A Virtual Worlds Tour
By Andrea L. Ames
There seems to be a dearth of compelling VRML content on the Web, and as I've mentioned in previous columns, corporations will see VRML as a viable medium only when enough interesting content is published on the Web to justify its existence. This, of course, requires that artists, content developers, and other creative types have the tools to easily author VRML environments. Only then will they be likely to educate corporations about VRML as a medium for addressing certain communication challenges. And when companies can justify using VRML, they will begin developing more content. It's something of a chicken-and-egg problem.
So what's out there now, and what can we learn from it? We creatives can begin to educate ourselves in interactive 3D design by investigating existing environments and learning from the people who developed them.
Touring VRML
Before discussing current applications, I'll quickly recap VRML's main features and capabilities, so that you can make an informed choice about whether to choose a particular technology or recommend it for implementation.
VRML enables you to create 3D geometry that incorporates fully customizable built-in and free-form shapes, including simple, built-in shapes like boxes, cones, cylinders, and spheres; complex, built-in shapes such as elevation grids and extrusions; and complex, free-form shapes such as point sets, line sets, and face sets.
VRML lets you specify the appearance of an object's emissive color, shininess, and transparency.
