A Web Page That Provides Map-Based Interfaces for VRML/X3D Contents

Abstract

The electronic map is very useful for navigation in the VRML/X3D virtual environments. So far various map-based interfaces have been developed. But they are lacking for generality because they have been separately developed for individual VRML/X3D contents, and users must use different interfaces for different contents. Therefore we have developed a web page that provides a common map-based interface for VRML/X3D contents on the web. Users access VRML/X3D contents via the web page. The web page automatically generates a simplified map by analyzing the scene graph of downloaded contents, and embeds the mechanism to link the virtual world and the map. An avatar is automatically created and added to the map, and both a user and its avatar are bi-directionally linked together. In the simplified map, obstructive objects are removed and the other objects are replaced by base boxes. This paper proposes the architecture of the web page and the method to generate simplified maps. Finally, experimental system is developed in order to show the improvement of flame rates by simplifying the map.