GETTING STARTED IN 3-D

The 3-D Experience

Three dimensional, virtual worlds on the Internet are a relatively new experience. We all have come to know and love our flat Web pages, some with sound and animation. 3-D is an immersive experience. Your screen becomes a window into a three dimensional world. As you move in that world, your point of view changes. For example, you may find yourself looking down a street. Move your controls, and you find yourself walking down that street. Perhaps you passed an interesting store window. Stop, turn, and look at it. Maybe you want a birds-eye view of the street. Move your controls again, and you are flying above it all. Virtual worlds don’t have to be bound by the laws of physics!

Perhaps the Web browser you are using right now did not come with 3-D built in. You will need a special browser plug-in for 3-D. We’ll get to that soon enough. First, however, a bit of background. Read on…

A Word About VRML Worlds

Most (but not all) 3-D worlds on the Net have been built using one special language. This language is called the Virtual Reality Modeling Language, or VRML. A designer building a virtual world using VRML creates a text file, like the HTML files that define Web pages. Such VRML text files are recognized by the .wrl extension: their names end in .wrl. A VRML browser translates such files into a virtual world on your screen. 

Right now, VRML comes in the 1.0 and 2.0 versions. VRML 1.0 worlds are static. You can move through them, or manipulate them, but there is no animation and no sound. VRML 2.0 worlds add these features. To view a VRML 2.0 world, you need a VRML 2.0 browser. Theoretically, such a browser should also work on VRML 1.0. Most of the time, it does. With some of the earlier VRML 1.0 files, however, VRML 2.0 browsers seem to have difficulty. VRML is still an evolving technology, and the standards aren’t as tight as they will be. 

Browsing For VRML Browsers

Thanks for staying with me so far. Now it’s time to look for our VRML browsers. Realistically, VRML runs best on a Pentium or PowerPC Macintosh, or on a more powerful machine. You usually can get by with a 14.4 Kbps connection, though a 28.8 Kbps link or faster is preferable. Some VRML 1.0 browsers can run on a fast 486 or 68k Mac. 

The VRML Repository contains the best collection of stand-alone applications and plug-ins for VRML browsing. The most popular ones for Windows users are Live3D and Cosmo Player. Macintosh users will want to look at ExpressVR and RealSpace Viewer. Clicking on the browser of your choice takes you to the vendor site; complete installation and use instructions are available there. 

A note for Netscape 4.x users: you may already have Cosmo Player loaded. To check, open the Help menu at the top of your screen, then click on "About Plug-ins". 

Once you have downloaded and installed a browser, you will want to check it out. Take a look at these VRML Galleries. After that, go back to the Virtual Environments page and try some of the other sites. 

So What Did You Think?

Did you try out your new browser? What did you think of it? How about sites? Did you find some good ones, some great ones…or some sites that just refused to load? I’ll be anxious to find out how you made out. Click on "EMAIL" below and write to me.