Abstract
The Virtual Reality Modeling Language, VRML97, allows the description of dynamic worlds that are responsive to user interaction. However, the serial nature of current VRML browsers prevents the full potential of the language from being realised: they do not have the power to support huge, complex worlds with large numbers of interacting users. This paper presents the design of a scalable, parallel VRML server that has been built to overcome this barrier. The server distributes the task of storing and computing the changing state of the world across a cluster of workstations. Clients connect to the server and receive information on their current view of the world, which they can then render. The parallel server is implemented in Java, utilising a new active object model called SODA (System Of Dynamic Active Objects) that is also described in the paper.
With the exception of “clickable” geometry, which can be used for linking to other static worlds or hypertext documents by spawning an associated URL.
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© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Rischbeck, T., Watson, P. (2001). A Parallel VRML97 Server Based on Active Objects. In: Palma, J.M.L.M., Dongarra, J., Hernández, V. (eds) Vector and Parallel Processing — VECPAR 2000. VECPAR 2000. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1981. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44942-6_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44942-6_4
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