Re: Suggested Image Based VR enhancements for VRML 2.0
Kevin Goldsmith ([email protected])
Mon, 17 Apr 1995 14:59:58 -0700 (PDT)
>
> Is anyone giving any serious consideration at incorporating (in
> VRML 2.0) image-based VR environments. An image-based VR environment
> is exemplified by Apple's QuickTime VR (QTVR) work. In this type of an
> environment you can turn your head 360 degrees around and the images
> are updated in real time. The current version of QTVR does not support
> travel terribly well so your stuck in one place. Let me stress
> that this is NOT a plug for QTVR but rather a plug for not excluding
> image-based VR environments from VRML. Much of the computer graphics
> being done in the domain of image warping is applicable to this
> problem.
>
Texture map an image on the inside of a cylinder and put the
camera in the center of it. Viola! QTVR. For hot spots, put invisible
polygons with the appropriate WWWanchors and such over the "hot spots" on
the image and that will give you complete QTVR functionality. I agree
that this approach is useful. Eventually, navagable movies will make
some real sense for the Internet, but we'll need a better way of sending
them (mbone?).
> The big win with image-based VR environments is the ability to very
> quickly create complex environments. No you can't easily manipulate
> everything but you can represent environments in photo-realistic detail.
> Hot spots can be defined on top of these environment which let you
> take actions such as linking via URLs to other sites. Ultimatly I
> would expect environments with combinations of polygonal and image-based
> sites to exploit the advantages of both.
>
I disagree that they are easier or faster to produce, just
different.
Kevin