I just made an experiment in one of my web pages that might be of
interest to some of you.
The web page is called "The Cybernaut Station" and it is being designed
to resemble visiting a space station, both in its 2D HTML viewing and its
VRML representation (currently crude, but still pretty cool). (As a
non-hyping, careful side note- I am hoping to make this site into a
useful starting point for online VR & 3D.)
I found a way to add a "sound-track" to this web page. Using
"client-pull" techniques (see the "push-pull" docs at Netscape),
specifically the META tag, I have an AU sound file automatically load 1
second after your browser loads the page. I made a sound file that I
thought captured the right atmosphere and it works like a charm!
The URL is: http://ww1.gttw.com/maya/VrMarket/vrms.html
It requires a browser that understands the META tag (possibly any HTML
3.0 capable browser, definitely Netscape 1.1) and has an AU sound player
configured as a helper app (Netscape 1.1 has NAPLAYER built in)
This experiment opens the way for many things that can, I think, be
incorporated into VRML world authoring. An obvious one is that instead of
an .AU sound file an .RA RealAudio file could be loaded. If you have a
RealAudio Player and a VRML browser you could activate one link that
would load the world and a continuous stream of audio simultaneously.
Then, the audio could change based on hyperlinks activated within the
VRML world. Simple,... no?
This can be combined with the timed loading of URL's that is also
possible with "Push-Pull" to make a Web page that changes in time with a
RealAudio soundtrack. Which brings up the question- can we do this with
VRML worlds too? I could write an HTML document that sequentially loads
.WRL files "in sych" ("sych" would differ slightly based on connection
speed) with a RealAudio soundtrack, but can the VRML browser do it?
Would each new .WRL try to launch a new browser, or would the scene get
updated? Are any of the browsers being developed now able to work like this?
(This question of mine is obviously related to a post to this mailing list
I got a little while ago named "VRML Behaviours in our time" which also
included the use of CGI's to enliven worlds)
Thanks in advance for any feedback,
-Jason Joslyn
[email protected]
MAYA Internet Presence Services
http://ww1.gttw.com/maya/
P.S.-----------------------------------------------------------------
In case you are interested, here is the HTML code I used to do this:
<META HTTP-EQUIV=REFRESH CONTENT="1;
URL=http://ww1.gttw.com/maya/spacer.au">
in the part:
CONTENT="x;URL=___"
x is the number of seconds to wait before loading the URL.
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