Ubiquitous 3D

Thursday, June 12, 1997 - The best kept secret on the World Wide Web (Floops!)

I'm talking about Floops! Floops is a VRML 2.0 cartoon character that comes to life on your desktop!

To see Floops (new episodes - called webisodes are produced every few days), you need a VRML 2.0 compliant browser. The two most popular browsers are Cosmo from SGI and my favorite WorldView 2.0 from Intervista Software. (I've been doing some work on WorldView under contract to Intervista so I might be prejudiced, but I think the UI in WorldView, the performance, and the range of hardware accelerators supported is superb.) Microsoft licensed WorldView for distribution as part of IE 4.0, so soon VRML 2.0 viewing will be a normal part of the desktop. (Of course, Netscape licensed Cosmo for Communicator.)

Floops is compelling content that will make you a believer. Most of you out there are probably saying to yourself, "VRML--SCHMERMEL - isn't that the stuff that takes forever to download the textures so you can walk around some boring room somewhere?" Well, you're thinking of VRML 1.0, which created static worlds only. VRML 2.0 provides clever content authors like Protozoa the opportunity to bring their VRML worlds to life. Protozoa, in particular, has developed a process for creating motion captured fantasy creatures that are actually performed by a guy in a motion capture suit, but that don't have human form. Floops is a uh, "Fluke + Oops", a genetic anomaly, who is somewhat human in shape, but Protozoa has also created Frigate the bird and Red the lobster in Driftwood. I highly recommend downloading WorldView (supports Netscape just as well as IE if you're of that persuasion), and then jumping over to Protozoa and following the links to some of the sites they have created. Floops is up to webisode number 49 as I write this, and a new webisode is due soon.

Each Floops VRML 2.0 file is about 125K in size, plus another 125K for the sound file (frequently the sound is bigger than the animation). If you're at work with a T1 it will load in seconds. If you're at home on a 28.8 it will take a couple of minutes. Just go get a cup of coffee and it'll be ready when you get back.

Watching Floops will give you some idea why Bill Gates is so excited about the Internet and Internet distribution of content, including television. Instead of keeping my kids busy with the television or a video game while my wife has a few minutes of peace to get ready for bed, I bring the kids into my office and they sit on my lap and we watch Floops over and over again. I'm slowly building up my collection of downloaded webisodes - I have about a third, maybe, of the total episodes, which I laboriously copy out of the IE cache directories.

VRML 2.0 - it's cool! And it'll be built-in to IE 4.0 and Memphis (the next release of Windows). But why not get a jump on the crowd and download WorldView tonight?

(Like many things, including HTML pages, VRML can be abused. Some sites are very clever and nice and small, while others were created for demo purposes on local LANs or for reading from CD. Don't let these bad VRML worlds disturb you - look for the good stuff - surf and ye shall find!)