Google unveiled today a new plug-in for web browsers that will allow companies to offer 3D graphics over the web. It's called O3D is now available for both Mac, PC, and Linux users, and supports Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. Although not the first of its kind, Adobe's popular Flash player already supports 3D graphics for example, O3D delivers high textures and advanced details for an impressive visual experience. As with other forms of 3D graphics, the quality of the graphics depends greatly on the power of your computer's graphics card.

As the technology has only just launched, Google has launched a set of examples for users to try out including a rich beach scene, a ping pong table, and a playable game of checkers. They've also released the following demonstration video for those unwilling to install the software to see the results:

So far the technology shows some great promise. The lighting and textures look good. Certainly the water in the beach scene is impressive although it breaks up when you submerge (use your mouse and arrow keys to explore). We'll have to wait until the professional animators get a chance to play with it to see what the real potential is.