release aims to make browser-based video communications easier by giving users the option to allow web apps to access their cameras and microphones without having to install a separate plug-in. Google points out several cool applications that take advantage of this new feature, dubbed “getuserAPI,” including a program that uses a computer’s motion detector to let users play a virtual xylophone and a program that adds real-time visual effects to users’ web videos as they’re being captured. Google says the getuserAPI is just the “first big step for WebRTC, a new real-time communications standard that aims to allow high-quality video and audio communication on the web.”
