THE HOBBIT: Preview And Explore Middle-earth With Interactive Map On Chrome!

A Journey Through Middle-earth

Tim here. There is a cool Chrome Experiment coming to the web this fall for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. It's an interactive map! Designed by Google… that's right: Google! The best mapping company on the planet (sorry Apple) is bringing Tolkien fans a Middle-earth map experience unlike anything experienced before.

Part of Google's Chrome Experiment this interactive map will be best experienced in the web browser Chrome. The experiment uses WebGL and the Web Audio API on Chrome for Android to bring Middle-earth to life in the browser with 3D Trolls, interactive musical experiences, and more. Obviously these experiments are ploys to boost the popularity of Google's browser and mobile platform, but some of the past experiments have been proven to work on other browsers. Generally, however, they work best on the Chrome browser.

Below is a preview video of what we can expect to experience:

Keep an eye out for the entire experience coming later this year. Visit thehobbit.com/middle-earth for the experience when it hits the web. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug hits IMAX 3D and RealD 3D theaters December 13^th.