The State of VRML
By Andrea L. Ames
Last month's overview of Java 3D, Sun's 3D-graphics Java API, and the references to other technologies such as Cosmo3D, may have lead you to wonder how the VRML front is changing as these new technologies develop.
A little over a year ago, the VRML 2.0 spec was finalized and unveiled to an eagerly awaiting VRML community. Since then, it's been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride of good and not-so-good feelings about VRML, largely influenced by the conferences held during the past year. Here, I'll briefly revisit the most significant of those events.
Conferences
World Movers (February 1997). I attended a small SGI press conference and wandered throughout the conference for only a short time, but the commotion surrounding VRML 2.0 was readily apparent. SGI implemented its O2 "Out of the Box Experience" in VRML, and plenty of other good content was on display. Despite the abundance of marketing hype, I believe the good content was key to the excitement of the attendees.
Software Development and Web Design and Development (February 1997). Only one VRML session was scheduled at SD 97 -- mine -- and Web 97 included only one other aside from my overview session and the tutorial I co-presented with my colleague and co-author John Moreland, 3D graphics and interactivity-programming expert from the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). Attendance at all of these was not overwhelming, but reasonable, and the attendees were very intense.
The attendees we attracted were more technically oriented than creative.
