Warner Bros. has debuted a new “Chrome Experiment” that allows users to explore Middle-earth just by clicking their mouses. You can read the full press release below to get all the details and start exploring by clicking here. In addition, some videos showing the extent of the experiement can be found below.
Inspired by the epic fantasy adventure ?The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,? ?A Journey Through Middle-earth,? is a new Chrome Experiment that brings the locations and characters from ?The Hobbit? Trilogy to life with a mix of modern web technologies. The film, a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, will be released worldwide December 13, 2013, from Warner Bros. Pictures and MGM.
The online experience, developed by North Kingdom in collaboration with the studios, takes fans through an adventure that unfolds across an interactive map of Middle-earth. Users can zoom in to explore Trollshaw Forest, Rivendell and Dol Guldur, with new locations set to be added in the weeks ahead. Each destination on the map gives the visitor access to its history and the characters who inhabit it, or presents unique survival challenges in which fans can test their wits.
With immersive 3D graphics built with CSS3 and WebGL, ?Journey Through Middle-earth? is the first Chrome Experiment designed to bring this beautiful, 3D experience to mobile, with technology support for WebGL in Chrome for Android on devices with high-end graphics cards. Although WebGL isn?t supported on iOS, Chrome users can still experience most of ?Journey Through Middle-earth? on their iPhones and iPads.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens in 3D, 2D and IMAX theaters on December 13.
