We are doing it now. See http://visembryo.ucsf.edu/
>
>For one thing getting everyone to settle on one API, nevermind
>later use just one API, is a longer long shot than your simple
>answer belies.
>
>The point of WWW and URL's is that no -one system/API/solution/
>representation can serve all users all the time.
>
>the need for abstraction, and only base level agreement on what
>the basic issues are to be solved, is clear and this maillist
>is supposed to be helpfull in getting us there.
>
>lets.
My point is precisely that we will not be able to get the world to agree on
a single set of development tools, a single "language" for definition of VR
scenes, so we should at least come up with a way to integrate pieces that
people produce using disparate systems.
If a programmer can produce a better, that is more realistic, simulation of
a scene by coding it directly in GL than if (s)he had coded it using a
self-contained VRML script, then that programmer will use GL, not VRML.
It is presumptuous of us to think that we can dissect the problem of VR
scene description to create a level of abstraction that will be suitable for
all circumstances. We are undertaking to provide for the world a means by
which virtual reality simulations can be accessed and distributed through
the Web. Those means must be capable of creating not only flight
simulators, but also simulations of heart surgery.
**************************************************************************
* Michael D. Doyle, Ph.D. email: miked@visembryo.ucsf.edu *
* Director, Health Informatics Lab phone: (510)522-5275 *
* Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine fax: (510)522-4439 *
* University of California, San Francisco pager: (415)719-4557 *
* 5 Remmel Court http://visembryo.ucsf.edu/ *
* Alameda, CA 94502 alternate email: mddoyle@netcom.com *
**************************************************************************