VRML, the context for
What is VRML
- VRML 1.0...Snowcrash
Science Fiction
Confluence of Technologies
- Web, 3D, VR, MOOs
Quick Demo
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VRML Today
Brief History
- Cyberspace, VRML paper, Geneva BOF, www-vrml, selection, draft
- QvLib, the Hype, final spec and browsers
VRML 1.0 Specification
Hype - 3-APR-95, Newsweek, etc.
Other good sources
Frequently Asked Questions
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VRML Tomorrow
Work with the IETF - Internet Engineering Task Force
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VRML-NG
VRMOO/VRMUD - the social aspect of VR
Provide the richness of expression - sound, video...
Exploring the world together
Look at Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson
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Web Hype
The Web is the Internet (in Technicolor)
The Web has grown exponentially (35,000 servers 4/95)
Web packets passed ftp packet in April 1995 as most common
Fortune magazine, March 1994, Mosaic is killer app
Fortune magazine, March 1995, Using the Web to Invest
All online services now access the Web
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Web Technology
Content - searching
HTTP - HyperText Transport Protocol
Webservers
URLs, URNs & URIs
- (protocol)://(host)[:(port)]/(path)
Browsers
HTML
http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html
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HTTP & Webservers
HTTP 1.0 is becoming an IETF standard
client/server model
port 80
Many servers
- CERN, NCSA, EMWACS, Netsite, Apache...
A whole industry has sprung up
http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/Protocols/Overview.html
and
http://www.ics.uci.edu/pub/ietf/http
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HTML - HyperText Markup Language
Based on SGML (has a DTD Doc. Type Description)
Plain text
NOT a page description language
HTML 2.0 is the first "standard"
Lots of Authoring tools available
HTML 3.0 will add tables, I18N, insets, math
http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/Tools/Overview.html
and
http://www.ics.uci.edu/pub/ietf/html
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Browsers
NCSA Mosaic was the Web catalyst
Browser, Viewer & Client
- ftp, gopher, USENET news, mail, images...
http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/Clients.html
VRML viewers
- QvLib parser, URL fetcher, rendering code, CCI & user interface
http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Mosaic/Docs/cci-spec.html
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Helper Apps & MIME
Browsers cannot handle all data types - audio, video
MIME RFC 1521 & RFC 1522
Configure Browser
Configure Server
Compressed VRML files
http://www-dsed.llnl.gov/documents/WWWtest.html
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3D in 3 Minutes
3D geometry to pictures via Graphics Pipeline
Transformations
Viewing & Cameras
Lighting and Shading
Texture Mapping
Open Inventor
3D PC libraries
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VR Virtually
Desktop VR
Immersive VR
- HMD, gloves, sound, haptic input
Augmented Reality
CAVE
http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/EVL/docs/html/CAVE.html
- when it has bugs - when it works
OVRT
http://nemo.ncsl.nist.gov/~sressler/OVRThome.html
ftp://sunee.uwaterloo.ca/pub/vr/documents/whatisvr.txt
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MOO Musings
MUD is Multi-User Dungeon
programmable environments
text based
IRC - Internet Relay Chat
server architecture
Very real social interaction
http://vesta.physics.ucla.edu:7777/lambda/lambda.html
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/games/mud-faq/top.html
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Navigation
within worlds, between worlds
Locomotion & Steering
- walking - flying (DOF)
Props - WIM
http://uvacs.cs.virginia.edu/~rws2v/wim/wim-paper.html
Teleport & Magic
Cyberspace Topology & Connectivity
System Architecture
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