VRML Going Strong
Last time I looked there were maybe one or two VRML plugins out there. Now there are several - Cortona, Flux, Octaga, BSContact, SwirlX3D, and there's a standalone product called Instant Player.Years ago when I first played with VRML, I was interested in building a Family Tree system that would allow you to walk or fly through your family tree. I had an interesting time learning the concepts and trying to figure out how to lay everything out arbitrarily. Needless to say, 3D technology wasn't what it is today, computers weren't as powerful as they are today, and the standards were relatively thin.
It looks like VRML has now been succeeded by X3D. X3D looks similar on the surface, aside from the fact that the data format has changed to an XML based scheme.
What Can You Do With It
That's the big question. Pre-Dot Com Boom, the big talk was about creating virtual reality shopping malls - sort of a Second LIfe meets Amazon.com. Those kinds of things never materialized and I'm sure for good reason. Why cruise through virtual reality when it's quicker and easier to just browse around on the web.Here's a virtual world being viewed from the Cortona plugin. You can't see it, but music is playing in the background, and the lights are in constant motion.
There are a lot of great uses for 3D though - and the maturation of web technology is at the point where I can see VRML / X3D making some big strides in the not too distant future. Client / Server 3D can bring you much more than World of WarCraft. Much like the drive in office software is web based collaboration now, that trend will seep into other more complex software areas - architectural software and data visualization are the two that immediately spring to mind.
Throw in the fact that most machines sold these days can handle openGL without breaking a sweat and the whole of the dot-com generation opens up all over again. 3D isn't for everything, but as more people become comfortable working in a z-dimensioned workspace, more people will want to use their new tools to accomplish old tasks.
When is it going to happen
I don't think VRML is going to be the big thing this year. There has been zero buzz that I've heard of and adoption is still pretty thin. All of that can change overnight when a big vendor releases something interesting though - for instance, google's sketchup product that I talked about a few days ago would be a good candidate for a web based application.Building a VR based interface to amazon using their web services APIs would be something that would generate some buzz as well.
With a little bit of buzz, a whole lot of people who liked the technology years ago could revisit it and start to realize it's potential. It took AJAX a good 15 years to catch on. Keep your eye out for VRML / X3D. The idea has legs, and now we have the power to use it.
Discuss VRML - the Next Revisited Technology
