First, the Mac isn’t quite what it used to be. When this site started we were running System 7. With the advent of OS X and Intel we’re now on a BSD Unix foundation, and more Mac users are venturing into Linux. Meanwhile virtualisation makes it less of a pain to run Windows apps as well, when need be. So we’ll be covering more than the Mac, particularly when we’re looking from a developer’s perspective. However we’ll continue to strongly advocate the case for cross-platform delivery, the lack of which is still the biggest barrier to widespread adoption of 3D on the Web.

Second, Web3D doesn’t just mean spinny objects on web pages. We care about the Web as a platform, the cross-platform hyperlinked information space. Whether browser-based or standalone HTTP-capable virtual environments;  immersive, augmented or mixed reality systems – there are many viable approaches, each suited for different requirements.

Finally, our community is bound by a common interest in looking beyond technology and implementation – to consider virtual environments as designed places. And to get back to our Mac roots for a second, let me quote Steve Jobs:

Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.

Below, I’ll report from the field on the new wave of virtual worlds and what they mean to us.
I had the pleasure of attending Chris Thorne‘s MUVE Moot (Multi User Virtual Environments – meeting?) at SIGGRAPH a few weeks back. The heavy hitters were there – Michael Wilson, CEO of There.com, Doug Twilleager from Sun’s Wonderland Group, Don Brutzman from the Web3D Consortium and the Naval Postgraduate School, Peter Schickel, CEO of Bitmanagement (the home of the Blaxxun technology), and Tony Parisi, Chief Platform Officer of Vivaty. Plus Mick Brady from the Serious Game Design Institute and Rafhael Cedeno, CTO of The Multiverse Network. The surprise presenter was Greg Spencer from Google’s just-announced Lively. Linden Labs didn’t field a presenter, but a few Second Life developers were in the packed room and piped up during the session. The buzz around these is palpable, but they’re not even the whole story – here’s what looks like a more comprehensive list of new virtual worlds from techcrunch.

I still think we’re a few raindrops short of the perfect storm. First, Mac support is crucial to mass-market adoption. Not to keep the 10% (or whatever) of Mac users happy – but because this is the Web, and these are social spaces, and Vivaty doesn’t do Mac. So – we have Mac support in SecondLife, and it’s been announced (but not released) for its PG counterpart There. Google is Windows-only for now, but reportedly only 20% through their first round of development budget, and everything Google does is cross-platform, so I expect they’ll go Mac within the year. Great – but those are walled gardens. The release of the SecondLife and There IM clients breaks the wall down somewhat – almost there now. The final step is to do what Vivaty is doing, and make scenes which are URIs. The link makes the web.

That’s what will make the perfect storm. We need Mosaic 0.1b – a rudimentary client that works on every platform, allows anyone to host anything, and supports the link. Right now, we’re still looking at the equivalent of some really really shiny AOL clients and waiting for the Real Thing.

The current version available on the site is a little obsolete but V2 will be out soon so stay tuned. The new version also enables panoramas as quicktime VR using cubic, spherical or cylindrical map.

Comments are welcome, try it and let me know if you find any problem with it running on Mac OS.

A sample can be viewed here.

MADLIX lets users insert 3D-content in web pages, blogs, Google pages, community presentations and more. MADLIX is OpenGL-powered and runs smoothly inside all Java-enabled browsers, with no need for custom plug-ins or application installation. The on-line gallery at www.madlix.com features high-quality content ready for insertion. MADLIX is accompanied by the MADLIX exporter tool enabling 3D artists to directly export their 3D artwork from Autodesk Maya to the MADLIX gallery. The exporter features pre-view functionality as well as a standalone viewer, supporting the MADLIX file format and the open standard file format COLLADA

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s PlanetQuest web site is providing visitors with a unique opportunity to interactively explore the vast Milky Way galaxy using “plug in free” X3D technology in Demicron’s WireFusion. The platform-independent interactive 3D visualization and multimedia “Guide” can be navigated in real-time over the Web.

X3D is an open standard for real-time 3D visualization on the Web and networks. WireFusion combines X3D with Java to integrate 3D, 2D, video, audio and Flash into interactive presentations for use on the Web without the need for any plug-ins or special downloads.

WireFusion’s X3D/Java solution is especially appealing to Mac developers and users, where 3D on the web has traditionally been less than accessible.

3D Guide to the Galaxy: http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/SIMGuide2Galaxy_launch_page.html

WireFusion: http://www.demicron.com/wirefusion/

There is a news story at: http://www.web3d.org/news/releases/archives/2006/07/the_3d_guide_to.php
which has more details

Octaga is developing an X3D plug-in for Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader that will allow any user to read and interact with 3D visualizations and virtual reality embedded in a PDF document. The software is designed to enable creative professionals to more quickly and cost-effectively collaborate on projects that require visualization with 3D, video, and audio. X3D is the ISO ratified 3D scene interchange format and runtime system for 3D visualization, virtual reality, and augmented reality (3D with text overlays, audio, and video). X3D supports several file format encodings and programming languages, providing interoperability of 3D data across diverse computing environments and great flexibility in manipulating, communicating and displaying scenes interactively. A Mac version is planned for later this year.

AC3D is one of the longest -established 3D design software programs available today. In development from 1994 and commercially available since 1996, AC3D has grown to become a highly regarded and popular program.
Inivis Limited, developers of 3D design software, purchased the complete rights to AC3D in 2002. Inivis is committed to developing AC3D’s functionality and multi-platform availability, whilst maintaining its user-friendly and client-focused reputation.