Google launched  a new Google Labs project today. It’s called Breadcrumb. Here’s the official description:

Breadcrumb enables you to create a variety of mobile learning applications and allows you to make your application work with only three additions to plain text. Infinitely scalable, easy to create, and readable on Internet-enabled smart-phones or computers, Breadcrumb gives you maximum output for the development time.

Google cites the following use cases: 

• Help data-center technicians troubleshoot problems on the datacenter floor.
• Teach novice nurses how to interpret patient symptoms the way expert nurses do.
• Educate new managers about how the decisions they make affect the happiness of their teammates.
• Assist a new learning and development professional who wants to choose a survey tool.
• Engage kids in a choose-your-own-adventure style, text-based learning game.
  

Google hasn’t given many other details about the project yet. It will be interesting to see how it is used. Comments range from excitement to confusion on the experiment’s page.

I find the naming of this project a bit curious, considering Google also often refers to breadcrumbs in the web page navigational sense, as well.