Current State of the VRML project

I will try and keep this page updated regularly with the current state of the browser. Above is a screen shot of the VRML 1.0 browser using the Euclid module to render.

13th of October 1998

After spending the summer working at Philips Research on VRML related things I have several new ideas I would like to see implemented. My main current focus is to improve the graphics engine, and port it to Solaris for possible use in my Honours Project.

Also, I am keen to finish the VRML 2.0 parsing code and link the result to the new graphics engine. On the Acorn platform physical rendering to the screen will still be done via Euclid, and I am currently evaluating the XGL graphics library for use on Solaris.

1st of March 1998

The VRML 1.0 browser has been on beta release for almost a year now, and is available from HENSA for download. This archive requires the Euclid module to perform rendering.

I have been doing some work on a VRML 2.0 browser over the last year between other commitments. The lack of Java VM for RiscOS did seem to be a major problem at first, but since christmas with the Clan beta CD, and also the soon to be released Chockino VM, the situation seems to have improved. I am still lacking a graphics engine at the moment, and all output rendering is still done through the Euclid module.

3rd of March 1997

Some screenshots of converted VRML files are now available for you to look at.

20th of Febuary 1997

I managed to display the first VRML file using Euclid. Only IndexedFaceSet type nodes are supported at present, and due to incomplete memory management code the browser must be reloaded after every conversion.

Since Euclid does not support floating point coordinates, the user must 'judge' the range of the integers used before conversion. This can be a matter of trial and error, and later versions should able to do this automatically.

The first release version will be made as soon as memory management code is complete, and several other node types are working (cone, box, cylinder and sphere, and all the transformation nodes). I may also have a simple browser window up and running, though you will still need the Euclid module loaded to use this at present.

December 1996

My libraries for handeling Euclid data structures are now complete, along with much of the groundwork for the VRML 1.0 parsar. All node/field types are supported by the parsar by means of an flexable node list system. Also some of the speed critical parsing routines have been re-written in ARM code.

October 1996

Project began here. I had allready written a collection of libraries for viewing/generating Euclid files in BBC Basic so I was not starting from scratch. Initially I improved these and began producing the specification of VRML parsing code.

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Duncan last updated this page on 13th October 1998
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For more information contact dfm@st-andrews.ac.uk