Combining HTML with VRML
By Andrea L. Ames
One way to make VRML a more attractive and reasonable implementation for certain types of content is to use it in conjunction with HTML. For example, 3D virtual space can be confusing and inherently difficult to navigate. Depending upon the purpose and content of a particular VRML world, incorporating intuitive text and navigation systems within it can be difficult. Coupled with HTML and 2D information, however, text links and typical HTML-style navigation systems can be used to navigate and obtain information from 3D spaces.
Your choice of VRML-HTML combination will depend on your content, audience, and purpose. Here, I'll use the simple VRML world in
Listing One (cone.wrl) to demonstrate the most common cooperative relationships possible between HTML and VRML.
Embedding VRML in an HTML Page
Using the HTML <EMBED> tag, you can include a VRML world within an HTML document just as you would a GIF image or an MPEG movie. This is shown in
Listing Two, and you'll notice that the browser and its controls are included with the embedded world.
The HTML document in
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