This visualization was developed and designed by the Google Data Arts Team using WebGL, a new technology for modern browsers that uses your computer’s hardware to generate fast, 3D graphics. As a result, you need a WebGL-enabled browser, like Google Chrome, to see the Globe. You can learn more about the technology behind the Globe on the Google Code Blog.
The Search Globe visualizes searches from one day, and shows the language of the majority of queries in an area in different colors. You’ll see a bright landscape of queries across Europe, and parts of Asia for instance, but unfortunately we see many fewer searches from parts of the world lacking Internet access—and often electricity as well—like Africa. We hope that as the Internet continues to become more accessible over time and people continue to ask questions, we’ll see this globe shine brightly everywhere.
We’ve also open sourced this platform so that developers can build their own globes using their own data, and we look forward to seeing other globes orbiting around the web.
Update 12:45PM: If you'd like to embed the Search Globe on your own site, here's the embed code:
<iframe src="http://data-arts.appspot.com/globe-search/embed" height="500" width="500"></iframe>
Enjoy!
