If the cloud is going to work for CAD, then the Web browser has to handle the heavy graphics load imposed by 3D CAD graphics — clipping, rendering, rotating, and so on.
The Khronos Group has just such technology, called WebGL. It accesses OpenGL, technology that many 3D CAD vendors employ to display those spiffy real-time graphics we now take for granted. The catch is that OpenGL and WebGL require the software and operating system to have OpenGL drivers and for your computer operate an OpenGL-compatible graphics board.
Boards from AMD ATi and nVidia support OpenGL, so that's not the problem. The problem lies with convicted-monopolist Microsoft, who is continuing it do all it can to junk openness by imposing its own Direct9 and Direct3D graphics API on licensees of its operating systems.
To cut costs, most 3D games work only with DirectX, and so they could not work inside a browser with WebGL. (Most 3D CAD works with two or more graphics subsystems, such as DirectX, OpenGL, and/or proprietary drivers.)
Google is now linking WebGL with DirectX through ANGLE ("Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine") — it even has a CAD-oriented name! Angle allows WebGL to work with hardware and software that suffers from the DirectX 9c limitation. Now in alpha, the API will also allow WebGL graphics to work on handheld devices.
