X-VRML for Advanced Virtual Reality Applications

Abstract

Market acceptance of new personal computing products and services strongly depends on the quality of their user interfaces. Virtual reality is an emerging technology that promises significant advances in this area. The term itself is broad, ranging from simple 3D animation programs with no user interaction to systems with head-mounted displays, 3D manipulators, and other specialized hardware to immerse users in interactive virtual worlds. Originally developed for classic computer systems, VR technology is currently spreading to other platforms, including consumer electronics and interactive television systems. To enable the creation of active VR applications, we developed X-VRML. X-VRML is a high-level XML-based procedural language that adds dynamic modeling capabilities to virtual scene description standards such as VRML/X3D and MPEG-4.