Re: about public browsers etc.

Gavin Bell ([email protected])
Mon, 15 May 1995 11:05:40 -0700


On May 15, 9:03am, Scott Virt Theme Parks wrote:
> wouldn't it be hilariously cool to create a text VRML browser!!!
> could probably be the quickest renderer around...
> Adrian (splitting at his sides with laughter)

A text VRML renderer might actually be quite useful for sight-impaired users.
I had a very nice email exchange with Christopher Serflek about making VRML
more accessible, and think it is do-able.

Ideally, interacting with a text VRML browser would be like playing an
adventure game:

"You are looking at a small, messy cubicle, crowded with bookshelves and
whiteboards full of scribblings.
The room has the following links:
1- Gavin's Home Page
2- The Open Inventor Home Page
3- Gavin's playroom
The room has the following viewpoints:
1- Top view"

We should add support for this kind of thing into VRML 1.1; I think all it
takes is a Description associated with objects, viewpoints (which should be
formalized more), and WWWAnchors (which we already have). Convincing VMRL
authors to fill in the description fields will be the hard part...