“Exploiting an Evolutionary Accident in Web3D Communications to Integrate Application Components” by Thorne – ACM SIGGRAPH HISTORY ARCHIVES

“Exploiting an Evolutionary Accident in Web3D Communications to Integrate Application Components” by Thorne

  • ©

Conference:


Type(s):


Title:

    Exploiting an Evolutionary Accident in Web3D Communications to Integrate Application Components

Session/Category Title:   Technical Track


Presenter(s)/Author(s):


Moderator(s):



Abstract:


    The Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) ushered in a new era in computer graphics by providing the first international standard 3D format for the web (web3D). Unfortunately, some who tried VRML applications found they did not work and naturally blamed the language. However, the problem often lay in the sensitivity to different client software environments of the programming interfaces used to extend VRML. In many cases, VRML applications had to be extended to include things VRML lacked, such as sophisticated user interface and interactivity, database access, multiuser support, security, and system-integration support. These important aspects of modern systems were added via a programming interface called the External Authoring Interface (EAI). The problem was that applications based on the EAI would not work reliably due to changes in the client environment by competitive commercial stakeholders, which affected things like support for a required third party programming language. It is this problem that often lead to unsatisfactory user experiences, not VRML itself.

    Below the client battlefield radar, three small web3D functions accidentally evolved, in symbiosis with the web, to provide an alternative integration method built on a simple but solid foundation: the Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP). HTTP is the protocol from which the very fabric of the web was woven. This paper presents methods to integrate web3D application components directly via HTTP. The three web3D functions are used in combination to implement a communication cycle that makes use of persistent state stored in web services. The approach uses open standards, is portable across platforms, and resilient to changes in client environment. Applications based on this approach will work more reliably on disparate end-user systems and enable developers to leverage increasingly sophisticated web advances.

References:


    [1]
    APACHE. http://www.apache.org.

    [2]
    ANFY3D. http://any3D.com.

    [3]
    Contact 3D. http://www.blaxxun.com/en/products/blaxxun3d.

    [4]
    Belfore, L. A. II, Chitithoti, S. 2000. An Interactive Land Use VRML Application (ILUVA) with Servlet Assist, Proceedings of the 2000 Winter Simulation Conference. 1823–1830.

    [5]
    Blais, C., Brutzman, D., Horner, D., Niclaus, S. 2001. Web-based 3D technology for scenario authoring and visualisation: the SAVAGE project, Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) 2001, Orlando, Florida.

    [6]
    Campbell, D. A. 1998. VRML In Architectural Construction Documents: A Case Study, VRML98, Monterey CAUSA.

    [7]
    Coors, V. and Jung, V. 1998. Using VRML as an Interface to the 3D Data Warehouse, Proceedings of VRML ’98, New York.

    [8]
    CORTONA JET. http://parallelgraphics.com.

    [9]
    Cowie, D. 2002. Use JSP to create your own VRML world, http://builder.com.com/5100-6371-1050067.html.

    [10]
    CULT3D. http://www.cult3D.com.

    [11]
    Chen, S, Myers, R., Pasetto, R. 1997. The out of box experience: lessons learned creating compelling VRML 2.0 content, Proceedings of the second symposium on Virtual reality modeling language, Monterey, California, United States. ISBN:0-89791-886-X. 83 – ff.

    [12]
    EAI. ISO/IEC 14772-2:2004. The Virtual Reality Modeling Language, Part 2.

    [13]
    JBOSS. http://www.jboss.org.

    [14]
    JAKARTA, http://jakarta.apache.org.

    [15]
    KAON, http://kaon.com.

    [16]
    Kochy, K. Kirschbaum, C., Tschirley, R., Markle, S. 2002. A client server architecture based on secure communication for visualization of an interaction with 3D medical data, Proceedings of Euro PACS 2002, Oulu University Press. Oulu, 63–65.

    [17]
    Kurose and Ross, 2004. Computer Networking: A top-down approach featuring the Internet, 3rd edition, Addison Wesley, 2004. http://kia.etel.ru/lib/Networking/kurose/apps/http.htm.

    [18]
    FREEWRL. http://freewrl.sourceforge.net/.

    [19]
    Gahedan, M. 1998. Scatterplots and scenes: visualization techniques for exploratory analysis, Computers, Environment and Urban systems, Vol. 22, No. 1, 43–56.

    [20]
    Gilbert, H. 2003. The Tragedy of Microsoft and Java, Technology and Planning, Yale University. http://pclt.cis.yale.edu/pclt/mscase/microsoft_java.htm.

    [21]
    Lipkin, D. 1998. VRML Informative Annex, Recommended Practices for SQL Database Access, Oracle Corporation, December 1998.

    [22]
    Maranne, E and Vaucher, E. 2003. De La formation A L’Action, ING Magazine, No 16. Mars-Avril 2003, pp4–7.

    [23]
    Neilson, J. 1994. Usability Engineering, published by Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, chapter 5. ISBN 0-12-518406-9.

    [24]
    Pesce, M., Kennard, P. and Parisi, A. 1994. Cyberspace. First International Conference on WWW, Geneva, May.

    [25]
    Ressler, S., Wang, Q., Bodarky, S., Sheppard, C., Seidman, G. 1996. VIM: Using VRM: to Access Manufacturing Data, Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

    [26]
    RFC 1945 – Hypertext Transfer Protocol – HTTP/1.0, May 1996.

    [27]
    RFC 793 – Transmission Control Protocol, DARPA INTERNET PROGRAM PROTOCOL SPECIFICATION, 1981.

    [28]
    RFC 768 – User Datagram Protocol, J. Postel, ISI, 28, 1980.

    [29]
    RFC 966 – Host groups: A multicast extension to the Internet Protocol, Network Working Group, S. E. Deering, D. R. Cheriton, Stanford University, December 1985.

    [30]
    Ranga, K. and Gramoll, K. 1999. Design Education over the Internet using VRML, American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) 1999 Conference, June 20–23, Charlotte, NC.

    [31]
    Stoter, J. and Zlatanova, S. 2003. Visualisation and editing of 3D objects organised in a DBMS, Proceedings of the EuroSDR Com. V. Workshop on Visualisation and Rendering, 22–24 January, 2003, Enschede, The Netherlands, 16.

    [32]
    Thorne, C. and Haines, K. 2004. Gateway and Protocol for Modern Cyberspace, Proceedings of the SIGGRAPH 2004 conference on Web graphics: in conjunction with ACM SIGGRAPH 2004: Web Graphics, Session: 3D, Conference CD ROM, Los Angeles, CA, 8–12 August, 2004.

    [33]
    Thorne, C. and Weiley, V. 2003. Earth’s Avatar: The Web Augmented Virtual Earth (WAVE), Proceedings of the SIGGRAPH 2003 conference on Web graphics: in conjunction with the 30th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques, Conference CD ROM, San Diego, CA, 27–31 July, 2003.

    [34]
    Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., Masinter, L. 2004. Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax, http://gbiv.com/protocols/uri/rev-2002/rfc2396bis.html.

    [35]
    VRML. ISO/IEC 14772-1:1997. The Virtual Reality Modeling Language, Part 1.

    [36]
    WEBOPEDIA, http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/H/HTTP.html.

    [37]
    Wilson, N., Yergeau, D. and Dutton, R. 2000. Internet Based Prototyping of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, International Conference of Computational Engineering & Sciences, Aug. 2000.

    [38]
    XJ3D web site, http://www.xj3d.org/.

    [39]
    Zlatanova, S. 1999. VRML for 3D GIS, ITC, Enshede, The Nertherland.

    [40]
    Zoi, S., Melas, J, Kalliaras, P. and Mitrou, N. 2003. An open framework for the prototyping and delivery of multimedia-rich virtual learning experiences through the internet, WSCG, Vol 11, ISSN 123-6972.


ACM Digital Library Publication:



Overview Page:



Submit a story:

If you would like to submit a story about this presentation, please contact us: historyarchives@siggraph.org