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Introduction Ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 1 ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 100 1 PartPart Introduction ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 1 Chapter 1 Why Bother?, 2 Chapter 2 Overview of Web3D,30 Chapter 3 Entering the Third Dimension, 62 ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 2 WHY BOTHER? Topics in This Chapter • Why 3D was unable to reach the mass of Web users before today • Unveiling key Web3D technologies (VRML, X3D, Java 3D, and MPEG-4/BIFS) and the Web3D Consortium • An overview of yesterday’s roadblocks: bandwidth, platform, and authoring-tool limitations • Exploring how Web3D facilitates product and data visualization, eCommerce and business applications, entertainment, Web page enhancement, and news and advertisement enhancement • A tour of the Web3D future by way of VRML sites available today ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 3 1 ChapterChapter D is difficult. Extremely difficult. Thinking and working in three di- mensions is natural for human beings; we do it every moment of every 3day. Our brains are wired for three dimensions because our world is made up of three dimensions: height, width, and depth. But “3D”—the field of computer science that deals expressly with creating, manipulating, and navigating computer content in three dimensions—is difficult. Extremely dif- ficult. It should come as no surprise, then, that Web3D—the distribution and navigation of 3D content over the World Wide Web—is also difficult. In fact, it’s more technologically challenging than traditional 3D, owing to the high bandwidth required to smoothly deliver realistic 3D content through the In- ternet. And, once such content arrives at the desktop, an astonishing amount of computing power is required to interact with it. As a result, compelling Web3D content was practically impossible for the average end user to expe- rience before today. Which raises the question: Why bother? To understand the answer, you must first understand what Web3D actu- ally is. The term “Web3D,” as used throughout this book, didn’t even exist before the end of 1998, even though many of the technologies it describes have been around in one form or another for several years. Web3D does not describe a specific technology, nor is it merely a way to deliver 3D content over the World Wide Web. Finally, Web3D is not solely about content that 3 ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 4 4 Chapter 1 Why Bother? just looks 3D to the eye—a visual trick that any experienced graphics artist can produce with Adobe Photoshop by simply adding the appearance of depth to an image; Web3D goes much further than that. So what’s Web3D all about, and why should you care? Unveiling Web3D Web3D is not a specific technology for delivering 3D over the Internet, it’s not a particular programming language used to develop 3D applications, and it’s not a solitary file format for storing 3D content; Web3D is all of these things. As Chapter 2, “Overview of Web3D,” explains in great detail, Web3D is a general term used to describe protocols, languages, file formats, and other technologies that are used to deliver true, interactive 3D content over the World Wide Web. More specifically, Web3D is a group of standard tech- nologies recommended by the Web3D Consortium for use in delivering 3D content over the Internet. The Web3D Consortium, whose home on the Web can be seen in Fig- ure 1-1, is a non-profit organization comprised of over 50 high-technology companies that provide technical and marketing expertise to advance the state of industry-wide standards for 3D Internet and broadcast applications. Through the Web3D Consortium, industry heavyweights such as Apple, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Mitsubishi Electric, Oracle, Silicon Graphics, Sun, and Sony work together to design, develop, and promote a suite of open, in- teroperable, and standardized technologies known collectively as Web3D. The Web3D Consortium began life several years ago as the VRML Con- sortium, a nonprofit organization focused exclusively on developing and pro- moting the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) as an Internet 3D standard. VMRL, when it burst onto the scene in 1994, was the only player in town when it came to openly developed Internet 3D. Developed in a col- laborative manner, VRML became the first technology officially recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as a standard for the encapsulation, delivery, and playback of 3D over the Internet. VRML ignited the imagination, brought 3D to the Web, and ushered in a suite of VRML-inspired Internet 3D technologies that we know today as Web3D. VRML pioneered the way for Web3D technologies such as Extensible 3D (X3D), Java 3D, MPEG-4’s Binary Format for Scenes ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 5 Unveiling Web3D 5 Figure 1-1 The Web3D Consortium (http://www.web3d.org/) is the center of the Web3D universe, where open, industrywide Internet 3D standards are designed, devel- oped, and promoted. (MPEG-4/BIFS), and other forms of Internet 3D. As the original Internet 3D standard, VRML is truly the center of gravity around which all other forms of Web3D orbit, as illustrated in Figure 1-2. VRML has matured considerably over the years, owing largely to the ef- forts of the VRML Consortium and its members. These efforts paved the way for a variety of new Internet 3D technologies. As a result, in July of 1998, the VRML Consortium officially expanded its charter to embrace all standard Internet 3D technologies and promote interoperability with exist- ing Web technologies such as Dynamic HTML (DHTML), Document Object Model (DOM), Extensible Markup Language (XML), and Motion Picture Experts Group level 4 (MPEG-4). ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 6 6 Chapter 1 Why Bother? MPEG-4/BIFS 1999 to 2000 1998 VRML Java 1994 3D X3D 2000 Figure 1-2 As the original Internet 3D standard, VRML is the center of gravity around which Web3D revolves. In December of that same year the VRML Consortium was formally re- named the “Web3D Consortium” to reflect its broadened role, making “Web3D” a general term that describes a number of interoperable Internet 3D standards endorsed by the consortium. Today, Web3D as defined by the consortium includes VRML and the forthcoming X3D, both of which were developed within the consortium. Java 3D and MPEG-4/BIFS, on the other hand, have not yet been “blessed” by the Web3D Consortium, although they may be in the future. MPEG-4 has already been designated an ISO standard, while Sun has struggled to standardize Java (the parent technology of Java 3D) through the standards-setting group of the European Computer Manu- facturers Association (ECMA) as well as ISO. In this book we’ll cover Java 3D and MPEG-4/BIFS in addition to VRML and X3D, as the term Web3D is meant to expand in meaning over time to encompass those technologies that satisfy the goals of the Web3D Consor- tium. We believe these four technologies are key to Internet 3D. While you may find the evolution of VRML, Web3D, and the Web3D Consortium interesting, it doesn’t explain why you should bother with Web3D in the first place. After all, VRML has been around for years and it has yet to live up to the hype it generated when first introduced to the ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 7 Everything Changes with Web3D 7 Note: Web3D to Me At the time of this writing Web3D as defined by the Web3D Consortium includes only VRML and the forthcoming Extensible 3D (X3D, due in 2000). We’ll refer to Java 3D and MPEG-4/BIFS as forms of Web3D, how- ever, as they are both significant Internet 3D technologies and good candi- dates for “blessing” by the consortium. MPEG-4 has already achieved status as an international ISO standard, while Java is now under evaluation for approval as an ECMA standard. Internet community. It’s true that VRML has progressed by leaps and bounds since those early days, and a variety of related Web3D technologies have also emerged that you can use together with VRML or independently, but even so, why bother? Everything Changes with Web3D The simple answer to why you should bother with Web3D is that, as of today, everything changes. At the time of this writing, the Web3D Consor- tium is just over a year old and in full blossom as it embraces an expanded charter that unifies an entire industry around a suite of open, interoperable technologies. By the end of the year 2000, all fundamental Web3D technolo- gies and infrastructures will have matured to a point that makes Web-based 3D content relatively easy to create, deploy, and experience. Before today, there was no such thing as Web3D. VRML was the only op- tion when it came to open, standardized 3D on the Web. Unfortunately, major technological barriers sat between VRML and the average end user, effectively walling VRML off from the general public and making it the pri- vate domain of a relatively small community of researchers, educators, and 3D enthusiasts. These barriers, which can now be overcome, included: • Bandwidth limitations • Platform limitations • Content authoring-tool limitations ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 8 8 Chapter 1 Why Bother? These barriers didn’t magically disappear. In fact, they didn’t disappear at all; these are issues that still exist today. The magic, if you can call it that, is the way in which innovative technological solutions and the march of time have provided a way for VRML and other forms of Web3D to reach the av- erage end user despite these challenges.
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