To Push the Jumbo Flyingly
X3D has come a long way. It is now humming along like a well equipped jumbo, with modularity thrown in. The new user interface and rendering initiatives will spruce it up nicely!
But wait, it’s not flying to full potential! Back when the Web was based on a pull-from paradigm, Web3D (then VRML) had plenty of good pull capability. The Web continued to evolve and became more bidirectional: much is now pushed back onto the Net. People are uploading models, photos, QTVRs and linking them to Google Earth or community portals. Chat, VOIP and videoconferencing are more commonplace and Massively Multiplayer Online Games, which require continual two-way interplay, are gaining popularity.
Web3D did not co-evolve and stuck with the pull model. There is no efficient tcp/ip networking node, no advance in http protocol support. What happened? One can use CreateX3DFromURL and LoadURL to push some URL-encoded parameters onto servers, access web services, and pull stuff back. This basic two-way http trickery is nice, but it’s like pulling the jumbo from a mini minor. You can do some more efficient and powerful tcp/ip networking inside purpose built java or C++ classes but that’s not portable. What we need is specification support for portable, efficient, two-way network streaming content.
So, if you too want to get the Web back into Web3D, help me charter a Consortium Network Working Group. Let’s get the jumbo really flying!