Cosmo Player is the VRML viewer of choice for more than twenty million Internet users -- although the vast majority of them probably don't even realize they have the client on their systems. Version 1.0 of the freeware Cosmo Player client is packaged with Netscape Communicator as the browser's default VRML viewer. Considering the still limited use of VRML on the web, the initial release of Cosmo Player works just fine for most users. But there are a variety of reasons to upgrade to the latest release of Cosmo Player. Version 2.1 improves on the initial release in several areas, with an entirely redesigned user interface and extreme improvements in performance highlighting the changes. Support for 16-bit color has been added as have Direct3D hardware acceleration, full compliance with the VRML97 event model, OpenGL and Direct3D as the rendering APIs, and full support for Internet Explorer 4.0. Downloading Cosmo Player 2.1 also enables you to use the viewer both as a VRML plug-in for Netscape and as the default VRML viewer for Internet Explorer 4.0 (via an ActiveX Control). Additional Cosmo Player features include full compliance with the VRML 2.0 specification; support for Microsoft Direct 3D and DirectSound3D (through DirectX 5); support for up to eight simultaneous 3D scenes on the same web page; support for OpenGL, MMX, AGP, and other user-side graphics technologies; collision detection; headlight effects; navigation speed controls; animation transitions; specular and emissive color shine-through on textured objects; turbo mode; a number of development features (including JavaScript and VRMLScript support); and a VRML console for detailed information on hardware and software use. Cosmo Player also supports a wide variety of Internet media in addition to VRML worlds, including MPEG audio/video, Spatialized Sound, WAV, AVI, AIFF, MIDI, QuickTime, GIF, JPEG, PNG, and animated GIF files. The best is yet to come for VRML, a language considered by many to still be in its infancy. There's little doubt that VRML is the future of 3D on the web, but actually getting from here to there has been a bit of a challenge to date. The largest stepping stones so far have been the absence of a universal VRML viewer and the lack of intuitive and easy to use VRML development tools. Cosmo Software is trying to change the former by making Cosmo Player the universal VRML viewer of choice, but Cosmo Player is likely to have a fight on its hands as Windows 98 is expected to include Intervista's WorldView VRML 2 browser. Regardless of which app eventually wins out, a universal VRML viewer of some form can't be too far away. Significant headway has also been made in the area of development tools, where Cosmo Software is once again leading the way. Universal adoption of VRML will likely come in small steps, but the first of those steps has already been taken in the form of VRML web advertising banners. VRML banners have only recently taken off in terms of popularity, but their potential is unlimited. Bill McCloskey of Cosmo Software is one proponent touting VRML for its web advertising potential: "VRML as a technology provides significant advantages to the advertiser looking to create compelling, eye-catching experiences for their web-based banners and interstitials. Many of these advantages can be summed up by the phrase 'Small is Beautiful.' In a file size of 12 KB or less (typical of a standard static GIF banner) the advertiser can create a fully interactive banner with smooth full-color animation, without having to rely on streaming or sever-based technologies. With VRML, television-like experiences can be achieved today using today's bandwidth constraints. This translates into higher click-through and increased brand recognition which benefits both sites and advertisers alike." Cosmo Software's PageFX software, now in beta release, allows developers to add depth, motion, and interactivity to web graphics. In other words, it fits perfectly with the trend towards VRML banners on the web. The $329 PageFX makes it simple to create animated banners with full sound, URL-linking capabilities, complex objects, and smooth motion. And because its vector files describe the objects and motions mathematically as opposed to pixel-by-pixel definitions, the file sizes for the banners are much smaller than would be found in a standard animated banner. Check out WebReference's outstanding VRML for Web Advertising column for an introductory guide to VRML banners and their potential for use on the web. Cosmo Software offers two other VRML development tools for designers wanting to create complete 3D environments for the web. The entry-level HomeSpace Designer allows a developer to easily turn 2D web sites into 3D VRML HomeSpace sites. Sophisticated graphics file support, intuitive design tools, and extensive animation capabilities combine to help make creating totally VRML-compliant worlds as simple as possible. Best of all, anyone with a standard VRML browser (like Cosmo Player) can visit a VRML world created with the $139 HomeSpace Designer. The high-end Cosmo Worlds is a comprehensive interactive 3D web authoring and publishing application that enables the creation of professional, state-of-the-art, interactive 3D content for the web. With full support for the Moving Worlds specification in VRML 2.0 and a wide array of powerful tools for creating, optimizing, and publishing complex objects, motions, and animated worlds, the $999 Cosmo Worlds is the ultimate VRML development tool. All three of the Cosmo Software development tools can be downloaded for free as thirty-day evaluation releases. Overall, the best is definitely yet to come for both VRML and the Cosmo line of products. For now, grab a copy of the latest release of Cosmo Player to ensure that you can take full advantage of the VRML banners and logos just now starting to appear on web sites and also to prepare yourself for the 3D environments coming soon to a web site near you. Want a preview of the possibilities? Check out the interactive game Chomp! after downloading Cosmo Player and get a glimpse of what the future of VRML has to offer. Pros: VRML 2.0 is, in a word, awesome; animated 3D worlds; excellent collection of development tools Cons: VRML is still in its infancy (limited applications), VRML use on the web requires a browser plug-in For the latest information on Cosmo Player, check out: http://cws.internet.com/32vrml.html#cosmo apps conference Main Menu