Three 3D Web Browsers Reviewed

mikemuch writes "Use that graphics card for something besides games. ExtremeTech has a group review of three browsers that use some aspect of 3D to display the Web. While none of them are going to put Firefox or IE out of business any time soon, they're fun to play with and give a new slant to the Web." From the article: "Whatever happened to the virtual reality, 3D world of the Web? Back in the late '90s, all the hype was about VRML -- Virtual Reality Markup Language -- which would turn the web into an immersive environment that you'd maneuver around to get to the information you wanted. We're here to tell you that the reports of the 3D Web's death are greatly exaggerated."

Smells Like Hype

[ackthpt]

My first thought was VRML and what a clunky thing that was before it all but vanished. I've still got books and CD's for doing stuff in it, in a box somewhere, probably in the car-port.

Not really what I had in mind when I thought about what would make for decent 3D browsing. This looks like something you could knock off in a plug-in, like Flash. Probably has some decent uses, like creating a game on your own website or a Realtor giving you a VR tour of a house (which i think someone nearby already has.) Handy for exploring a Mall, to see where a shop is rather than looking at those little hand-bills which are sometimes so artsy-fartsy you just try to go in the general direction and hope you find it. Hope people keep these sites updated. More content==more overhead for maintenance.

Avalon

[Anonymous Coward]

For once an article that has understood that the interesting changes with Vista is under the hood and will show up with applications using it, like windows presentation foundation.

ok, you can unleash the hordes now..

Second Life

[Unoti]

Second Life is a sort of 3D web browser. To me, Second Life is everything I envisioned and more when I first heard about VRML.

3D

[Wellington Grey]

Whatever happened to the virtual reality, 3D world of the Web?

As long as the screen on my computer is 2D I don't think the 3D web will really take off. Now, if you can get me some cheap VR glasses and gloves, that's another matter.

-Grey [wellingtongrey.net]

Re:Second Life

[Hannah E. Davis]

I've only tried Second Life for a few hours, but I agree with you there. Unfortunately, it's still very difficult to navigate and otherwise interact with -- at least compared to the web as we know it today. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a fully 3D web, but I'm not willing to sacrifice functionality to get it.

the best 3d web thingy ever

[graveyhead]

The best 3d web thing I've ever seen is Apple's dashboard widgets in OSX. Each widget can have a (nicely standardized) button which activates the preferences for the widget. The prefrences are on the back of the widget. Literally when you click the prefs button the widget flips over in 3d animation and you interact with the preference panel.

I find this incredible because a) it's an amazing practical use of 3d and b) it's not at all flashy or trying to create a 'new 3d browsing paradigm' or some such silliness. Instead, Apple has used the graphics tools available to them and once again, made a fantastic advance in user interfaces.

Before you call me an Apple fanboy, you should know that I don't even own a Mac, I just think they're neat is all.

Re:Not dead

[Anonymous Coward]

It is very much not dead. Look at any MMORPG or FPS. It's the internet and people are networked through a 3D world are they not? But outside of games getting information would actually be more difficult in a 3D world. The information you want is all 2D anyway, text, images, video, ect. It would cause lag, waste system resources and cause many other problems. For gaming, 3D worlds are very important and add to the realism and strategy involved. For gathering or sharing information a 2D world simply works better! Adding another dimension doesn't mean it's better. Thats like saying adding more salt to a recipe will make it taste better. Sounds good in theory until the final result is so salty you will want to throw up.

*Notice I avoided (yet another) car reference*

Wii?

[Hannah E. Davis]

When I first heard about a web browser being put onto the Wii, it occurred to me that this would be an excellent opportunity to add some 3D capabilities to the web. The Wii has a pointer that can simulate a mouse, but the analog controller might actually make moving around a 3D environment to find information easier than surfing in any conventional fashion. I don't know about you guys, but I think it would be fun to fly around in a 3D information-laden room with the nunchuku firmly in hand, grabbing at relevent pieces with the wiimote.

Re:Not dead

[majortom1981]

Actually its not that far off. The Nintendo Wii controller would be perfect for this sort of web browser.

3D + Internet, not 3D + Web

[DragonWriter]

3D is useful (even with 2D screens) for all kinds of data, and conventional interfaces are adequate, if not ideal, for working with it (otherwise, we wouldn't have 3D games). But 3D's internet utility, I think, is going to materialize in forms that are very much not like what we think of as "web browsers", though there may be some overlap (of course, "Web" applications are becoming increasingly ill-suited to the traditional web browser model as well, leading browsers to increasingly become fairly generic application platforms) -- I think that things like OpenCroquet are more like where internet 3D will bloom than 3D adaptations or plugins for traditional web-browsers.

VRML is actually still used

[The Evil Evil Muppet]

Although it probably amazes most people to know this, our good friends at Google actively use VRML. Thanks to Microsoft's lack of support for transparent PNG rendering in IE 6 (and Google obviously needing to support it), Google leverages IE's VRML support to get the job done. With the level of 3D experience users have come to expect with modern applications and hardware, it's a big ask for anyone to create a 3D environment of a comparable standard using VRML.

Re:Not dead

[Mir322]

I'm surprised this issue hasn't been mentioned more. After bit-torrent use as the predominant use of internet resources... adult content, is one of the THE largest internet interests.

Yet what formats are adult content published in online ?: Still images, Video*, and Text.

Yes there are Console, PC games, and online attempts to create virtual adult content, but typically they are hampered by technological limitations and general scarcity. Or they are hidden (due to politics, morality police, etc.) and require significant effort to access (Hot coffee), for limited content.

When the developmental tools become easily accessible for the masses (people at home & professional developers) to create 3D, rendered content that is on average on par with SD video quality, of an adult or sexually themed nature, and people are able to interact with one another (or simply AI's) with avatars whose appearances are convincingly organic, one would think there will be a dramatic increase in the overall adoption of a 3D virtual web, for purposes above and beyond mere adult/sexual interests.

*Do a search for "Virtual Sex" in your favorite p2p application. The materials found when reviewed have an interesting use of camera and suggested viewer relationship with the content. Yes it is video, - but it is an interesting side note amidst the issue of virtual adult content.

Firefox _is_ a 3D browser.

[Blaskowicz]

in a sense the browser I'm using right now has a 3rd dimension.. tabs ! it seems vastly more efficient than dealing with a dozen flying and rotating windows.

Re:Not dead

[shawb]

Scroll button can be used fairly effectively for the z-plane. Already used for scrollbars? Get a mouse with a second scroll button. But without a large actual 3D display of some sort, the whole thing becomes fairly moot as navigation becomes more of a hassle than the 2D desktop metaphor.

And by the time a full 3D display comes out which is large enough to use more effectively than a standard 2D display, I personally would wager that we will have direct neural links to information anyways. Although working on the framework now and squashing it on a 2D display does at least lessen the catch 22 where people are not developing 3D apps because nobody has a 3D display, and people aren't buying (or even developing) 3D displays because there are no apps for it.