Introduction Ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 1

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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 dimensions 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 difficult. 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 experience before today. Which raises the question: Why bother? To understand the answer, you must first understand what Web3D actually 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

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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 technologies 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, interoperable, 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 promoting 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, developed, 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 efforts 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

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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, however, 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 technologies 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 average end user despite these challenges. While the barriers that originally prevented VRML from reaching the masses still exist today, we now know how to get around them. With this in mind, let’s dig a little deeper into the fundamental challenges that prevented VRML from taking over the world before today, and see how the next generation of VRML and other Web3D technologies overcome these challenges.

Bandwidth Limitations

Web3D is delivered to end users primarily via the Internet. Exceptions exist, of course, because Web3D can also be delivered on fixed media such as CD-ROM, but it almost goes without saying that “Web” 3D is typically experienced over the World Wide Web. That means using a browser such as Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer equipped with a plug-in (see “Platform Limitations,” later in this chapter, to learn more about Web3D

Don’’t Believe the Hype

The first version of VRML was by no means perfect, and its lack of key features such as behavior modeling and animation capabilities undoubtedly contributed to its inability to live up to early hype. Although VRML 2.0 solved the shortcomings of VRML 1.0, it remained, practically speak- ing, out of reach of the general public until today, primarily because of bandwidth, platform, and authoring-tool limitations. It’s hard to recall any technology that has fully lived up to massive early hype. Java, for example, is only now emerging with deliverables that mesh with version 1.0 promises, while some technologies aren’t so lucky and practically drown as a result of their own big splash (remem- ber the Internet “Push” craze?). VRML, meanwhile, continues to gain momentum and grow in popularity, even as it shakes off the hangover of the early hype naturally associated with any technology that promises to bring “Virtual Reality” to the masses. ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 9

Everything Changes with Web3D 9

plug-ins). Web3D is challenged by bandwidth limitations in the same way that every single page on the Web is: If there’s not enough bandwidth available to smoothly deliver content to the end user, the experience will be less than pleasant. Bandwidth is always a concern when dealing with the Internet; there never seems to be enough of it to go around. When VRML was invented in mid 1990s, 14.4-Kbps modems were considered lightning fast. Even though VRML was designed from the very beginning to be bandwidth efficient, even modest 3D content created with the language could take several min- utes to transmit over dial-up modems of that speed. To complicate matters, the most compelling VRML scenes often contain both images and sounds, further straining meager network connections. As a result, it wasn’t uncommon for end users connecting to the Internet from home to wait half an hour or more to experience complex VRML content as it sluggishly crawled from the server to the client over a modem connection. A high-speed network connection, typically available at the time only to higher education, research facilities, and big businesses, was often required to tap into the best VRML content. Sadly, the vast majority of Web surfers simply didn’t have enough bandwidth to experience VRML in all its glory before now. Today, bandwidth is becoming less and less of an issue, thanks to the pro- liferation of 56-Kbps dial-up modems, cable modems, and a variety of high- speed network connections to the home such as ISDN, DSL, and even satellite access. As the year 2000 unfolds, the home Internet access market is fast approaching network speeds that enable easy delivery of rich 3D content. Today’s high-speed Internet connections for the home greatly extend the reach of VRML and other forms of Web3D, especially when combined with bandwidth-conscious technologies such as streaming, compression, and Uni- versal Media (see Figure 1-3). Streaming allows content to be delivered over the network incrementally, meaning the end user can experience Web3D as it comes over the wire, a little at a time, rather than having to wait for everything to arrive in full. Compression (particularly binary compression) allows Web3D scenes to be substantially reduced in size long before the download journey actually begins, saving precious bandwidth that would otherwise be consumed in the process. Powerful compression schemes used by MPEG- 4/BIFS, for example, can produce tightly packed scene files that are twenty times smaller than the uncompressed originals. Whereas both streaming and compression make efficient use of network bandwidth, Universal Media is a collection of locally resident media ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 10

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Figure 1-3 New technologies such as streaming, compression, and Universal Media allow media-rich Web3D to be delivered over slow network connections (http://www.web3d.org/WorkingGroups/).

elements (images, sounds, and objects) that allow media-rich Web3D content to be created without concern for bandwidth at all. Because Universal Media resides on the end user’s hard drive, these media elements don’t need to be downloaded over the network; only the Web3D scene is sent over the wire to the desktop, where it can be combined with media that are stored locally. Thanks to these new technologies and low-cost, high-speed network connections, compelling, media-rich Web3D content can now be smoothly delivered. With bandwidth concerns considerably reduced, Web3D finally has an opportunity to invade the home and reach the masses. Making the trip from server to end user is only one leg of the journey, however; such content must actually be delivered into a hospitable computing environment in order ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 11

Everything Changes with Web3D 11

to be executed. With this in mind, our focus now turns to the platform, another area that seriously challenged VRML in the past but is practically a nonissue today.

Platform Limitations

VRML was always intended for the masses; the technology was originally conceived as an Internet 3D standard that would allow the average Web surfer to become immersed in virtual reality content using little more than a Web browser. Unfortunately, complex 3D environments demanded much more than contemporary off-the-shelf consumer PCs and Web browsers could offer. The Web3D “platform”—the combination of hardware and software required to partake of immersive 3D content delivered over the Web— is substantial, to say the least. VRML isn’t native to the Web, nor are other forms of Web3D; a browser plug-in is required to actually handle such content. But a browser plug-in capable of dealing with Web3D isn’t enough; the computer on which the Web browser and plug-in are run must also be up to the challenge. Until re- cently, only expensive, high-powered workstations were capable of gracefully

Platform Particulars

Although the term “platform” has historically meant the combination of an operating system (OS) and hardware that together provide an environment under which software applications may be run, such as the Windows OS combined with Intel-based computers, software-only plat- forms are now becoming mainstream. The Java platform, for example, is a popular software-only platform that isn’t bound to a specific hardware system. It is instead defined as the combination of a Virtual Machine (VM) interpreter and a standard Application Programming Interface (API), both of which are software implementations. Together the Java VM and Java API provide a software runtime environment through which Java programs can run across a wide variety of hardware systems. Because it’s not bound to a specific hardware system, Java provides developers with a more broadly defined notion of what a platform can be. ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 12

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handling 3D content with which the user could interact. As a result, only a very small segment of the Internet community has had what amounted to an adequate Web3D platform. Today, however, a Web3D platform has emerged for the average consumer. Personal computers now available for less than $1,000 can easily out- perform high-end workstations that cost 10 times as much only a few years ago. Just as high-speed network connections have invaded the home, computers capable of handling the demands of Web3D have flooded the market. Practically every new personal computer sold since 1999 is up to the challenge, and the vast majority of PCs purchased by consumers today are overkill. At the time of this writing, over 80 percent of all new computers sold come standard with either a 3D video board installed or a 3D chipset inte- grated directly with the motherboard or CPU. By late 2000, analysts predict that nearly every new computer will come equipped with a 3D video board, 3D chipset, or 3D-enhanced CPU designed specifically to handle complex 3D processing. Even the least expensive personal computers sold today are more powerful than the majority of special-purpose 3D visualization workstations coveted by scientists and researchers when VRML was brand spank- ing new. While computers double in power every 18 months even as they plummet in price, following Moore’s Law, the software side of the Web3D platform advances at an even more astonishing pace. The VRML specification is in its third major revision, giving it capabilities that are leaps and bounds above the original version introduced in 1994, while browser plug-ins required to handle VRML content have improved even more dramatically. Today’s most popular VRML plug-ins are several orders of magnitude more sophisticated than those of just a few years ago, and, in keeping with the spirit of the Web itself, they’re free! The majority of personal computers sold today come preinstalled with a Web browser, and many come with a modern VRML plug-in as well. Not only are today’s entry-level computers exceptionally powerful in terms of their ability to process 3D content, many also come equipped to handle at least one form of Web3D out of the box. A consumer who buys a system not already equipped with a Web3D plug-in can grab one off the Internet. Browser plug-ins for VRML and Java 3D are readily available on the Web for free, with those for X3D and MPEG-4 to follow, while the processing power needed to truly take advantage of the 3D content they deliver is being mass produced for sale at rock-bottom prices compared to what equivalent systems cost years ago. ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 13

Everything Changes with Web3D 13

Moore’’s Law

Gordon Moore’s time-proven law asserts that the transistor capacity of microchips will double approximately every year and a half without a corresponding rise in production costs. Although Moore observed this fact in 1965, even before the dawn of the semiconductor age that he ushered in as founder of Intel in 1968, it remains true even today. Moore’s Law helps to explain why computers roughly double in power and capacity every 18 months without a corresponding rise in price— and why a Web3D Platform the consumer market can comfortably afford is now at hand.

Without a doubt, a Web3D platform for the masses has arrived (see Fig- ure 1-4). However, platform and bandwidth limitations weren’t the only fac- tors that prevented yesterday’s VRML from sweeping the Web. A scarcity of low-cost, high-quality development tools also played a part. Without development tools that the novice Webmaster can comfortably afford and quickly master, VRML and other forms of Web3D remain the exclusive domain of software developers who can actually weave content at the code level. Unfortunately, no form of Web3D is easy to code by hand; to create compelling 3D content with a language such as VRML or Java 3D requires experience, skill, and lots of patience. Fortunately, inexpensive visual development tools are now available that give everyone a shot at creating powerful Web3D content that can impress even the most experienced software developers.

Figure 1-4 The Web3D Platform has emerged today thanks to dramatic increases in personal computing horsepower and sophisticated, freely available browser plug-ins.

Web 3d Platform

Power Computers Plug-ins ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 14

14 Chapter 1 Why Bother?

Content Authoring-Tool Limitations

Only a few years ago, if you wanted to create VRML content, you actually had to know how to program in the VRML language. Although a number of authoring tools have been introduced with a splash since VRML first set sail in the high seas of Internet 3D, most weren’t comprehensive enough to keep a typical Web developer’s head above water. In the old days, you had to sub- merge yourself in the VRML programming language if you wanted to take advantage of everything the standard offers. Today, however, powerful yet affordable Web3D content development tools abound. Over the years, VRML authoring tools have matured in step with the language itself; gone are the days when advanced programming was required to create complex, fully interactive Web3D content. To create sophisticated, interactive Web3D pages these days, you need only point and click using any of several visual authoring tools as depicted in Figure 1-5. Shoring up the abundance of feature-rich, cost-effective VRML authoring tools that were available at the time this book went to print, powerful X3D, Java 3D, and MPEG-4 authoring tools will undoubtedly emerge in the coming years as well. By 2001 content developers will be able to pick and choose from a wide assortment of affordable, professional Web3D authoring products that will require little more than a mouse and imagination to operate. Visual VRML authoring tools that once cost hundreds of dollars, for example, have plum- meted in price while increasing significantly in capability and can now be had for less than a month’s supply of Starbuck’s cappuccino. To add fuel to the fire,

Figure 1-5 Thanks to advances in affordable authoring tools, you can now create stun- ning Web3D content using little more than a mouse and your index finger (Nendo image courtesy of Nichimen Graphics, http://www.nichimen.com/). ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 15

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a new generation of exceptionally powerful and affordable 3D modeling tools such as Nichimen’s Nendo modeler (see Figure 1-5) support VRML, making it easier than ever to become a Web3D content author. Creating original Web3D content is now a snap thanks to widespread availability of affordable, powerful, and comprehensive VRML authoring tools, while other forms of Web3D will be just as easy to author with the im- minent arrival of X3D, Java 3D, and MPEG-4 authoring tools. Where once the circle of proficient VRML developers numbered in the thousands, today’s visual authoring tools can empower millions. Professional and novice Web developers of all stripes and colors can tap into the power of Web3D without actually learning the programming languages that lurk just beneath the surface. Artists, architects, sales people, business owners, musicians, and marketers represent just a fraction of the population that has a need for Web3D and can now create and publish it themselves. Web3D is about to explode in popularity because the right tools are now making their way into eager and capable hands. In much the same way that images and sounds swarmed the Web once high-quality, low-cost graphics and audio editors became widely available, Web3D is now poised for liftoff thanks to a wealth of sophisticated authoring tools that are available to the general public for little or no cost.

Web3D in Action

Like nearly every important technology, Web3D will improve over time. Just as VRML has progressed by leaps and bounds since it was first conceived in 1994, the relatively new Java 3D and forthcoming X3D and MPEG-4/BIFS technologies will improve dramatically, while developers become more skilled at exploiting their already impressive capabilities. In just a handful of years, we’ll all be able to interact with Toy Story-quality 3D delivered over the Internet and a variety of broadcast networks, allowing us to become fully immersed in realistic 3D worlds that aren’t yet possible. Although tomorrow promises to consume us in a three-dimensional cyber- space the likes of which Tim Berners-Lee, Dave Raggett, Mark Pesce, Tony Parisi, and legions of like-minded 3D aficionados only dream of, Web3D is already changing the way we interact with the Internet. Thanks to VRML, Web3D is changing the way we work, learn, and play this very moment. Right here, right now. ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 16

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Note: Web3D Gallery Links to the VRML examples described in the following text are available online through the Web3D Gallery (www.web3dgallery.com). The Web3D Gallery will also showcase compelling Java 3D, X3D, and MPEG-4/BIFS content as they push the envelope of online 3D even further.

In the sections that follow, we’ll explore the many ways in which Web3D— by way of VRML—is already affecting the very concept of Web content and how we experience it. As you walk through these examples, you’ll see that compelling, interactive 3D content is the low-hanging fruit of today’s Web and is ripe for the picking. All you have to do is reach for it.

Product and Data Visualization

Product visualization and data visualization are two areas where three dimensions truly outshine two. Without Web3D, products and information on the Web are typically presented to the viewer in the form of 2D images, a para- graph or more of descriptive text, or a combination of both images and text. And while a photograph or illustration can go a long way towards accurately describing a product, especially when accompanied by a text description, traditional two-dimensional images and text lack the expressive power of Web3D. Whereas images and text are static and can only be experienced from a single perspective, Web3D allows products to be visualized from whatever angle the end user desires and in many ways that images and text simply do not allow. The Nokia communicator seen in Figure 1-6, for example, is an example of Web3D product visualization designed to give the end user complete control over the viewing experience. Rather than merely looking at a photo or illustration of the combination cellular phone and personal digital assistant (PDA), or reading a description about it, Web3D gives us the ability to thoroughly examine it from any angle we’d like and actually give the device a test drive. We can zoom in and inspect in great detail specific parts of the communicator, which sports a clam-shell design. When closed, the device looks much like any other cell phone, yet it flips open to reveal a small screen and ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 17

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Figure 1-6 Product visualization gives us the power to interactively examine and even “test drive” goods such as this Nokia 9000 communicator device (http://www.cybelius.com/FrmVir.htm).

keyboard (seen in Figure 1-6). Merely clicking on this VRML model triggers a smooth, animated transition from phone to email system, making it imme- diately evident what the main features of this clever consumer device are. Further exploration reveals that this particular demonstration is more than eye candy; it actually supports email. Using my own computer keyboard I send an email message to anyone on the Internet by way of the VRML model, a simple but effective task that really drives home the fact that the Nokia 9000 communicator isn’t merely a cellular phone. ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 18

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Thanks to Web3D, we can also view our prospective purchases in a variety of configurations. Consider the piece of office furniture seen in Figure 1-7. Don’t like the standard, drab steel surface of this desk? No problem; slap on a nice pine veneer instead. Pine isn’t your bag, baby? Because this interactive experience is designed to let you build and customize a variety of furniture pieces, you can choose a number of different materials for your new desk (and even a different desk, or an entirely new piece of furniture for that matter). If

Figure 1-7 Product visualization can allow prospective buyers to interactively assemble and customize purchases, such as the style and material of this office desk (http://www.technicon.com/prod-show.htm). ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 19

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metal and steel don’t appeal to you, how about a strange, rubbery surface material? This is Web3D, after all. There’s no need to settle for anything less than your personalized desk, however outlandish your personal taste may be. Suppose you’re shopping the Web for a new bike, which you can assemble and customize courtesy of Web3D. Data visualization can be used to convey how much your bike will cost, the reliability and availability of each custom piece you select, how long it will take to assemble, and when it should reach you by mail. Information such as this would traditionally be displayed in text format, which can be difficult to digest. Using Web3D, however, data can be visualized and presented in a more palatable and understandable form than ever before. Data visualization isn’t new. Scientists have relied on it for years to help them make sense of extremely complex information sets such as global weather patterns, seismic activity, human gene mapping, and other types of highly sophisticated data that would be impossible to comprehend in raw form. Today, however, data visualization has escaped from research labs and found a new home on the Internet. Web3D brings data visualization to the Web, where massive mountains of data grow even more massive with every passing minute. Data relating to Web surfing trends, user demographics, the medical industry, electronic commerce activity, and even the stock market is routinely collected through the Internet. Large volumes of complex data sets such as these are nearly impossible to make sense of without data visualization, yet can be easily under- stood when viewed as Web3D content. Figure 1-8, for example, displays medical and weather information in an intuitive 3D form that would be a nightmare to comprehend as raw data. Visualized as Web3D content, complex data such as this is a snap to understand. You can interactively examine the innards of a human body constructed from very complex magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans (http://www.npac.syr.edu/projects/3Dvisiblehuman/). Likewise, the 3D weather model is an interactive 3D visualization of global weather data collected by satellites in orbit over the earth (http://vrml.gsfc.nasa.gov/). In both cases, Web3D makes it possible to intuitively comprehend and explore extremely complex information visually.

eCommerce and Business Applications

In recent years, the Web has become an astonishing conduit for commerce. Electronic commerce (eCommerce) and general business applications now account for the vast majority of Web development expenditures. After all, ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 20

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Figure 1-8 Data visualization can help make complex information such as medical data (left) or weather-pattern data (right) relatively easy to understand.

how many multimillion-dollar Web sites can you think of that aren’t concerned with generating revenue in one form or another, or attracting and re- taining customers? Not many, you’ll probably agree. As eCommerce and business applications continue to fuel the growth of the Web, while the cost to produce and maintain such sites skyrockets, the companies behind these efforts are understandably concerned with getting the high- est possible return for their investment. Techniques and technologies such as personalization, cross-promotion, affinity programs, digital coupons, contests, and sweepstakes are among the mechanisms commonly employed by eCom- merce and business sites to gain an edge or simply remain competitive. Web3D is rapidly emerging as a powerful competitive tool for eCom- merce and business sites, where product and data visualization can make all the difference to a surfer who needs a compelling reason to actually make a ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 21

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purchase (see the previous section for information about visualization). Web3D also increases the “stickiness” of Web sites, as interactive 3D content tends to suck surfers into an involved experience that lasts much longer than that of viewing static content such as text or images. Web3D also allows very abstract concepts to be expressed in ways that promote business. Sun’s Java House, for instance, is an example of visualization used to explain a concept rather than a product or data set. Seen in Fig- ure 1-9, the Java House provides a Web3D tour of Sun’s complex Java 2

Figure 1-9 Sun’s Java House, built using a combination of Java 3D and VRML, is an interactive overview of the Java 2 Platform (http://www.sun.com/desktop/java3d/demos/ javahouse.html). ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 22

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Platform. It helps people understand the relationships among the many technologies that make up the Java 2 Platform, which are rather difficult to understand by merely reading specifications and press releases. In this respect, Web3D contributes to Sun’s business objective of promoting the complex Java 2 platform. Figure 1-10 illustrates another area where Web3D can help businesses. Real estate agents and brokers often use the Web to display photographs and text de- scriptions of the buildings and homes they represent. Photographs and text, however, can go only so far and are often misleading. Web3D real estate, on the other hand, gives prospective clients a chance to actually walk through properties and examine them in detail. Architectural walk-throughs such as this can save both parties a great deal of time and frustration; buyers and sellers need not meet in person to visit properties that don’t stand a good chance of selling. Virtual real estate and product, data, and concept visualization are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to exploiting Web3D for eCommerce and

Figure 1-10 Web3D real estate allows renters and owners to tour prospective properties from the comfort of their own home (http://www.planet9.com/). ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 23

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business gains. Advertisements, corporate identity, and product demos all lend themselves to Web3D content, whether fully immersive or merely animated. Simple animated logos and marketing presentations are less sophisticated forms of Web3D that are commonly used for business purposes, although they remain high-impact alternatives to the traditional photos and text found on most corporate Web sites. At the other end of the complexity spectrum, Web3D virtual sales agents can help close an online deal, while virtual customer-assistance agents can help customers solve problems around the clock.

Entertainment: Fun and Games

Entertainment is, without a doubt, the most common way in which people today are exposed to 3D. Computer and console games have infiltrated the home, bringing 3D to the masses. Today, 3D is all the rage in games played on personal computers and console gaming devices such as Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and Sony PlayStation. Best-selling games such as Quake, Tomb Raider, Super Mario 64, GoldenEye 007, Banjo Kazooie, Soul Reaver, and countless others push interactive 3D to the max in their quest for realism and smooth game play. Likewise, many movies today take advantage of 3D in order to add a dash of realism to otherwise entirely fabricated characters, props, and locations. Box- office smashes Toy Story, Antz, and A Bug’s Life were all created using sophisticated 3D technology developed exclusively for the movie industry. Although most movies aren’t completely computer generated as these were, 3D technology nonetheless plays a major part in the production of nearly every movie made today. Almost every film that rolls out of Hollywood uses 3D technology in some way or another, so that anyone who has seen a movie in the past decade or so has been exposed to 3D whether they realize it or not. Even though Web3D is many years away from being able to produce film- quality 3D for the Internet, today’s crop of Web3D games and movie shorts deliver compelling Internet entertainment nonetheless. Figure 1-11, for example, shows an interactive game based on the Lost in Space television series and movie. As part of the promotional activity for the box-office movie re- leased in 1998, Shout Interactive (http://www.shoutinteractive.com/) created this first-person shoot-’em-up using VRML. In the online game you become the robot, blasting your way through creepy mechanical spiders while des- perately searching for a means to repair your damaged space craft. Although the good folks at Shout have created a number of Web3D promotional pieces such as the Lost in Space game, they are perhaps best known for a series of VRML movies featuring “Jo” and “Oscar.” Seen frozen in time ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 24

24 Chapter 1 Why Bother?

Figure 1-11 Lost in Space is an interactive Web3D game based on the movie and television series of the same name (http://dangerwillrobinson.lycos.com/vrml-s.html).

in Figure 1-12, Jo and Oscar dance the night away to a thumping Latin beat. Since they inhabit continuously looping, never-ending VRML animations, you don’t actually have a chance to interact with Jo and Oscar. Instead, you simply sit back and watch the duo cut a rug on the dance floor, battle evil in the mean streets of their VRML world, and outrun gun-toting bad men. Many other intriguing 3D characters live on the Web, courtesy of Web3D. Dilbert stepped into three dimensions long ago (http://www. unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/animations/), making him one of the first ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 25

Web3D in Action 25

3D Movie Magic

Because traditional movies aren’t interactive, they really can’t be compared to Web3D and the often-proprietary 3D technologies used to create console games, which put the user in the driver’s seat. Movies are shot entirely from one viewpoint. When you watch a movie, you simply look at the frames of film as they speed by (giving the illusion of move- ment). You have no control over what point of view you see the movie from, nor can you navigate the contents of a movie; you can only watch what the director wants you to see. The lack of interactivity in traditional movies is a benefit, actually, because it gives movie producers the ability to create 3D scenes of exceptionally high quality. Such scenes are extremely computer intensive and can take hours (and sometimes days) to render, even when the task is shared by a roomful of high-powered workstations. When rendering is complete, the individual frames of a scene are shot to film for your viewing pleasure. The results can be mind-blowing, as The Matrix and The Phantom Menace have proved, although such movies are impossible to render in real time today. Nor can they be viewed over the Internet without substantial compression (and subsequent degradation of visual quality) due to the massive storage and bandwidth requirements of film. Each frame in a motion picture can require more than 50 megabytes of disk storage, meaning that every few seconds of film can easily consume over 1.5 giga- bytes of storage when in uncompressed digital form. Web3D movies, on the other hand, sacrifice quality for control. Al- though you can watch them from whatever viewpoint the movie’s producers set for you, you can take control whenever you want. With Web3D, you can change perspective at will, watching the movie from the viewpoint of any character you choose. You can also interact with Web3D movies if they’re designed with such participation in mind. Al- though they can’t match the realism of motion pictures, they offer a level of interactivity that traditional movies can’t touch. ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 26

26 Chapter 1 Why Bother?

Figure 1-12 Jo and Oscar dance the night away in Shout’s MOD “Dance Party,” one of several VRML movies featuring the duo (http://www.modvr.com).

traditional comic-strip characters to experience depth as well as height and width. Floops, meanwhile, is a strange-looking creature that has never known the flat world. Created to showcase the Cosmo line of VRML products, Floops began life as an interactive Web3D character and has appeared in 65 grin- evoking online episodes (http://www.cosmosoftware.com/galleries/floops). Of course, games and cartoons aren’t the only way in which Web3D weaves its way into the entertainment world. Take, for example, the NBC Tonight Show studio seen in Figure 1-13. Here an interactive VRML world is used to promote real-world broadcast entertainment. Thanks to Web3D, you can take a virtual tour of the Hollywood studio that Jay Leno calls home, seeing for yourself what it would be like to walk through the facility and take a seat as an audience member. If you are more interested in being a guest, nothing stops you from sauntering up to Jay’s desk and taking a seat along- side the famously chinned host. ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 27

Web3D in Action 27

Figure 1-13 Take a Web3D tour of NBC’s Tonight Show studio and view the stage from any seat in the house. Tickets not included (http://www.nbc.com/3dstudios/).

Web Page Enhancement

The most common form of 3D on the Web today is not interactive content, but 3D-style images. Animated GIF images often are used to further enhance the illusion of 3D, although many 3D images don’t even go that far. Animated or not, these images merely enhance the visual appeal of Web pages, lending a “3D-ish” look to otherwise static content. Web3D, by comparison, gives Web site developers a much bigger bang for their buck. For roughly the same amount of effort they can have truly interactive 3D content. And, because Web3D is extremely compact, a well-designed interactive world is often more bandwidth efficient than a series of animated images. In fact, some of the most striking VRML Web page effects consume less than 25 KB in disc space and download almost instantly over dial-up modems. ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 28

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News and Advertisement Enhancement

Because it can convey valuable information about a story or product that video, audio, and text alone cannot, Web3D is an ideal technology to enhance both online news and advertisements. Today, in fact, traditional news and advertisements are commonly enhanced with traditional 3D. 3D simulations that help the audience to visualize what reporters are saying often accompany traditional news stories about topics such as weather patterns, medial breakthroughs, and traffic accidents. Likewise, traditional television advertisements frequently rely on 3D to bring products to life and to create compelling characters out of thin air that hawk goods without a hint of embarrassment. With traditional forms of news and advertisement becoming so dependent on 3D, online forms are bound to find the same value in Web3D. For example, CNN embraced Web3D to bring an online story about the International Space Station to life (http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/multimedia/ vrml/iss/). Although the space station is years from completion, CNN’s VRML model gives anyone on the Web a chance to climb inside and take a virtual tour long before real-life astronauts will. Thanks to Web3D, this news story was greatly enhanced by an interactive model that people could actually play with and explore. Try to do that with television. In a similar way, online advertisers, such as Volkswagen, tapped into the power of Web3D to add a new dimension to their products. When the new Beetle was introduced, a VRML model on Volkswagen’s Web site allowed you to actually grab the car with your mouse and take it for a spin. You could step inside, close the doors, and ease the leather driver’s seat back; you could even play with the steering wheel, windows, and glove box. This Web3D model, a fully interactive component of the online advertisement, allowed you to kick the tires without actually visiting a car dealer. There are plenty more examples of how Web3D enhances online news and advertisements. It’s no mistake that online news sites and advertisers are quickly tapping into interactive 3D as a way to enhance their content. They’re already using 3D in the real world, after all, and with Web3D they get the added bonus of true interactivity.

Summary

Web3D, a relatively new term introduced by the Web3D Consortium (www.web3d.org) to describe all standard forms of Internet 3D endorsed by that organization, currently includes VRML and X3D. These technologies, ch01 7/24/2000 12:00 PM Page 29

Summary 29

together with Java 3D and MPEG-4/BIFS, comprise the subject matter of this book. Although the term is new, the practice of delivering interactive 3D content over the Web is not. Introduced in 1994, VRML pioneered the concept of 3D for the Web and is the international ISO standard that ushered in other forms of Web3D. When it comes to interactive 3D content delivered over the Internet, today is the dawn of a new era. Web3D is prepared to invade the Internet, thanks to tremendous advances in bandwidth availability, platform processing power, and the recent maturation of comprehensive, cost-effective content authoring tools. In the past, each of these obstacles stood in the way of VRML’s being deployed to the masses. Today they are fast becoming faded memories as “Web3D” comes of age. Following is a complete list of URLs referenced in this chapter:

Web3D Consortium http://www.web3d.org/ Web3D Consortium Working Groups http://www.web3d.org/Working- Groups/ Web3D Gallery http://www.web3dgallery.com/ Nichimen Graphics http://www.nichimen.com/ Nokia 9000 Communicator http://www.cybelius.com/FrmVir.htm Furniture Customizer http://www.technicon.com/prod-show.htm 3D Visible Human http://www.npac.syr.edu/projects/3Dvisiblehuman/ NASA’s “Earth in VRML” http://vrml.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Java House http://www.sun.com/desktop/java3d/demos/javahouse.html Planet 9 Architectural Models http://www.planet9.com/ Shout Interactive http://www.shoutinteractive.com/ Floops http://www.cosmosoftware.com/galleries/floops/ Lost in Space http://dangerwillrobinson.lycos.com/vrml-s.html Shout MOD http://www.modvr.com/ Dilbert Comic Strip http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/ animations/ Tonight Show Studio http://www.nbc.com/3dstudios/ International Space Station http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/multimedia/ vrml/iss/