<s>
VRML	B-Application
(	O
Virtual	B-Application
Reality	I-Application
Modeling	I-Application
Language	I-Application
,	O
pronounced	O
vermal	O
or	O
by	O
its	O
initials	O
,	O
originally	O
—	O
before	O
1995	O
—	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
Virtual	B-Application
Reality	I-Application
Markup	O
Language	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
standard	O
file	O
format	O
for	O
representing	O
3-dimensional	O
(	O
3D	O
)	O
interactive	O
vector	O
graphics	O
,	O
designed	O
particularly	O
with	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
in	O
mind	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
been	O
superseded	O
by	O
X3D	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
VRML	B-Application
is	O
a	O
text	B-General_Concept
file	I-General_Concept
format	I-General_Concept
where	O
,	O
e.g.	O
,	O
vertices	O
and	O
edges	O
for	O
a	O
3D	O
polygon	B-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
specified	O
along	O
with	O
the	O
surface	O
color	O
,	O
UV-mapped	O
textures	O
,	O
shininess	O
,	O
transparency	O
,	O
and	O
so	O
on	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
URLs	O
can	O
be	O
associated	O
with	O
graphical	O
components	O
so	O
that	O
a	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
might	O
fetch	O
a	O
webpage	O
or	O
a	O
new	O
VRML	B-Application
file	O
from	O
the	O
Internet	O
when	O
the	O
user	O
clicks	O
on	O
the	O
specific	O
graphical	O
component	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Animations	O
,	O
sounds	O
,	O
lighting	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
aspects	O
of	O
the	O
virtual	B-Application
world	I-Application
can	O
interact	O
with	O
the	O
user	O
or	O
may	O
be	O
triggered	O
by	O
external	O
events	B-Application
such	O
as	O
timers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
special	O
Script	O
Node	O
allows	O
the	O
addition	O
of	O
program	O
code	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
written	O
in	O
Java	B-Language
or	O
ECMAScript	B-Language
)	O
to	O
a	O
VRML	B-Application
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VRML	B-Application
files	O
are	O
commonly	O
called	O
"	O
worlds	O
"	O
and	O
have	O
the	O
extension	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VRML	B-Application
files	O
are	O
in	O
plain	O
text	O
and	O
generally	O
compress	O
well	O
using	O
gzip	B-Application
,	O
useful	O
for	O
transferring	O
over	O
the	O
Internet	O
more	O
quickly	O
(	O
some	O
gzip	B-Application
compressed	O
files	O
use	O
the	O
extension	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
3D	O
modeling	O
programs	O
can	O
save	O
objects	B-Algorithm
and	O
scenes	O
in	O
VRML	B-Application
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Web3D	B-General_Concept
Consortium	O
has	O
been	O
formed	O
to	O
further	O
the	O
collective	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VRML	B-Application
(	O
and	O
its	O
successor	O
,	O
X3D	B-Application
)	O
,	O
have	O
been	O
accepted	O
as	O
international	O
standards	O
by	O
the	O
International	O
Organization	O
for	O
Standardization	O
(	O
ISO	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
International	O
Electrotechnical	O
Commission	O
(	O
IEC	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
VRML	B-Application
was	O
specified	O
in	O
November	O
1994	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
version	O
was	O
specified	O
from	O
,	O
and	O
very	O
closely	O
resembled	O
,	O
the	O
API	B-Application
and	O
file	O
format	O
of	O
the	O
Open	B-Application
Inventor	I-Application
software	O
component	O
,	O
originally	O
developed	O
by	O
SGI	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
2.0	O
development	O
was	O
guided	O
by	O
the	O
ad	O
hoc	O
VRML	B-Application
Architecture	O
Group	O
(	O
VAG	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Formal	O
collaboration	O
between	O
the	O
VAG	O
and	O
SC24	O
of	O
ISO/IEC	O
began	O
in	O
1996	O
and	O
VRML	B-Application
2.0	O
was	O
submitted	O
to	O
ISO	O
for	O
adoption	O
as	O
an	O
international	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
current	O
and	O
functionally	O
complete	O
version	O
is	O
VRML97	B-Application
(	O
ISO/IEC	O
14772-1:1997	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VRML	B-Application
has	O
now	O
been	O
superseded	O
by	O
X3D	B-Application
(	O
ISO/IEC	B-Application
19775-1	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
VRML	B-Application
was	O
coined	O
by	O
Dave	O
Raggett	O
in	O
a	O
paper	O
called	O
"	O
Extending	O
WWW	O
to	O
support	O
Platform	O
Independent	O
Virtual	B-Application
Reality	I-Application
"	O
submitted	O
to	O
the	O
First	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
Conference	O
in	O
1994	O
,	O
and	O
first	O
discussed	O
at	O
the	O
WWW94	O
VRML	B-Application
BOF	O
established	O
by	O
Tim	O
Berners-Lee	O
,	O
where	O
Mark	O
Pesce	O
presented	O
the	O
Labyrinth	O
demo	O
he	O
developed	O
with	O
Tony	O
Parisi	O
and	O
Peter	O
Kennard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VRML	B-Application
was	O
introduced	O
to	O
a	O
wider	O
audience	O
in	O
the	O
SIGGRAPH	O
Course	O
,	O
VRML	B-Application
:	O
Using	O
3D	O
to	O
Surf	O
the	O
Web	O
in	O
August	O
1995	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
1995	O
,	O
at	O
Internet	O
World	O
,	O
Template	O
Graphics	O
Software	O
(	O
TGS	O
)	O
demonstrated	O
a	O
3D/VRML	O
plug-in	O
for	O
the	O
beta	O
release	O
of	O
Netscape	B-Application
2.0	I-Application
by	O
Netscape	B-Protocol
Communications	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1997	O
,	O
a	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
format	O
was	O
finalized	O
,	O
as	O
VRML97	B-Application
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
VRML2	O
or	O
VRML	B-Application
2.0	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
became	O
an	O
ISO/IEC	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VRML97	B-Application
was	O
used	O
on	O
the	O
Internet	O
on	O
some	O
personal	O
homepages	O
and	O
sites	O
such	O
as	O
"	O
CyberTown	O
"	O
,	O
which	O
offered	O
3D	O
chat	O
using	O
Blaxxun	O
Software	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
Sony	O
's	O
SAPARi	B-Language
program	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
pre-installed	O
on	O
Vaio	O
computers	O
from	O
1997	O
to	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
fill	O
the	O
void	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
proprietary	O
Web	O
3D	O
formats	O
emerged	O
over	O
the	O
next	O
few	O
years	O
,	O
including	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Chrome	I-Application
and	O
Adobe	B-Algorithm
Atmosphere	I-Algorithm
,	O
neither	O
of	O
which	O
is	O
supported	O
today	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VRML	B-Application
's	O
capabilities	O
remained	O
largely	O
the	O
same	O
while	O
realtime	O
3D	O
graphics	O
kept	O
improving	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VRML	B-Application
Consortium	O
changed	O
its	O
name	O
to	O
the	O
Web3D	B-General_Concept
Consortium	O
,	O
and	O
began	O
work	O
on	O
the	O
successor	O
to	O
VRML	B-Application
—	O
X3D	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
SGI	O
ran	O
a	O
web	O
site	O
at	O
vrml.sgi.com	O
on	O
which	O
was	O
hosted	O
a	O
string	O
of	O
regular	O
short	O
performances	O
of	O
a	O
character	O
called	O
"	O
Floops	O
"	O
who	O
was	O
a	O
VRML	B-Application
character	O
in	O
a	O
VRML	B-Application
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
H-Anim	O
is	O
a	O
standard	O
for	O
animated	O
Humanoids	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
based	O
around	O
VRML	B-Application
,	O
and	O
later	O
X3D	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
VRML	B-Application
has	O
never	O
seen	O
much	O
serious	O
widespread	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
VRML	B-Application
's	O
popularity	O
,	O
a	O
majority	O
of	O
users	O
,	O
both	O
business	O
and	O
personal	O
,	O
were	O
using	O
slow	O
dial-up	O
Internet	O
access	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VRML	B-Application
experimentation	O
was	O
primarily	O
in	O
education	O
and	O
research	O
where	O
an	O
open	O
specification	O
is	O
most	O
valued	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
now	O
been	O
re-engineered	O
as	O
X3D	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MPEG-4	B-Algorithm
Interactive	O
Profile	O
(	O
ISO/IEC	B-Algorithm
14496	I-Algorithm
)	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
VRML	B-Application
(	O
now	O
on	O
X3D	B-Application
)	O
,	O
and	O
X3D	B-Application
is	O
largely	O
backward-compatible	O
with	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VRML	B-Application
is	O
also	O
widely	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
file	O
format	O
for	O
interchange	O
of	O
3D	O
models	O
,	O
particularly	O
from	O
CAD	B-Application
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
free	O
cross-platform	O
runtime	O
implementation	O
of	O
VRML	B-Application
is	O
available	O
in	O
OpenVRML	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
libraries	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
add	O
both	O
VRML	B-Application
and	O
X3D	B-Application
support	O
to	O
applications	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
GTK+	O
plugin	O
is	O
available	O
to	O
render	O
VRML/X3D	O
worlds	O
in	O
web	B-Application
browsers	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
2000s	O
,	O
many	O
companies	O
like	O
Bitmanagement	O
improved	O
the	O
quality	O
level	O
of	O
virtual	O
effects	O
in	O
VRML	B-Application
to	O
the	O
quality	O
level	O
of	O
DirectX	B-Application
9.0c	I-Application
,	O
but	O
at	O
the	O
expense	O
of	O
using	O
proprietary	O
solutions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
demos	O
shows	O
that	O
VRML	B-Application
already	O
supports	O
lightmap	O
,	O
normalmap	O
,	O
SSAO	O
,	O
CSM	O
and	O
Realtime	O
Environment	O
Reflection	O
along	O
with	O
other	O
virtual	O
effects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
March	O
1998	O
ACM	O
essay	O
,	O
"	O
Playfulness	O
in	O
3D	O
Spaces	O
--	O
Why	O
Quake	B-Application
is	I-Application
better	O
than	O
VRML	B-Application
,	O
and	O
what	O
it	O
means	O
for	O
software	O
design	O
"	O
,	O
Clay	O
Shirky	O
sharply	O
criticised	O
VRML	B-Application
as	O
a	O
"	O
technology	O
in	O
search	O
of	O
a	O
problem	O
"	O
,	O
whereas	O
"	O
Quake	B-Application
does	O
something	O
well	O
instead	O
of	O
many	O
things	O
poorly	O
...	O
The	O
VRML	B-Application
community	O
has	O
failed	O
to	O
come	O
up	O
with	O
anything	O
this	O
compelling	O
--	O
not	O
despite	O
the	O
community	O
's	O
best	O
intentions	O
,	O
but	O
because	O
of	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Every	O
time	O
VRML	B-Application
practitioners	O
approach	O
the	O
problem	O
of	O
how	O
to	O
represent	O
space	O
on	O
the	O
screen	O
,	O
they	O
have	O
no	O
focused	O
reason	O
to	O
make	O
any	O
particular	O
trade-off	O
of	O
detail	O
versus	O
rendering	O
speed	O
,	O
or	O
making	O
objects	B-Algorithm
versus	O
making	O
spaces	O
,	O
because	O
VRML	B-Application
is	O
n't	O
for	O
anything	O
except	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
