VRML

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language, usually pronounced vermal, originally known as the Virtual Reality Markup Language) is a standard file format for representing 3-dimensional (3D) interactive vector graphics, designed particularly with the World Wide Web in mind.

Contents

VRML is a text file format where, e.g., vertices and edges for a 3D polygon can be specified along with the surface color, image-mapped textures, shininess, transparency, and so on. URLs can be associated with graphical components so that a web browser might fetch a web-page or a new VRML file from the Internet when the user clicks on the specific graphical component. Animations, sounds, lighting, and other aspects of the virtual world can interact with the user or may be triggered by external events such as timers. A special Script Node allows the addition of program code (e.g., written in Java or JavaScript (ECMAScript)) to a VRML file.

VRML files are commonly called worlds and have the .wrl extension (for example island.wrl). Although VRML worlds use a text format they may often be compressed using gzip so that they transfer over the internet more quickly. Many 3D modeling programs can save objects and scenes in VRML format.

#VRML V2.0 utf8
# Copyright (C) 1998 Tuomas J. Lukka
# DISTRIBUTED WITH NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.
# See the GNU Library General Public License (file COPYING in the distribution)
# for conditions of use and redistribution.

# Simple cone

Shape {
        appearance Appearance {
                material Material {
                }
        }
        geometry Cone {
        }
}

The Web3D Consortium has been formed to further the collective development of the format.

The first version of VRML was specified in November 1994. This version was specified from, and very closely resembled, the API and file format of the Open Inventor software component, originally developed by SGI. The current and functionally complete version is VRML97 (ISO/IEC 14772-1:1997). VRML has now been superseded by X3D (ISO/IEC 19775-1)

One can install a free VRML Chat3D server that can be used with the Blaxxum VRML plugin in the client.

A VRML file can be used as computer wallpaper, utilizing a web browser. In some computers it can be managed using a special pad (i.e. a Wii)

The term VRML was coined by Dave Raggett in a paper submitted to The First International Conference on the World-Wide Web in 1994, and first discussed at the WWW94 VRML BOF established by Tim Berners-Lee, where Mark Pesce presented the Labyrinth demo he developed with Tony Parisi & Peter Kennard.

VRML reached the height of its popularity after the release of VRML2 in 1997, when it was used on some personal homepages and sites such as "CyberTown", which offered 3D chats. The format had been championed by SGI's Cosmo Software; when SGI restructured in 1998 the division was sold to Platinum Technologies, which was then taken over by Computer Associates, which did not develop or distribute the software. To fill the void a variety of proprietary Web 3D formats emerged over the next few years, including Microsoft Chrome and Adobe Atmosphere, neither of which is supported today. VRML's capabilities remained largely the same while realtime 3D graphics kept improving. The VRML Consortium changed its name to the Web3D Consortium, and began work on the successor to VRML – X3D.

While VRML still enjoys widespread use, particularly in education and research where an open specification is most valued, it has now been superseded by X3D. The MPEG-4 Interactive Profile (ISO/IEC 14496) was based on VRML (now on X3D), and X3D is largely back-compatible with it. VRML is also still used as a file format for interchange of 3D models, particularly from CAD systems.

  • Flux Player Free Web 3D (XML/VRML) browser plug-in for Windows. Open source.
  • FreeWRL VRML and X3D browser for Linux, Unix and OS X.
  • Xj3D Java based VRML/X3D Toolkit and VRML/X3D Browser
  • OpenVRML a cross-platform VRML library
  • CyberX3D C++ and Java libraries for VRML
  • OpenSG a scene graph API supporting VRML97
  • Coin3D SDK software component supporting VRML97

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