View source for VRML

{{Short description|File format for representing 3D interactive vector graphics}}
{{For|the language's successor|X3D}}
{{Distinguish|Vector Markup Language}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{Infobox file format
| name          = VRML
| icon          = 
| logo          = 
| screenshot    = Apartment.png
| caption       = Apartment ground plan in VRML
| extension     = {{plainlist|
*<code>.wrl</code>&nbsp;(plain)
*<code>.wrz</code>&nbsp;([[gzip]] compression)
}}
| _noextcode    = yes
| mime          = {{plainlist|
*<code>model/vrml</code>
*<code>x-world/x-vrml</code>
*<code>application/x-cc3d</code>
}}
| _nomimecode   = yes
| type code     = 
| uniform type  = 
| magic         = 
| owner         = 
| released      = 
| latest release version = 2.0
| latest release date = 
| genre         = [[3D computer graphics]]
| container for = 
| contained by  = 
| extended from = Labyrinth
| extended to   = 
| standard      = [[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]]/[[International Electrotechnical Commission|IEC]] 14772-1:1997
| url           = {{URL|www.web3d.org}}
}}

'''VRML''' ('''Virtual Reality Modeling Language''', pronounced ''vermal'' or by its initials, originally—before 1995—known as the Virtual Reality Markup Language) is a standard [[file format]] for representing [[3-D computer graphics|3-dimensional]] (3D) interactive [[vector graphics]], designed particularly with the [[World Wide Web]] in mind. It has been superseded by [[X3D]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Is a 3D web more than just empty promises? |author= Paul Festa and John Borland |work=CNET News.com |date= May 19, 2005 |url=http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,1000000097,39199121,00.htm }}</ref>

==WRL file format==

VRML is a [[text file]] format where, e.g., [[vertex (geometry)|vertices]] and edges for a 3D [[polygon]] can be specified along with the surface color, [[UV mapping|UV-mapped]] [[texture mapping|textures]], [[specularity|shininess]], [[transparency (optics)|transparency]], and so on.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.web3d.org/x3d/specifications/vrml/VRML1.0/index.html |title=Version 1.0 Specification |publisher=Web3d.org |access-date=2010-02-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.martinreddy.net/gfx/3d/VRML.spec |title=VRML Version 1.0 Specification |access-date=2018-11-27}}</ref> [[Uniform Resource Locator|URLs]] can be associated with [[graphic]]al components so that a [[web browser]] might fetch a webpage or a new VRML file from the [[Internet]] when the [[user (computing)|user]] clicks on the specific graphical component. [[Animation]]s, [[sound]]s, [[lighting]], and other aspects of the [[virtual world]] can interact with the user or may be triggered by external [[Event-driven programming|events]] such as [[timer]]s. A special Script Node allows the addition of [[Source code|program code]] (e.g., written in [[Java (programming language)|Java]] or [[ECMAScript]]) to a VRML file.

VRML files are commonly called "worlds" and have the {{Not a typo|.wrl}} [[filename extension|extension]] (for example, {{Not a typo|island.wrl}}). VRML files are in [[plain text]] and generally compress well using [[gzip]], useful for transferring over the Internet more quickly (some gzip compressed files use the {{Not a typo|.wrz}} [[filename extension|extension]]). Many [[3D computer graphics software|3D modeling programs]] can save objects and [[scenery|scenes]] in VRML format.

==Standardization==

The [[Web3D Consortium]] has been formed to further the collective development of the format. VRML (and its successor, [[X3D]]), have been accepted as international standards by the [[International Organization for Standardization]] (ISO) and the [[International Electrotechnical Commission]] (IEC).

The first version of VRML was specified in November 1994. This version was specified from, and very closely resembled, the [[Application Programming Interface|API]] and [[file format]] of the [[Open Inventor]] [[software component]], originally developed by [[Silicon Graphics|SGI]]. Version 2.0 development was guided by the ad hoc VRML Architecture Group (VAG).<ref name="Ando">{{cite journal |last1=Ando |first1=Hideyuki |last2=Kubota |first2=Akihiro |last3=Kiriyama |first3=Takashi |title=Study on the collaborative design process over the Internet: a case study on VRML 2.0 specification design |journal=Design Studies |date=July 1998 |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=289–308 |doi=10.1016/S0142-694X(98)00007-6 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0142694X98000076 |access-date=24 March 2020|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A working draft was published in August 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs248-98-fall/Assignments/Assignment3/VRML2_Specification/ |title=VRML Version 2.0 Specification |date=1996-08-04 |access-date=2018-11-27}}</ref> Formal collaboration between the VAG and SC24 of ISO/IEC began in 1996<ref name="Carson">{{cite journal |last1=Carson |first1=George |last2=Puk |first2=Richard |last3=Carey |first3=Rikk |title=Developing the VRML 97 international standard |journal=IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications |date=March–April 1999 |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=52–58 |doi=10.1109/38.749123 }}</ref> and VRML 2.0 was submitted to ISO for adoption as an international standard. The current and functionally complete version is VRML97 (ISO/IEC 14772-1:1997). VRML has now been superseded by [[X3D]] (ISO/IEC 19775-1).

==Emergence, popularity, and rival technical upgrade==

The term VRML was coined by [[Dave Raggett]] in a paper called "Extending WWW to support Platform Independent Virtual Reality"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.w3.org/People/Raggett/vrml/vrml.html |title=Extending WWW to support Platform Independent Virtual Reality |author=Dave Raggett |date=1994 |access-date=April 2, 2012}}</ref> submitted to the [[World Wide Web Conference 1|First World Wide Web Conference]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www94.web.cern.ch/WWW94/ |title=First World Wide Web Conference |publisher=4.web.cern.ch |access-date=2010-02-23}}</ref> in 1994, and first discussed at the WWW94 VRML BOF established by [[Tim Berners-Lee]], where [[Mark Pesce]] presented the Labyrinth demo he developed with [[Tony Parisi (software developer)|Tony Parisi]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080302070914/http://mediamachines.com/management.php Media Machines Management]</ref> and [[Peter Kennard]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livingwork.com/peterk/ |title=Peter Kennard's page |publisher=Livingwork.com |access-date=2010-02-23}}</ref> VRML was introduced to a wider audience in the [[SIGGRAPH]] Course, VRML: Using 3D to Surf the Web<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hardenbergh |first1=Jan |last2=Bell |first2=Gavin |last3=Pesce |first3=Mark |title=Course 12 - VRML: Using 3D to Surf the Web |date=August 1995 |publisher=[[ACM SIGGRAPH]]}}</ref> in August 1995. In October 1995, at Internet World, Template Graphics Software (TGS) demonstrated a 3D/VRML plug-in for the beta release of [[Netscape Navigator 2|Netscape 2.0]] by [[Netscape|Netscape Communications]].<ref>[http://www.allbusiness.com/technology/software-services-applications/7163706-1.html First 3D/VRML Plug-in for Netscape 2.0 shown by TGS; TGS extends leadership in Internet 3D products and technology]. [[AllBusiness.com]]. 30 Oct 1995. Last accessed 26 Dec 2011.</ref>

In 1997, a new version of the format was finalized, as VRML97 (also known as VRML2 or VRML 2.0), and became an ISO/IEC standard. VRML97 was used on the Internet on some personal homepages and sites such as "[[CyberTown]]", which offered 3D chat using Blaxxun Software, as well as Sony's [[SAPARi]] program, which was pre-installed on [[Vaio]] computers from 1997 to 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nomano.shiwaza.com/tnoma/blog/archives/008794.html|title= 17th anniversary of the launch of "Sapari" service and the sale of VAIO business|author=Tsunetake Noma|date=February 7, 2014|access-date=January 4, 2021|language=ja}}</ref> The format was championed by SGI's Cosmo Software; when SGI restructured in 1998, the division was sold to the [[VREAM|VREAM Division]] of [[Platinum Technology]], which was then taken over by [[Computer Associates]], which did not develop or distribute the software. To fill the void a variety of proprietary Web 3D formats emerged over the next few years, including [[Microsoft Chrome]] and [[Adobe Atmosphere]], neither of which is supported today. VRML's capabilities remained largely the same while realtime 3D graphics kept improving. The VRML Consortium changed its name to the Web3D Consortium, and began work on the successor to VRML—[[X3D]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.siggraph.org/~rhyne/carto/3D/3D-geovrml.html |title=A Commentary on GeoVRML |access-date=2011-08-23 |archive-date=2021-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204054119/http://www.siggraph.org/~rhyne/carto/3D/3D-geovrml.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

SGI ran a web site at vrml.sgi.com on which was hosted a string of regular short performances of a character called "Floops" who was a VRML character in a VRML world. Floops was a creation of a company called Protozoa.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biota.org/book/chbi/chbi2.htm |title=Floops general narrative |publisher=Biota.org |access-date=2010-02-23 |archive-date=2009-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202095938/http://www.biota.org/book/chbi/chbi2.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspace.com/avatars/book/authorp/floplate.jpg |title=Floops in his first episode |access-date=2010-02-23}}</ref>

H-Anim is a standard for animated Humanoids, which is based on VRML, and later X3D. The initial version 1.0 of the H-Anim standard was scheduled for submission at the end of March 1998.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170106235009/http://h-anim.org/charter.html VRML Consortium Charter for Humanoid Animation Working Group]</ref>

VRML has never seen much serious widespread use.<ref>{{cite news |author=David Sabine |url=https://tumblr.davesabine.com/post/3690293814/what-is-was-vrml |title=What is (was) VRML? |newspaper=David Sabine |archive-date=2021-02-03 |access-date=2019-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203234938/https://tumblr.davesabine.com/post/3690293814/what-is-was-vrml |url-status=dead }}</ref> One reason for this may have been the lack of available [[bandwidth (computing)|bandwidth]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.agocg.ac.uk/brief/vrml.htm |title=Introduction to VRML |access-date=2019-07-20 |archive-date=2020-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502151500/http://www.agocg.ac.uk/brief/vrml.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> At the time of VRML's popularity, a majority of users, both business and personal, were using slow [[dial-up Internet access]].

VRML experimentation was primarily in education and research where an open specification is most valued.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=IBxnTBFJxIUC Web-Based Control and Robotics Education, page 30]</ref> It has now been re-engineered as [[X3D]]. The [[MPEG-4]] Interactive Profile (ISO/IEC 14496) was based on VRML<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.extremetech.com/computing/77260-3d-online-browser-plugins-and-more/6?print |title=3D Online: Browser Plugins and More |access-date=2019-07-20 |archive-date=2020-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929111252/http://www.extremetech.com/computing/77260-3d-online-browser-plugins-and-more/6?print |url-status=dead }}</ref> (now on X3D), and X3D is largely backward-compatible with it. VRML is also widely used as a file format for interchange of 3D models, particularly from [[Computer-aided design|CAD]] systems.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-matters43/index.html |title=XML Matters |publisher=Ibm.com |access-date=2010-02-23}}</ref>

A free cross-platform runtime implementation of VRML is available in [[OpenVRML]]. Its libraries can be used to add both VRML and X3D support to applications, and a GTK+ plugin is available to render VRML/X3D worlds in web browsers.

In the 2000s, many companies like Bitmanagement improved the quality level of virtual effects in VRML to the quality level of [[DirectX]] 9.0c, but at the expense of using proprietary solutions. All main features like game modeling are already complete. They include multi-pass render with low level setting for Z-buffer, BlendOp, AlphaOp, Stencil,<ref>[http://www.bitmanagement.com/developer/contact/examples/multitexture/drawgroup.html DrawGroup & DrawOp]</ref> Multi-texture,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.web3d.org/x3d/specifications/ISO-IEC-19775-1.2-X3D-AbstractSpecification/Part01/components/texturing.html#Multitexturing |title=Multitexturing |access-date=2010-06-14 |archive-date=2010-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712005624/http://www.web3d.org/x3d/specifications/ISO-IEC-19775-1.2-X3D-AbstractSpecification/Part01/components/texturing.html#Multitexturing |url-status=dead }}</ref> Shader with HLSL and GLSL support,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.web3d.org/x3d/specifications/ISO-IEC-19775-1.2-X3D-AbstractSpecification/Part01/components/shaders.html |title=Programmable shaders component |access-date=2010-06-14 |archive-date=2010-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712002450/http://www.web3d.org/x3d/specifications/ISO-IEC-19775-1.2-X3D-AbstractSpecification/Part01/components/shaders.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> realtime Render To Texture, Multi Render Target (MRT) and PostProcessing.<ref>[http://www.bitmanagement.com/developer/contact/relnotes72.html#postprocessing Scene postprocessing support]</ref> Many demos shows that VRML already supports lightmap, normalmap, SSAO, CSM and Realtime Environment Reflection along with other virtual effects.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/user/m17design VRML X3D and Realtime Web3D]</ref>

== Example ==
This example shows the same scene as {{section link|X3D|Example}}.
<syntaxhighlight lang="text">
#VRML V2.0 utf8

Shape {
  geometry IndexedFaceSet {
    coordIndex [ 0, 1, 2 ]
    coord Coordinate {
      point [ 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0.5, 1, 0 ]
    }
  }
}
</syntaxhighlight>

== Early criticism ==

In a March 1998 [[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]] essay, "Playfulness in 3D Spaces -- Why [[Quake (video game)|Quake]] is better than VRML, and what it means for software design", [[Clay Shirky]] sharply criticised VRML as a "technology in search of a problem", whereas "Quake does something well instead of many things poorly...The VRML community has failed to come up with anything this compelling -- not despite the community's best intentions, but because of them. Every time VRML practitioners approach the problem of how to represent space on the screen, they have no focused reason to make any particular trade-off of detail versus rendering speed, or making objects versus making spaces, because VRML isn't for anything except itself. Many times, having a particular, near-term need to solve brings a project's virtues into sharp focus, and gives it enough clarity to live on its own."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shirky.com/writings/quake.html |title=Playfulness in 3-D Spaces - Why Quake is better than VRML |last=Shirky |first=Clay |date=March 1998 |website=Clay Shirky's Writings About the Internet |access-date=2022-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409021907/http://www.shirky.com/writings/quake.html |archive-date=2019-04-09 }}</ref>

==Alternatives==

*[[3DMLW]]: 3D Markup Language for Web
*[[COLLADA]]: managed by the Khronos Group
*[[O3D]]: developed by Google
*[[Universal 3D|U3D]]: Ecma International standard ECMA-363
*[[X3D]]: successor of VRML
*[[glTF]]: created by the Khronos Group, successor of Collada

==See also==

{{Div col}}
*[[Active Worlds]] [[virtual reality]] – multi-user 3D chat platform
*[[A-Frame (virtual reality framework)]] - Entity Component System VR platform base on threejs and [[WebXR]]
*[[Additive Manufacturing File Format]]
*[[Blaxxun]] [[virtual reality]] – multi-user 3D chat platform
*[[Flux (graphics software)|Flux]] – freely downloadable VRML/X3D editor/browser, now discontinued
*[[List of vector graphics markup languages]]
*[[MeshLab]] – open source mesh processing system that can export VRML/X3D
*[[OZ Virtual]]
*[[Seamless3d]] – free Open Source 3D modeling software for Microsoft Windows
*[[STL (file format)|STL]] – STereoLithography or Standard Tessellation Language, common to CAD software and 3D printing. 
*[[Virtual Environment Software]]
*[[Virtual tour]]
*[[Web3D]]
*[[WebGL]]
*[[WebVR]]
*[[WebXR]] - Successor to [[WebVR]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Prone to spam|date=May 2012}}
{{Commons category|VRML}}
{{Prone to spam|date=June 2012}}
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;Code samples
*[http://www.wiley.com/legacy/compbooks/vrml2sbk/toc/toc.htm VRML examples from the VRML Sourcebook] (to get the example VRML code, click on a chapter, then on a figure)

;Documentation
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304011557/http://www.web3d.org/x3d/vrml/ |date=March 4, 2014 |title=VRML Archives }}
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082703/http://accad.osu.edu/~pgerstma/class/vnv/resources/info/AnnotatedVrmlRef/Book.html |date=March 4, 2016 |title=The Annotated VRML 97 Reference}}
*[http://www.web3d.org/x3d/specifications/vrml/ VRML ISO/IEC 14772 standard document]

{{Vector graphics markup languages}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vrml}}
[[Category:3D graphics file formats]]
[[Category:Graphics standards]]
[[Category:ISO/IEC standards]]
[[Category:Open formats]]
[[Category:Vector graphics markup languages]]
[[Category:Virtual reality]]
[[Category:Web 1.0]]