A new kind of immersive visual and auditory experience on the Web is emerging, fueled by hardware innovations (Wii, iPhone, multitouch displays, etc.) and more powerful programming tools, like PicLens, which offers a small icon cue inset in each Web photo that lets users know they are on a site that can be browsed with the software.

Clicking on the icon transports the user away from the conventional page-oriented Web into an immersive browsing environment.

“If you’re looking for what’s next after the Web browser, this is it,” said Bill Joy, a partner at the Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, the venture firm that is funding Cooliris.