Mark Pesce
Big Book, Inc.
The integration of real-time computer graphics technologies with the ubiquity of the World Wide Web should spawn a new generation of revolutionary perceptualization applications. Despite this, the examples of effective VRML remain far and few between. Why? A number of possible explanations include: a public ignorance of architecture and the importance of data perceptualization; constraints in VRML 1.0 (removed in VRML 2.0); and, in a classic chicken-and-egg scenario, a lack of effective examples. Good artists copy, but great artists steal: how can we foster a treasury of applications which will serve to inspire a new generation of graphics wizards? What kinds of applications can we expect to see in VRML, in the short and longer terms?