GOOGLE BUILD

Lego and Google join forces to bring the much-loved construction toy to your browser.

Video: Sydney Harbour Bridge created in Build with Chrome

Lego’s ad campaigns, like the recent “Imagine”, always suggest that the possibilities are endless. And the popular building toy has proven itself to be versatile – from the characters starring in recreations of movies and pieces even being used to reconstruct the Olympics.

You can now even build your own creation on a plot of land in the South Pacific too – in cyber space that is.

“Build” is an experiment by Google that gives users the tools for bringing anything in their mind’s eye to digital life on the Chrome browser. 

Google’s Sydney offices worked with with Lego Australia, thinking about what would happen if they brought bricks to the browser. Build was the result, and their latest Chrome experiment lets you explore and build a new world of Lego creations together online. With eight trillion bricks (according to Google Australia), think of Build as the largest Lego set you’ve ever seen.

“Build may look simple, but this collaborative 3D building experience would not have been possible a couple of years ago,” says Google Australia.

“It shows how far browser technology has come and how the web is an amazing platform for creativity. We made the bricks with WebGL, which enables powerful 3D graphics right in the browser and demonstrates the upper limit of current WebGL graphics performance.  We then mixed in Google Maps (another Aussie invention) so you can put your creation in a LEGO world alongside everyone else’s.”

Currently, the browser only allows users to select land to build on in Australia and New Zealand, but Google says they hope to open up in other countries soon.

“This year is the 50th anniversary of the Lego brick in Australia and Build joins the celebration of the Lego “Festival of Play” online.

If you want to join in, just click "Build" on the page and the program will select a plot at random, which you can change if the one you want is available. You will then be supplied with a variety of Lego bricks in different sizes and colours, as well as a few optional extras like windows and doors.

Though from seeing what people have already built over the last few months on their plots, it seems users are feeling a bit more creative. You can find all sorts, from the medieval castles on