RE: Minor TGS flame

VRML and Open Inventor
>
VRML >eemed to burst on the scene recently, when in fact people like
Mark
> Pesce, Gavin Bell, Tony Parisi, Dave Raggett (his white p
lots of
> balls rolling) and others were motivating action on this for over a
year. What
> was needed to move ideas to reality was "someone" to put pen to p
and
> do the work. SGI responded by allowing their engineers to use existing
> technology (Open Inventor) and time to make
>
Silicon Graphics allowed Open Inventor 2.0' basis
> for VRML 1.0; Gavin Bell and Paul Strauss created the initial
specification
> and sample code (QvLib), which was edited by Tony Parisi. Of the more
than
> 50 nodes in VRML 1.0, all but 3 came from Open Inventor 2.0. These 5
new
> nodes are being integrated back into Open Inventor by TGS, making VRML
> 1.0 a true subset of Open Inventor 2.0.1 from TGS. This means that
> developers can support either the VRML 1.0 or Open Inventor 2.0
standards
> with the Open Inventor toolkit and viewers. While VRML 1.0 is a "de
facto"
> standard, set by a grass-roots effort on the Internet, Open Inventor
has been
> selected as the basis for an official ANSI/ISO standard. TGS is
committed to
> both "flavors" of the Open Inventor file format.
>
Leadership in VRML and Networked 3D
>
TGS and SGI introduced the first ever VRML/3D browser in April of 1995,
a
> product called WebSpace. WebSpace is now available on a number of UNIX
> and Windows platforms, and will span all major computing systems
before
> the end of 1995. A number of other VRML browsers, based upon the
sample
> code QvLib provided by SGI, are now in development.

This is NOT a power grab by TGS, nor do we claim credit for "doing
VRML". We found it necessary to state SGI's role in making VRML "real"
due to pre-positioning by other companies and individuals.

SGI, and TGS, didn't just "discover" VRML in April, when we made the
announcement and brought 20 other hardware and software companies into
the announcement - and pointed the press to organizers (Mark, Tony,
Brian) of the group, included Mark in press events, etc. SGI
contributed QvLib well before April, and TGS (and others) had duplicated
the effect of VRML within Open Inventor.

If TGS had wanted to "own" 3D on the Internet, Open Inventor (adopted by
X3H3 ANSI/ISO' effort independent of the VRML group. Both SGI and TGS saw then and see
now the value of a group that can move faster than ANSI/ISO :), and the
value of all the bright minds working on this group.

I'm open to "correcting" our text, but I won't shy away from the
following:

* SGI's contribution, without restrictions, of the initial spec and
sample code has helped make almost EVERYONE thaough that VRML would either "happen" in a year
or never "happen". Two-way support, from the VRML group
was as important, as was the effort given by everyone.

* The VRML 1.0 litafile is a direct descendant of the Open Inventor
litafile, with 5 "VRML specific" nodes that have been added back
into Open Inventor (by TGS). Given what is happening with ANSI,
this ADDS to the VRML story and importance.

* TGS has and does play an important role in helping to insure the
success of VRML. It was TGS, using our position as a cross-platform ubr> open systems graphics company, that convinced DEC, Intergraph, NEC,ubr> 3Dlabs, Netsc a "yes" for VRML 1.0 on April 3. If TGS, as an independent software
vendor (read neutral) was not "there", then some of those names
would not have been "there". Setting a de-facto standard takes
a lot of cooperation and effort.

* We are committed to the long-term openness of VRML. We will
add our voice when we think that the process is at risk due
to the commercial/personal interests of others. We expect them
to do the same. Thats how standards work, after all...

Robert
VP Marketing, TGS