Intelligent Systems Report € February € 1997 € Volume 14 € No. 2
Intelligent Systems Report € February € 1997 € Volume
14 € No. 2
The VRML Consortium Inc. (San Ramon, Calif.) has been formed, involving 35 hardware, software and Internet providers committed to furthering the development of the Virtual Reality Modeling Language. Some of the major players involved in the Consortium include Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Oracle, Netscape and Silicon Graphics (see chart below for a list of all regular and affiliate members). VRML is the open standard for interactive 3D content on the World Wide Web. The consortium will function as a non-profit corporation dedicated to the goal of making 3D a key component of the Internet and enterprise environment.
"The VRML Consortium will tap the power of the VRML community to keep pace with the development momentum of VRML," said Rikk Carey, co-author of the VRML 2.0 specification and interim president of the VRML Consortium. "The VRML Consortium is the foundation on which we intend to build the future of 3D on the Internet and Intranet."
The VRML Consortium succeeds the VRML Architecture Group (VAG) in managing the community-driven VRML standard process. An interim board of directors for the VRML Consortium has been formed to allow the Consortium to become a legal entity, accept members, and call for elections of a board of directors. The interim board has also created the VRML Review Board (VRB), a key working group that will set priorities for the continued evolution of VRML and manage the formation of other working groups to address open issues in the VRML specification.
According to David Frerichs, VRML product line manager at Silicon Graphics, "The VRML Consortium will ensure that VRML is a strong, open standard for the Internet by providing a forum of cooperation between product developers and content creators." This effort will be enhanced by Consortium-sponsored VRML conformance tests to ensure interoperability of member products.
The Consortium will also apply its multivendor perspective to educate the computer industry about the applications and benefits of VRML. Targeting business, consumer and scientific interests, the Consortium will demonstrate VRML as a horizontal technology, spanning a wide range of applications.
Top priorities for the VRML Consortium will be to promote use of the current VRML 2.0 specification (also known as Moving Worlds) and to form working groups. Open to any interested individual or Consortium member, the VRML Consortium Working Groups are technical committees assigned to research and propose solutions to specific technical issues relating to VRML.
Initial working groups will include: VRML 2.0 core specification, external authoring interface, binary format, avatar standards, and multi-user shared worlds.
Membership in the VRML Consortium is open to any interested organization. The VRML Consortium has a one-member, one-vote system giving all charter and voting members an equal say. All changes of the VRML specification must be ratified by a majority vote. This process is designed to promote a single standard for 3D with maximum collaboration between member organizations.
"One of the exciting things about the Consortium," said Bob Rockwell, chief scientist for Black Sun Interactive, "is the way small companies like ours have been able to play a significant role in helping to shape the future of VRML. This has been a community effort from Day One."
"We see this partnership of commercial companies, academics and users as a crucial enabler for research and results using interactive 3D graphics across the Internet," added Don Brutzman of the Naval Postgraduate School.
Information about VRML Consortium processes and membership is available at http://www.vag.vrml. org/consort
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