VR on the Net

The fastest-growing and perhaps most important VR venue is the Internet, where an updated version of the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) has spurred the development of the first Web-based 3-D authoring tools, browsers and related products. VRML 2.0, which made its debut in August 1996, was developed in cooperation with Netscape, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Silicon Graphics and other major Internet players. Some software developers are taking advantage of VRML. Virtus, for example, offers several tools for creating 3-D environments on the Web. Using Virtus products, Web merchants can create online shops with walk-around showrooms, product demonstrations and virtual sales clerks. (more...)