When Google launched its O3D browser plug-in for displaying rich 3D graphics last month, I was dubious that the virtual world industry would eagerly embrace it as a platform for future MMOs. Most of the larger casual virtual worlds, like Habbo and Gaia Online, run on Flash;Mozilla and the Khronos Group are already developing their own 3D graphics API for Firefox. There’s also a lot of insider buzz aboutUnity 3D’s web plug-in, which already has an install base of 10 million, a company representative recently told me, and is the chosen platform for several major MMOs in development. What’s more, the weak launch and hasty execution of Google’s own virtual world, Lively, suggested the company had given up on the space.
O3D To Be Fully Integrated Into Google Chrome This Year
Vangelis Kokkevis, O3D’s tech lead, spoke at the Metaverse U conference in Stanford, making his API’s case to the virtual world developers in attendance. While it’s still just a plug-in for IE, Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Camino, Kokkevis said the “next goal” for the team is to fully integrate it into Google’s browser by the end of 2009. Since launching last September, Chrome has gained a slightly bigger slice of the browser market, and an aggressive marketing campaign could help it build momentum. If O3D is integrated on schedule, virtual world developers would gain a potential audience of Chrome users who can launch their products without having to pre-install a plug-in.
COLLADA Converter Makes O3D Compatible With Leading 3D Graphics Formats
At Metaverse U, Kokkevis emphasized O3D’s COLLADA converter, which translates graphic files made with industry-standard graphics software like Maya, Max, and Google’s own Sketchup. That makes O3D much more attractive to studios already working with these tools; by way of demonstration, he showed off a graphically rich platform video game built in Max and converted to O3D, he told us, within a couple weeks. COLLADA’s code is managed by the Khronos Group, which the O3D team is also participating in; Kokkevis even suggested that O3D’s efforts could be merged with Khronos. As he put it, “We want a 3D API for the web browser, whatever the flavor.”
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by: Wagner James Au
http://gigaom.com/
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