What is VRML ?

VRML is an acronym for Virtual Reality Modeling Language. There are two versions of VRML, and each is defined by a spec as below:

http://vag.vrml.org/vrml10c.html -- the VRML 1.0 Spec
http://vag.vrml.org/VRML97/DIS/-- the VRML 2.0 Spec

A VRML file resides on a Website just like an HTML file. For now (until a binary standard is approved) a VRML file is a plain text file or a compressed text file, and its name generally ends in ".wrl", ".wrl.gz", or ".wrz". The contents of a VRML file (plus whatever files it might load in via inline nodes) are called a "world". VRML is a scene description language, which describes 3D environments over the Net. When you access a URL, a "Unique Resource Locator", containing a VRML world, a file is downloaded into your Web browser. When the browser sees a file with the .wrl file extension it tells your computer to launch your VRML viewer. Just as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is a file format that defines the layout and content of a 2D page with links to more information, VRML is a file format that defines the layout and content of a 3D world with links to more information. Unlike HTML, however, VRML worlds are spacious and inherently interactive - filled with objects that react to the user and to each other. VRML allows for information, including links to other pieces of Web content, to be easily represented in an interactive 3D world. VRML is scalable across platforms ranging from PCs to high-end workstations. VRML is also bandwidth efficient. Intricate, interactive 3D worlds can be described in worlds that are similar in size to HTML pages. Most of the time when VRML files are large it is because of motion capture data, animation, sound, or video, all of which will be reduced as "streaming media" becomes a reality. Straight VRML files are actually very small, especially if special optimization steps are taken.


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