Extending VRML with RealSPace
Combining Panoramas with VRML
By Sue Wilcox
While VRML has received a lot of publicity over the past two years, there is an interesting alternative for producing virtual environments on the Internet called "panoramas." Panorama technology has developed more quietly, and yet it has had some technical and commercial triumphs. Many varieties of panoramic experience are now available from over half a dozen companies. For example, Apple's QuickTime VR (QTVR) technology for producing and showing panoramas was used to produce the "Star Trek: The Next Generation Interactive Technical Manual." One of the key developers of QTVR, Eric Chen, has produced a product that fuses panoramic technology with VRML and moves them both into new areas of functionality. (Also see "Online".)
After seven years working for Apple, Chen created his own company, RealSpace, the aim of which is to efficiently produce the most realistic 3D spaces on the Internet. (Also see "Setting Up Larget Worlds.") RealVR is RealSpace's virtual-reality technology, combining panoramic viewing with VRML 2.0 3D objects, graphics, video, and audio. In less than a year, Chen has developed the functionality of his new panoramic system far beyond that of QTVR.
Among the products from RealSpace are RealVR Traveler, a browser that lets you see the integrated multimedia and virtual-reality environment; RealVR Vistagrapher Lite, for creating panoramas; RealVR Xtra, a plug-in to Director 5.0; and a tool for converting QTVR files to RealVR. All the RealVR products are available for Windows 95/NT and Power Macintosh.<>
