What in the world is " vermel " . . . I know it has something to do with the World Wide Web. The word sounds really BAD . . . reminiscent of small skittering rodents . . . but when I hear people talking about it, they seem to be genuinely excited about it, a;though I have no idea why.

--Vernelly Vague Virginian

Dear VVV--

"Vermel" is how some people pronounce VRML, Virtual Reality Modeling Language. Just when you finally got the hang of 2-Dimensional Web space. Actually, VRML is just one of several "new" tools being developed which aim to bring life and interactivity to the World Wide Web: JAVA (see this olumn in March 1996 LIRT Newsletter), Shockwave, and QuickTime VR are just a few that you may have recently heard about. Chances are that if you are reading about VRML for the first time, then you probably aren't quite ready to create your own VRML worlds, but you may encounter these worlds while brousing the Web. As the tools evolve and improve there should be some creative library applicaitons.

VRML is both a language and a standard (VRML 1.0 and soon, VRML 2.0) which allows developers to create 3-D scenes or worlds on the Internet -- worlds that ultimately can be filled with text, images, animation, sound, music, video, etc. These 3-D worlds can be reached from the 2-Dimensional Web pages to which we have become accustoned; and, within the 3-D worlds or back to the 2-D world of "traditional" Web pages. While in the 3-D worlds, the mouse is used to navigate through these worlds, moving closer and further away from objects or move around the object themselves. Currently VRML 1.0 only lets the viewer move through the world, but VRML 2.0 is slated to provide a richer world in which the viewer can even pick up and examine objects in the modeled world.

For right now, the movement between these 2-Dimensional worlds doesn't happen seamlessly. With an appropriate VRML browser (see below) used as a "helper application," Netscape 2.0 (or another appropriate Web browser) can access these worlds. Links to VRML files, which have a ".wrl" extension (for world), are embedded in html files by using the <embed> tag. When a .wrl link is activated, the Web browser looks for the helper application, downloads the file, and then launches the VRML browser so you can view an navigate through the "world" in a window separate form the Web browser's window. A caveat -- it may take quite a length of time before the world is completely displayed by the browser -- be patient!!

Another interesting use of VRML is its incorporation into chat technology. With VRML, the 2-Dimensional chat areas of today become 3-Dimensional rooms filled with "avatare," visual representations of each person participating in the chat. Participants can select an avatar which fits how they wish their personality to be viewed by others participating in the chats. Instead of text of conversations streaming across the screen, each personUs comments are displayed in a balloon above the appropriate avatar.

VRML is a modeling language. The world represented is a model of a real (or imaginary) space. The worlds are created by writing programs which create and display them. QuickTime VR, on the other hand, is a Macintosh and Windows application that creates a 3-Dimensional representation of a space or an object from the real world. The space can be explored when it's displayed including the QuickTime VR Player, another Netscape "helper application." QuickTime VR space is created by taking a series of overlapping photographs which cover all 360 degrees of the real thing. The pictures are developed digitally, and, with the "Stitcher" in the QuickTime VR authoring kit, the individual images are "stitched" together into one seamless 360 degree image. The image can be further refined and enhanced by using software such as Adobe Photoshop. Hot Spots can also be designated. For example, if a "virtual tour" of the library is created using QuickTime VR, there might be Hot Spots on various doors in a space that would lead the viewer to a new QuickTime VR space from the tour. Each new space in the "tour" would be a separate QuickTime VR image, with its own set of defined Hot Spots. Additionally, with Quick Time VR, it's possible to use the mouse to "pick up" and examine, from different angles, objects found in the space.

Then there is Macromedia's Shockwave for Director. Macromedia Director is a popular multimedia authoring tool. With Shockwave for Director, Web page designers can add sound, animation, interactive demonstrations, etc. to their pages without using Java. The Shockwave fines are created from Director "movies" with a compression utility called "Afterburner", which is available at no charge from Macromedia's Web side (see below). Like VRML files, Shockwave files are embedded in the html document using the <embed> tag; but Shockwave is not a helper application; it is a Netscape plug-in. When an embedded Shockwave file is found by Netscape Navigator, it automatically incorporated that file as part of the page (like an image). The first time you unexpectedly hit a Shockwave site with sound and an active logo, you'll know exactly why the tool was named "Shockwave"!! Why use Shockwave instead of Java? Because for those Netscape Plug-in, Shockwave applications are more readily available to most Web users than are Java applications.

So . . . you think you are ready to see some of these new tools in action? If you don't already have a browser that supports helper applications and plug-ins, download Netscape Navigator 2.0 (from Netscape URL: http://www.netscape.com/comprod/products/navigator/index.html ) and install it on your machine. Next you will need to download and install the helper applications and plug-ins you want to use:

QuickTime VR
URL: http://qtvr.quicktime.apple.com/Install.htm

Shockwave
URL: http://www.macromedia.com/Tools/Shockwave/Plugin/plugin.cgi

VRML Browser
URL: http://www.sdsc.edu/SDSC/Partners/vrml/software/browsers.html
Never done any of this stuff before? Fortunately, the sites where these applications are stored provide you with instructions about what requirements you need on your machine, what will happen during the downloading process, and what to do with the files after you get htem. Experiment a bit; experience, by far, is the best teacher.

Once you have added some or all of the above capabilities to your browser, you'll want to see how it workds. Some sites to visit are:

ShockWave
URL: http://www.macromedia.com/Tools/Shockwave/Gallery/index.html
URL: http://www.macromedia.com/Tools/Shockwave/Gallery/Epicenter/hompages.html

QuickTime VR

URL: http://www.nchpl.lib.in.us/library/libraryinfp/virtualviews.html

(Use of QuickTime VR by a public library.)

URL: http://qtvr.quicktime.apple.com/Samples.htm

VRML

URL: http://www.virtus.com/voydemos.html

URL: http://cedar.cic.net/~rtilman/mm/wow/wowintr.htm

(world of Worlds provides a VRML globe which serves as a locator for other VRML worlds that modes real life places.)

URL: http://www.planet9.com/vrsoma.htm

(A model of the San FranciscoUs South Market area.)

For additional information, read:

Hardenbergh, Jan C. &QUOR;VRML Frequently Asked Questions." URL: http://www.oki.com/vrml/VRML_FAQ.html

Heid, Jim. "VR: QuickTime's New Age." Macworld. (July 1995): 98-104

Karpinski, Richard. "Netscape's Hot Plug-in Architecture." Communications Week. (January 22,1996): IA2-IA4.

Look, Howard. "VRML Authoring Hints and Tips." URL: http://www.sd.tgs.com/VRML/Help/vrmlhint.htm.

Martin, James. "The Web Gets Moving." (Shockwave). Macworld (March 1996): 48.

Netscape. "An Introduction to VRML." URL: http://www.netscape.com/comprod/products/navigator/live3d/intro_vrml.html.

Pesce, Mark. VRML Browsing and Building Cyberspace: The Definitive Resource for VRML Technology. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders Pub., 1995. (View the Table of Contents and read Chapter 3 which are available at URL: http://www.mcp.com/nerriders/internet/vrml/.)

Stark, Thom. " Virtual Reality: Future of the Web? VRML, a 3-D Programming Language, Has Unleashed Some Web Creativity." LAN Times (September 25, 1995): 137-138.

Welz, Gary. "VRML in Action." Internet World. (November 1995): 82.

And look at the fictionalized future of VR, read:

Gibson, William. Neuromancer. New York: Ace Books, 1984.

Stephenson, Neal. Snow Crash. New York: Bantam Books, 1992.

As always, send questions and comments to:

Snail Mail:   Tech Talk
	 	    Billie Peterson
		    Moody Memorial Library
		    P.O. Box 97148
		    Waco, Tx 76798-7148
E-Mail:         petersonb@baylor.edu