This is a pretty obvious movie tie-in, but it’s still pretty cool: Google has partnered with LEGO to build an app that lets you play with LEGOs right in the browser. Using WebGL and other modern web technologies, a Google team in Australia first developed this application as an experiment in 2012 and now Google is opening it up to everybody.
Given that this is Google, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the social aspects of the app are powered by Google+. This allows you to find what everybody else in your circles has already built. The app, Google says, uses a “new categorization system for completed Builds [that] will help you sort and filter for specific types of structures.”
When you try the app, don’t expect a LEGO Mindstorms or Minecraft-like experience. The selection of bricks is pretty limited, but if you enjoy building with LEGOs, there’s still more than enough here to keep you occupied.
Once your building is done, you can publish it on a world map. The app will look for your location so it’s easy to publish something close to your real physical location, and the tiles you build on are actually stylized Google Maps tiles.
The web app should work with both Chrome for the Web and Android. It also seems to work just fine with Firefox, though Internet Explorer 11 refused to let me place any bricks.
If you want to give it a try, head over here to start building or check out Google’s map to see what others have created.