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Arcade Fire, Google Create First HTML5-Powered Music Video

 & Joe Osborne Deputy Managing Editor, Hardware

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Internet savvy alt-rock band Arcade Fire just released the first HTML5-powered music video for its most recent single, "We Used to Wait."

With the help of Google Web developers, who used HTML5 optimized for Google Chrome, the rock outfit created an interactive video that incorporates visual data of your hometown using Google Maps, Street View, and the 3D graphics engine within HTML5.

The project, known as "The Wilderness Downtown," was led by music video writer and director Chris Milk of Gnarls Barkley video fame, who collaborated with Google developers on the project. The intent was to create a music experience designed specifically for the modern Web.

"'The Wilderness Downtown' takes you down memory lane through the streets you grew up in," Aaron Koblin with Google Creative Lab wrote in a blog post.

The homepage for the Google experiment details how HTML5 within Google Chrome makes interactivity possible. Specifically, the SVG path drawing tool creates branches of your words depending on the force of your mouse movements.

While this is Arcade Fire's most ambitious Web adventure yet, the band isn't new to embracing technology. On August 5, Arcade Fire broadcast its Madison Square Garden concert on YouTube to an additional 3.7 million viewers, Koblin said.

With the help of HTML5, "powerful experiences tailored to each unique person in real-time are now a reality," he concluded.

More details are available at chromeexperiments.com/arcadefire.

About Our Expert

Joe Osborne

Joe Osborne

Deputy Managing Editor, Hardware

My Experience

After starting my career at PCMag as an intern more than a decade ago, I’m back as one of its editors, focused on managing laptops, desktops, and components coverage. With 15 years of experience, I have been on staff and published in technology review publications, including PCMag (of course!), Laptop Magazine, Tom’s Guide, TechRadar, and IGN. Along the way, I’ve tested and reviewed hundreds of laptops and helped develop testing protocols. I have expertise in testing all forms of laptops and desktops using the latest tools. I’m also well-versed in video game hardware and software coverage.

The Technology I Use

I have ebbed and flowed between Windows-based and Apple hardware and software throughout my life. My first computer was a hand-me-down Apple IIe with the green screen and spool printer. I soon learned Windows with a—yes, hand-me-down—Packard Bell.

Today, I prefer macOS to Windows for its more straightforward integration with the phone I use (an iPhone) and simpler keyboard shortcuts and file management. Also, the hardware and performance are always top-notch, especially with the latest MacBook designs. (Windows, admittedly, still has better multi-window management.)

As for gaming, I’m a Nintendo fan first, a retro gamer second, and a PC gamer third. Expertise aside, it’s a matter of time and preference—not to mention the lack of space I’m willing to give up for a gaming PC in my home.

Finally, I love 3D-printing new miniatures for the tabletop war games that I enjoy playing. I currently use an AnkerMake M5C filament printer to great effect, and I have probably printed more than 100 models between two armies of dwarfs and elves.

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