There appears to be more and more Web3D popping up. I'm not referring
to little toy Web3D sites either. I mean BIGTIMEWEB3D, for major clients putting in major bucks.
Let's look at a few of recent ones.
The hype surrounding the sequel to the "Blair Witch" includes a 3D chat environment. This
environment uses Worlds.com. (yes they are still around!) to let you immerse yourself in a themed environment. You have to register
and I assume they will attempt to sell all sorts of Blair Witch stuff.
(yawn)
On the serious front CNN has consistently, for several years now, experimented with interactive 3D explanations of
events and objects. They created a good version of the International Space Station, using VRML. Recently they produced an
explanation of the damage of the USS Cole utilizing the Cult3D plug in.
On the ecommerce front one of the big movers and shakers Metastream has changed their name to Viewpoint since they acquired the company. Viewpoint
is now and even larger presence in the Web3D content creation business. Their clients include "light weights" such as Sony and Nike.
For that hard to fit shopping experience, there's no substitute for the Land's End experiment with
full body scanning. Traveling around the country is a tractor trailer with scanning equipment. You get in and it scans you literally from head to toe.
The resulting data is used to create a model using the "My Virtual Model" software. The next time you shop at Land's End online you get to
see how the cloths would fit YOU. Way cool stuff!
Last but not least was that little event known as the Olympics. NBC contracted with the folks at Shout Interactive (now
merged wit Eyematic) to create 3D views of kayak course. They also created a boxing and soccer game. The work was recently feature in a NYTimes article discussing the resurgence
of Web3D, golly!
