Think side-to-side cover flow is so last year? Google Books now has a (rather experimental) and flashy new interface styled after a helix. Check out the video to see it in action.

Google likes redesigning things, and in this case, they redesigned the bookcase. From the announcement:

A digital interface needs to be familiar enough to be intuitive, while simultaneously taking advantage of the lack of constraints in a virtual space. In this case, we imagined something that looks like the shelves in your living room, but is also capable of showcasing the huge number of titles available online—many more than fit on a traditional shelf. With this in mind, we designed a digital bookcase that’s an infinite 3D helix. You can spin it side-to-side and up and down with your mouse. It holds 3D models of more than 10,000 titles from Google Books.

Within the spiral the books are sorted by subject and clicking on any book takes you to the entry in Google Books. If you’re rocking a browser with WebGL support and a modern graphics card, hit up the link below to take it for a spin.

WebGL Bookcase [The Official Google Blog via Google Operating System]