Google launches WebGL Globe data visualisation tool

Google has used its Chrome Experiments site to launch a new platform for geographic data visualisation. WebGL Globe, the source coide of which is available from Google’s code.google.com repository, can map data sets stored in the JSON format to a 3D depiction of Earth.

Google has created two example WebGL Globes – one depicting world population in 1990, 1995 and 2000, and one depicting the volume of Google searches by location and language.

Google has invited developers to share their WebGL Globes and will post selected creations on the Chrome Experiments site.

The Khronos Group’s WebGL graphics library allows the use of a PC’s GPU for the hardware-accelerated display of 3D images using JavaScript and HTML5.

Tags: Globe data visualization, google earth, WebGL