Developing with Google+

Chapter 5. Collaborative Baking with Hangout Apps

Google+ Hangouts provide an easy way to create 10-way video conferences. This is a pretty cool feature on its own, but with the Hangout API you can extend them.

You can author your own JavaScript applications that have access to a data structure that is automatically synchronized between all participants in the hangout. You can also programmatically manipulate many aspects of the running hangout environment, including adding image overlays to the video streams of hangout participants.

Potluck Party Planner

As fun as it is to experiment alone, inviting friends takes baking disasters to the next level. You can distribute the cost of your baking party by making it an ingredient potluck. Your baking friends can each volunteer to bring some of the ingredients for the recipe that you’re going to attempt together.

The process of deciding who will bring what is highly collaborative. It’s a perfect case for a Hangout App. This is a great opportunity to extend your baking disasters web application into a hangout with a Potluck Party Planner app.

Potluck Party Planner allows the hangout participants to select a recipe that they wish to attempt. Next, a list of ingredients is displayed. Participants can then volunteer to bring an ingredient to the party by clicking it. The participant who has agreed to bring the most ingredients is rewarded with a virtual chef’s hat made possible by a media overlay. Finally, participants share a reminder to Google+ ...