting! - the Google webpage interface, as we know it, disintegrates and succumbs to the forces of gravity. All the elements on the page become heavy and drift to the bottom of the browser. Mr Doobod quotes "Everything that goes up must come down. But there comes a time when not everything that's down can come up." “George Burns couldn't probably imagine that his quote would eventually also be applied to Google's main page.” I don`t know but I think there is a little bit of subtext here!