Kevin Erlinger Science Teacher
Urbana Middle School
Urbana, Illinois
VRML:
VRML stands for Virtual Reality Modeling Language. The VRML Consortium defines VRML as "an open standard for 3D multimedia and
shared virtual worlds on the Internet." VRML is a file format that like html is platform independent. It allows
the creation and sharing of 3D virtual worlds in web pages. This allows such activities as interactive 3D modeling and animations.
The programming language of VRML is a scene description language in which the geometry and behavior of a 3D scene is described.
The language itself can be created in plain text editor like html. This is very important in that it may in some capacity be utilized by students.
VRML has been evoloving since its introduction. It now is exists in versions 1.0 (the original version) and version 2.0 (introduced in
1997. The following table take from VRML Works
explains the differences between these two formats.
Version
Features
VRML 1.0
Standard objects (cube, sphere, cone, cylinder, text)
Arbitrary objects (surfaces, linesets, pointsets)
Ability to fly through, walk through, examine scenes
Define and reuse objects and behaviors and effectively add new nodes to the language with PROTO and EXTERNPROTO
To utilize VRML technology you need one of three types of browsers. They are stand alone applications such as
Open Worlds, JVerge, or
WorldView for Developers. Another way to view VRML is the use of
Helper applications such as
Sony's Community Place and VRWave. A helper
application is one that is not part of your web browser but is launched by the web browser when needed. The third VRML browser is a
plugin. There are numerous plugins available but the only one I found from the Netscape Plug In Finder that is compatible for Macintosh
is Worldview by Intervista Software. Cosmoplayer 2.1 plugin is alos macintosh compatible
and can be downloaded free at Cosmo Software. One warning-these plugins are huge and take a fair
amount of time to download.
VRML has many interesting educational possibilities. Nasa has a depository of 3D objects for viewing and manipulation at
the Sample VRML Objects page. These objects range from
cubes to the space shuttle. The student genome project is an example of a VRML based
education endeavor. the Student Genome Project is a web based approach to genetics utilizing interactive multimedia and
3D technologies such as Shockwave, Java, cgi, and VRML. This site is quite impressive.
Java is an object oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. It is cross platform
in applets that can be embedded and accessed from html pages. Applets are programs that are run with the aid of an Applet viewer
or web browser. A big plus to Java is that it is completely secure in that the Applet is on a server and will not read
or write files onto the host server. Another plus to Java is that it is free. To use Java with a web browser you need to use Netscape 3.0 or later or Internet Explorer 3.02
or later. The educational possibilities are great because Java applets can be used for various applications such as animations, simulations, sound, remote instrumentation, and data
collection and manipulation. One such Applet is MapIT!.
MapIT! is an Applet that allows a web user to manipulate GIS data and overlay it on maps using a web browser. This Applet is based on
ArcView GIS which is a complicated GIS program developed by ESRI. MapIT! is an easier way
for students to accomplish tasks and, therefore, very student friendly. Some students and teachers may be able to write Java Applets, but the main use will be utilizing and embedding existing Java Applets.
Edulinks offers numerous applets on the Educational Java Applets page.
As a baseball fan I have found the Java scoreboards especially fun and useful.
Macromedia Shockwave:
Macromedia Shockwave is a free animation and entertainment plugin developed
and distributed by Macromedia. The plugin allows a variety of actions to be performed on the web
such as games, animations, interactive demos, audio streaming, and instructional and educational presentations. This plugin is
cross platform and compatible with Netscape, Microsoft Explorer, and AOL browsers. The shockwave plugin plays files that have been developed
using any one of three Macromedia tools: Flash, Director, or
Authorware. So to create a shockwave file/movie which can be embedded into an html document,
you must have one of these tools. These tools are costly running anywhere from $295.00 to $989.00. Sites where you can see shockwave in use include Gameland (some neat games at this site),
Disney (games and animations), and The Student Genome Project.
The Student Genome project utilizes shockwave for animation and action and is by far the best educational use that I found.
It is a bit slow in loading however. Due to the cost of the authoring tools I see utilizing shockwave with students as a plugin to access sites that use it.