VRML World

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Multimedia Web

The Active X-files

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Design Diary

Moving Worlds Officially Adopted as VRML 2.0

Nearly 300 members of the VRML community chose to adopt Moving Worlds as the basis for the VRML 2.0 specification. Moving Worlds, a project developed jointly by Silicon Graphics, Sony, and Mitra of Paragraph International, was selected from among six different proposals put forth by the global garden of VRML visionaries. The final version of the Moving Worlds binary file format will be based on a modification to Apple Computer's 3DMF, which will allow VRML authors to cut and paste 3-D objects and within VRML worlds.

On the surface, it appears that Moving Worlds and VRML 2.0 will expand the VRML 1.0 specification by adding motion to the nearly static 3-D worlds currently on the Internet. VRML 2.0 scenes and objects will contain behaviors, animation sensors and sounds. This will greatly expand the functionality and capabilities of 3-D worlds far beyond what was previously available.

Seventy-four percent of the voting participants selected Moving Worlds as their favorite from among six possibilities, which was far more than the 14% who chose Active VRML. Additionally, 50% chose Active VRML as their least favorite, primarily because of its incompatibility with VRML 1.0 worlds. Voters were looking for a natural progression from VRML 1.0 to VRML 2.0 for development continuity.

Politically, it was important when Apple redirected their support from Out of this World, the original proposal for 3DMF file format implementation, to Moving Worlds. The Moving Worlds team welcomed the 3DMF concept and utilized collaboration, rather than the competition, for the betterment of the VRML development community and the Web as a whole.

Ziff-Davis Develops Terminal Reality World

The ZD3D segment of the Ziff-Davis Web site contains an extremely cool new VRML world that cleverly uses the metaphor of a transportation terminal hub with vehicles that transport visitors to other VRML worlds on the Web. When visitors to Terminal Reality enter the world they see the main Terminal Reality building in the distance at the center of the VRML scene. Surrounding the building are four vehicles that link (or transport) visitors to other VRML sites.

High in the sky is the Terminal Reality Blimp, which currently takes visitors to the Paragraph International home VRML world. This same link can be found at Gate #2 of the Terminal Reality building. In the waterway adjacent to the building, a large Ocean Liner Ship takes visitors to Intel Pentium Pro launch VRML World, which can also be reached through Gate #1 of the terminal building.

On the landing strip near the Terminal Reality Building, the ZD Airplane flies to Planet9 Studio's Virtual San Francisco. The flight to the Bay Area can alternatively be boarded through Gate #3 of the Terminal Building. The nearby launching pad holds the ZD Rocket, which delivers visitors to PointCom's Point World. Gate #4 of the Terminal also will transport visitors to Point World.

The front entrance to the Terminal Reality Building leads to the inside of the hub. Once inside, visitors can explore many linked objects and icons. In the center of the room is a newsstand, similar to any that would be found in a subway, train, airport, or bus terminal. The only difference is that the publications on the shelf are all linked to digital versions of Ziff Davis publications, including Mac Week, Windows Sources, PC Magazine, Computer Shopper, PC Computing, and PC Week.

Against a wall is a phone booth that links to the Internet Phone's home page. A main gate from within the Terminal Reality building directs visitors to ZDNet's Web site. High on a wall, a loudspeaker provides links to Real Audio's home page.

Recently, this site became available as a multiparticipant VRML world if visitors use Black Sun Interactive's CyberGate VRML viewer. Each visitor is represented by an avatar that physically represents their persona and point of view from within the virtual world.

Cybertown Debuts VRML Conference World at Electronic Cafe International

The 4th anniversary meeting of Electronic Cafe International's monthly public Virtual Reality program will be held on Thursday, April 18, 7:30 PM, PST. In honor of this special occasion, Tony Rockliff and Pascal Baudar, the Executive Producer and Creative Director of Cybertown, have developed a multiple participant VRML world dedicated to the discussion of VRML development issues. Tony and Pascal will demonstrate the site to the attendees at the cafe, while several VRML developers will inhabit the 3-D world remotely via the Web.

To enable multiple users to navigate and interact in the VRML discussion world simultaneously, visitors must employ CyberGate, a free beta plug-in or standalone viewer from Black Sun Interactive.

With offices in San Francisco and Munich, Black Sun Interactive has some of the brightest VRML minds in the U.S. and Europe developing tools that will provide large-scale 3-D worlds in which people from around the world can cohabit through the Web.

To introduce the live audience to Black Sun Interactive's CyberGate technology, Konstantin Guericke, their Vice President of Sales and Marketing, will appear for a live interactive interview from San Francisco. He will be beamed over ISDN lines using PictureTel 4000 Videoconferencing System. Pascal and Tony's demonstration of the online world will begin at about 8:30 PM.

For those VRML aficionados who can't make it to Santa Monica for the live presentation and would like to join in the VRML discussion world demo from afar, here's what to do:

1. Go to Black Sun's Web site and check the system requirements for CyberGate.
2. If your system meets the requirements, download the beta version of Cybergate.
3. Follow the installation instructions and run the program.
4. Choose an avatar from the avatar room, which will be your visual persona.
5. Practice navigating and interacting by entering PointWorld.
6. In CyberGate's URL section, click on http://www.cybertown.com/vrmlconf.wrl.gz for entry into the Cybertown VRML discussion room.

Important Notes:

• If you already are an experienced CyberGate user, skip steps 1-5.
• If you plan to participate online, please try to become familiar with using the CyberGate interface by navigating through the conference room prior to the evening of April 18.
• The VRML Conference World will contain several groups based on different VRML development topics. Please choose one group to participate in or else the public chat space will become too crowded and confusing for controlled interactive discourse to take place.

Directions to ECI Santa Monica: Follow 10 Freeway West to Cloverfield/26th Street Exit, go right on Olympic, then left on 18th Street, then take a right to the end of the block. Go right into the last driveway, and ECI is located at the Southeast corner of the lot at 1649 18th St.

Electronic Cafe International(TM)
Santa Monica Headquarters
Founded 1984
Kit Galloway & Sherrie Rabinowitz, Co-Founders
1649 18th Street
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Tel. 310-828-8732
ecafe@netcom.com

VRML World is compiled by Dave Blackburn, Virtual Ventures, daveb@acex.com.

Archive of past VRML World installments