I was thinking that the time axis would be useful in representing
data from numerical models, certainly other methods would be desirable
for animations. It would be handy to have if you wanted to visualize
your data.
Say I have a sphere of something wierd that changes diameter with time
So I could do this
4sphere {
radius [1 0
1.1 0.5
1.2 1
1 1.5
2 2]
}
The browser could decide that it wants to smoothly make the changes
or to make the changes in incrimental steps... the browser
could also decide whether 1 is one second or whatever...
I don't think that 4 vectors ought to be included for the sake of
animation, I think they ought to be included for the sake of usefulness
perhaps as optional extensions
I do think animation ought to be considered for future versions of VRML
because, a static world is not that realistic... I want waterfalls...
But 4-vectors are definately not the only animation tools that ought
to be included..
a set of 4D translations and transforms would be great for modeling
things from tennis balls to spaceships.... define the object, then
define its motion
I want to be able to use VRML to see my EOMs come to life....
-Nathan