With the sudden interest in VRML, the number of browsers coming in to the market is growing by leaps and bounds, and deciding which one is best for you can be a daunting task. We've gathered up a wide selection of browsers, including information about the computer platforms they currently run on (many are being developed for additional platforms; check each company's site for updates and new additions). In addition, check out a unique Web server/VRML server application called VRServer. Refer to Chapter 9 of Special Edition Using VRML for more details on browser operation and and idea of the different interfaces that are being used.
An external VRML plug-in viewer developed for use with Netscape Navigator 2.0, VR Scout supports the entire VRML 1.0 specification, including GIF, JPEG, and BMP textures, the WWWAnchor node, inline objects, point-sets, transformed textures, the LOD node, as well as the AsciiText and Font nodes. VR Scout also uses Intel's 3DR technology, which allows it to use the new 3D-rendering boards to enhance its performance.
WebFX is a VRML browser developed by Paper Software, Inc. There are plans for two models: a plug-in version that is incorporated into a Web browser and a stand alone version called Explorer. At the time of this writing, the WebFX plug-in for Netscape Navigator was the only version of the software to be released. It provides full VRML 1.0 compliance, physics based navigation, collision detection, viewpoints, gzip support, multiply nested inlines, and support for common Open Inventor nodes. Future versions will support IRC based multi-user chatting, in-place object oriented VRML authoring, VRML 1.0 strict checking, and sound and movie extensions.
Given that Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI) helped to develop VRML, it is only natural that SGI would have its own VRML browser. But SGI's WebSpace is available on more than the SGI platform thanks to an agreement between it and Template Graphics Software, Inc. (TGS). While SGI handles the development of WebSpace for its own computer platform, TGS is developing versions for other computer platforms. This has resulted in a slight lag in WebSpace versions for non-SGI computers. Currently, TGS offers WebSpace version 1.0 for the Windows NT, Windows 95, Sun Solaris ZX/TZX, and IBM AIX platforms. Though not available on this CD, you may obtain evaluation copies of WebSpace for UNIX and WebSpace for Windows by downloading directly from the SGI and TGS sites above.
InterVista Software, Inc.'s WorldView VRML browser is a fast, easy to use VRML browser designed for the personal computer market. Founder (and one of the original VRML gurus) Tony Parisi claims that it can render real-time graphics on a standard PC and 1 14.4 Kbps modem. It uses Microsoft's RealityLab rendering engine for its Windows versions and can be installed over a network.
The Amber VRML browser is built with DIVE Lab's AmberGL virtual environment toolkit for OpenGL. It had been currently available only in an alpha version for Windows NT but they put together a new version for Windows 95 and 3.1 just for this CD. It does not support a number of features including the texture nodes, the Cylinder node, the Sphere node and point sets. Future versions will include improved navigation as well as support for HMDs and datagloves.
Windows 3.1
Windows 95
Although Fountain is better known for its ability as a VRML 3D modeling tool, Caligari also advertises it as a standalone VRML browser. Its ability to link to the Internet is especially useful when testing levels of detail, in-lining and hyperlinks to HTML documents. Microsoft has licensed Fountain's technology for its set of Internet development tools.
NAVFlyer is an interactive flying tool for navigating 3D models from VRML, DXF and 3DS files in various forms including wireframe, shaded and texture mapped display modes. It requires a 256 color Windows display as well as WinG, and Win32s for Windows 3.1. LOD support is also included for handling large and more complex models, or to use NAVFlyer on slower machines.
Microsoft's Virtual Explorer is a fully integrated VRML plug-in for Microsoft Internet Explorer. Based on the RealityLab 3D rendering engine and the WorldView browser, Virtual Explorer offers support for the VRML 1.0 specification as well as some extensions. Its minimum requirements are a 486/33 Mhz computer with 8MB of memory and a fast video card.
Virtus Voyager is a VRML browser for the Macintosh and the Power Macintosh platforms. A Windows 95 version is planned for release in early 1996. It must be configured as a helper application for HTML browsers such as Mosaic and Netscape. In addition to VRML, Virtus Voyager will be able to import Virtus' own VMDL file format and other 3D file formats. Though not available on this CD, you may obtain the latest versions of Virtus Voyager by downloading directly from their site above.
The VRealm Browser is a fully VRML-compliant browser (for Windows NT and 95) being co-developed by Integrated Data Systems (IDS) and Portable Graphics, Inc. It can function as a standalone application or as a Helper application for Netscape Navigator. VRealm incorporates advanced image, video, audio, animation and VR techniques as well as basic Internet functions, such as HTML. Thus you can use this browser to view standard HTML files as well VRML environments. Though not available on this CD, you may obtain the latest version of VRealm by downloading directly from their site above.
VRML Equinox is a VRML browser for the Power Macintosh developed by Phil Smy that supports the full VRML 1.0 specification. It requires that you install the QuickDraw 3D extensions to MacOS and have System 7.5 or greater.
VRweb is a 3D graphics viewer jointly developed by IICM (home of Hyper-G), NCSA (home of Mosaic), and the University of Minnesota (home of Gopher). It supports two file formats: the Hyper-G Scene Description Format (SDF) and VRML. VRML support includes the 1.0 specification using QvLib 1.0 as the parser. The source code for UNIX/X11 and Windows versions are also available. OpenGL versions of VRWeb are available for the SGI, Dec Alpha, and Windows NT platforms.
SDSC WebView is a publicly available VRML browser for SGI and UNIX computers. It is released with its complete source code and is meant to act as a public platform for developing and testing additions to the VRML specification.
The Whurlwind browser was the first VRML browser for the Macintosh platform. It currently only works with the Netscape Web browser. In order to use Whurlwind, you need to have the QuickDraw 3D extensions to MacOS loaded onto your computer. To run them, you need at least 16 MB of RAM installed on your computer. This means that most of the Performa bundles that are currently being marketed will not be able to use Whurlwind unless you purchase another 8 MB of RAM.
i3D is a browser for Silicon Graphics only with time-critical rendering techniques, allowing the system to display complex 3D scenes at high and constant frame rates, making it good for large scale projects.
WebOOGL, a public domain 3D Web browser, is not completely VRML compliant (most of the VRML spec is implemented, but a few nodes are ignored, like texture mapping). The browser is built on top of the Center's 3D viewer Geomview.
VRServer can change your Web site into a new, texture-mapped 3D site with walk throughs and file system graphs--and is fully VRML compliant, too. It also lets a user build worlds on the fly from local files or local and remote Web sites. VRServer is a unique Internet application: a dynamic data set server, specializing in VRML. Using VRServer, you can allow your Web site visitors to visualize a variety of dynamic data sources in 3D. The product also serves as a fully-functional WWW server, so it can serve up HTML documents in the same manner as other Web servers. It can be installed as the Web server for your site (stand-alone) or as a secondary server (side-by-side with your existing Web server).
