In 2010, OnLive introduced a revolutionary idea – leverage the power of the cloud to stream PC games to any PC regardless of its specs. Now a number of Web companies are taking that idea even further with a new Web technology that does the same thing in any browser.
Mozilla announced today that it has partnered with OTOY and Autodesk to bring a new HTML5 tool called ORBX.js to the Web. The Web technology allows HTML5 applications to leverage AWS to deliver graphics-intensive applications to any modern Web browser. Think of it like OnLive for the Web, but it can be used for more than just games.
At the moment, ORBX.js is only available to AWS customers. That means those who use AWS can integrate the new Web technology into their app to deliver high-quality graphics-intensive applications to any compatible browser. One such application is Octane Cloud Workstation – Autodesk Edition – a Web app that will allow designers to create sophisticated 3D models without having to own their own powerful workstation. All the work is done on AWS’ servers and is then delivered seamlessly to the user’s PC or other compatible device.
“Designers and engineers have an increasing need to be mobile, accessing the tools they need anytime, anywhere and from any device. Simple viewing and mark-up of documents is no longer sufficient – they need to be able to access powerful 3D design applications, be able to do real design work and not worry about sacrificing performance,” said Jeff Kowalski, Chief Technology Officer at Autodesk. “This is now possible with technology developed by Autodesk, AWS and OTOY.”
Here’s a video demo of Octane Cloud running in Firefox:
Despite the main emphasis of this technology being on graphics-intensive applications, like 3D modeling software, it’s said that ORBX.js can also be used to deliver state-of-the-art gaming experiences to people over the cloud.
On a final note, OTOY is also offering a subscription service that gives users access to a top-of-the-line workstation PC over the Cloud for $9.99 a month. The demo you saw above was using the same cloud workstation PC to run Adobe Creative Cloud and Unreal Engine 4. You can find out more over at OTOY’s Web site.
[Image: firefoxchannel/YouTube]