Transcript A Feasibility Study of VRML

ROV Data Visualization
project update
or
What would you do with a gigahertz computer or the
next generation game console?
Noon Seminar
21 January 2000
Mike McCann
with thanks to MBARI Interns
Jenny De La Hoz and Alex Derbes
Project goals
• To create novel visualizations of the variety of data
collected by MBARI
• distribute diverse data sets over the World Wide Web in a
• common
• compelling
• efficient, and
• easy-to-use system
What does common mean?
• The same system for the multitude of data we have
but also,
• A system that is available (common) to most people.
What is compelling?
• Has a purpose
• Attractive
• Easy to navigate
• Fast to download
• Fast to render
• Interactive
In the end the end-user tells us if it’s compelling
Efficient and easy to use
• Easy learning curve
• Cues and instructions
In the end the end-user tells us if it’s easy to use
What is 3D? (playstation demo)
90
80
70
60
East
West
North
50
40
30
20
10
0
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
Approach taken
• O-O access to data
• Perl module EXPD.pm abstracts the access
to data for the scipts that use it
• Data hiding and encapsulation used
• Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML)
Micro
wave
WA
Video frame
grabs
N co
nnec
tion
R/V Point Lobos deploying Ventana
Post Dive VRML
Creator (pdvc.pl)
EXPD.pm
a set of VRML
(.wrl) files for
each expedition
ROV CTDO
data
Web browser access
Web server where an Active
Server Page Script processes
form to deliver VRML to web
browser
Ethernet
Expedition
metadata
Navigation
files
ROV CTDO
data
Video
annotations
What is VRML?
• An open international standard ISO/IEC 14772
• A file format
• Description of a scene graph
• Like HTML, several authoring and browsing
tools exist (open standards guarantees this).
• Not really Virtual Reality
• Not block-buster movie quality
How do we use VRML ?
1. Install VRML 2.0 plugin for your browser.
Both CosmoPlayer and WorldView work in
either Netscape or Internet Explorer.
2. Surf to sites that have VRML.
3. E.g. Expedition database on our Intranet
To be done
1999 - 97 IAG days allocated, 83 days used
- met milestone of 3D replay links on web pages
- did not write paper
2000 - 65 IAG + 29 other days allocated.
High on the to do list:
- High resolution terrain
- Install 3D graphics cards on users desktops
- Other data types and site visualizations
- Other user suggested improvements
2001and beyond: Ride the technology wave...
Scene Graph - excerpt from a world
• Nodes
• Hierarchical tree
• Routes between
attributes of nodes
used to transfer data,
handle events, etc.
• VRML browser
traverses the graph to
render the scene