| Q&A |
 Pascal
Baudar
FAKE WORLDS
06/02/02 |
| Q1 |
Why
have you been passionate with Web3D since the beginning? |
| A1 |
I
got the web3D bug in 1995 while working on the multi-user
community Cybertown (www.cybertown.com). The original concept
for Cybertown was to create an interface for the Internet
using the metaphor of an online city. In early 1995 the number
of sites on the Internet was small (compared to the current
size of the Internet), and it was easy to create this metaphor.
For example, if you wanted to know where to find the best
sites about movies or music, you would visit the Entertainment
Center in Cybertown and find all the links you needed.
While building the city, we came to the realization that it
would be the perfect venue for a virtual reality application.
We frankly did not know anything about the concept of the
Metaverse or the book SnowCrash, it was simply something we
wanted to explore. At the time I did some research on the
Internet and found information about a technology called VRML.
A few months later (in early 95) I went to a lecture at the
Electronic Café in Los Angeles and talked to Mark Pesce
(one of the co-inventors of VRML) and other web3d pioneers.
This is where, for the first time, I saw 3D in action. It
just blew my mind. It was a revelation. While the demos were
extremely simple, I sensed that I was witnessing the birth
of the future of Entertainment on the Internet, immediately
seeing the potential of web3D.
Ever since that time my goal has been to come closer to the
vision of a full-blown 3D multimedia experience. I think the
time will come when users will be able to interact in very
sophisticated virtual environments, watching movies, hear
and purchase music, use video conferencing and much more…
Frankly, I have no doubt that the potential for Web3D technology
is enormous and it would be hard for me not to be excited.
We’ve only scratched the surface and the best is yet
to come.
For me as an artist, web3D is extremely fulfilling because
a web3D artist needs to be able to wear many creative hats.
The web3D artist must be a painter (textures), interior designer,
sculptor (3D modeling) and much, much more.
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| Q2 |
You
co-founded Cybertown, presently the largest 3D community on
the Internet. In retrospective, what conclusions are you taking
from that experience? |
| A2 |
I
could write a book to answer that question alone. To be short,
from 1995 to 1997 we have seen many attempts at creating 3D
communities. At this time it seems that most of the companies
who created those communities thought that by merely creating
a multi-user environment and chat system, they would attract
users who would spontaneously chose to inhabit the environment
and create a community. A philosophy of “if you build
it, they will come”. The true outcome was that very few
users showed up, and many never came back. What they didn’t
realize is that you can create an incredible looking environment
but if there is nothing to do in it, it will become boring very
fast for the users.
The aesthetic and technology are much less important than the
social aspects of the environment. If you build a community,
you must start with the concept of creating a social experience
for users and then design the aesthetic (environments, interface,
etc…) and the technology to support the social system
(bulletin boards, roles, economy system, personal 3D spaces,
etc…). Although the social aspect is the most important
factor, you must also create the best aesthetic experience you
can for the user, and a robust technology: all three of these
aspects are integral.
The success of Cybertown is the quality of its community. Although
in the beginning we ran the community ourselves, we implemented
roles and functions (Mayor, City Council, jobs, etc…)
in the virtual city. Once we found people we trusted, we gradually
turned these functions over to those people who then repeated
this process with people they trusted creating the social structure
of Cybertown. From time to time there has been a few crises,
but the community always recovered becoming stronger and more
close-knit. A lot of the success of Cybertown should be attributed
to its dedicated community.
The present Cybertown is really the beginning. Based on our
experience over the last 6 years we have written the specifications
for the Next Generation of 3D communities. It’s full implementation
is however dependant of funding at this point. We are looking
at creating a much more immersive experience for users. It will
be full screen 3D with an integrated layered interface, and
extended social functions. The environments will be created
on an elaborate grid system that allows users to move seamlessly
from one environment to the next. E-commerce applications will
be integrated into the community, and users will be able to
interact with the city in a sophisticated ways such as driving
cars, taking the subway, interacting with bots that utilize
artificial intelligence, viewing video content, listening to
the latest music, and more.
The vision is to actually build something very close to a true
civilization in Cyberspace. All the things we’ve learned
in the last 6 years, good or bad, are the basis for creating
something even more successful from both a social and economic
viewpoint.
Cybertown is presently being run mostly from Europe, the established
social system has allowed the community to be rather self-sufficient
and to continue to grow. The focus of my new company is to continue
the vision of the “Next Generation” project by working
with companies interested in creating 3D environments/communities,
with the hope of finding the right company who is interested
in building the “Next Generation”.
Overall,
I consider the creation of Cybertown as a very big personal
success and a tremendous learning experience. Although, I’ve
not been involved with the community for the last year, It
really made me believe that the dream of building a 3D cyberspace
can and will become a reality.
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| Q3 |
Do
you think the corporate world perceive the potential of 3D on
the Internet? |
| A3 |
Not
yet. The corporate world usually looks for quick financial gain
and I have not yet seen the “ killer application”
for Web3D that meets this criteria.
Presently, a lot of the corporate applications seem focused
on product visualization. However, I also see some interesting
new applications. For example, Viewpoint has a very simple model
of New York from the sky after the terrorist attack of September
11. It is very simple, yet quite impressive in how well it communicates
the very real consequences of what happened.
I don’t pretend to know the “solution” for
Web3D’s acceptance by the corporate world. If I did I
would be very rich right now. I do think that the corporate
breakthrough will occur when a corporation with the means and
talent decides to build something very similar to the concept
of the metaverse; a blend of entertainment, social activities
(community roles, abilities, social structure), and E-commerce.
The type of cooperation most likely to be successful in this
endeavor, both from a social and economic viewpoint, will be
an entertainment corporation such as Sony, Warner Brother, Disney,
etc…
For example, a company like Sony already has all the needed
components within its corporation - game companies, music, movies,
strong web content, access to celebrities, hardware (computers,
cameras, etc…). If such a company decided to create a
strong presence online by building a whole virtual universe,
they could easily integrate all their properties and realize
one of the most entertaining venues on the Internet. Users would
be able to interact in a very sophisticated universe (Sony owns
the game company who did Everquest), access entertainment (music,
movies), play game demos as part of the virtual universe, chat
with Celebrities and get deals on their video cameras, game
consoles, etc…
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| Q4 |
After
all those years, you’ve been dedicated to VRML. Why? |
| A4 |
I
would not say that I am dedicated to VRML. The main reason I
have so far focused on it is that I am very familiar with it.
Also, frankly, I have yet to see another Web3D (not game) engine
that has all the capabilities (including multi-user) that VRML
offers. The only other application I would put on the same level
is the technology used by SmartVR (www.smartvr.com). I am quite
impressed by it.
The new ActiveWorlds (www.activeworlds.com) engine - version
3.3 - seems to be extremely promising as well for community
building.
Don’t get me wrong though, there are a lot of good applications
that have been created for specific purposes such as showing
objects, talking characters, data visualization, etc. However
these usually have a limited set of features. I’ve created
content with a lot of different tools and used many 3D applications,
and have not seen many web3D application with all the capabilities
of VRML in one package. VRML has been worked on for over seven
years now and its new generation X3D also includes MPEG 4 as
part of its specifications. Browsers like blaxxun contact or
Cortona are as good as game engines with capabilities much more
adapted to online usage. That said, if an application other
than VRML were better for a specific project, I would definitely
use it.
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| Q5 |
Parallel
Graphics Cortona and blaxxun contact are presently the standards
for VRML browsers, which one do you like the best? |
| A5 |
I like blaxxun the best simply because I am used to create content
with their browser. I think that blaxxun and Cortona are probably
very similar. The biggest attraction for me is definitely the
multi-user aspect and in this case blaxxun is the obvious choice.
The Cosmo software was also excellent and I really hope that
a new company, Nexternet (www.nexternet.com) that purchased
the license for Cosmo from Platinum releases an updated version
of it soon!
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| Q6 |
Which
tools do you like the most to create your virtual worlds? |
| A6 |
3D Studio Max is the only software I use to create the 3D worlds.
I also use some hand coding in simple text applications such
as Microsoft Word or PFE.
Parallel Graphics seems to have quite some interesting tools
as well. Those interested in created VRML content should check
out their site. (http://www.parallelgraphics.com)
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| Q7 |
How
did you react when SGI stop supporting VRML (july 98) ? |
| A7 |
It
actually did not affect me at all. We never received any support
from SGI between 1996 and 1998. We made money with VRML the
old-fashioned way: by creating content for clients. Between
1996 and 1998, there was a tremendous amount of content and
a lot of 3D companies were excited by VRML. It really seemed
like VRML had achieved a wide spread acceptance. When SGI stopped
its support of VRML, most of the companies who had seemed excited
about VRML stopped creating any VRML content or just plain vanished.
This perplexed me.
It seems that I was actually quite naïve at that time.
It was only in late 1999 that I learned that SGI was funding
many of these projects. Until then, I had thought that all of
the companies were actually truly excited by the idea of creating
the new 3D Internet. The hidden history tells you a lot about
what their real motivation was, and explains why most of them
don’t exist anymore. It was a bit similar with the press.
From 1995 to 1998, the press hyped VRML to such a level that
it was impossible to really achieve what the press promised
with the existing technology. From 1999 to 2000, the reverse
occurred and the press insisted wrongly that VRML was dead because
of its failure to live up to the absurd hype. VRML and Web3D
are actually still very much alive (while most of the hype based
Internet magazines are dead). This seems to be a common cycle
with the press, and I predict that the press will pick up Web3D
once more, beginning the whole hype cycle again. As you can
imagine, I don’t really follow what the press says. |
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| Q8 |
What
do you think about the evolution of Web3D technologies for the
last six years? |
| A8 |
There
is really a world of difference between what existed in 1995
and what exists now. In 1995 you could only view a simple environment
or object. With the current technology, you can have a complete
multimedia experience with music, video, animations, and make
it multi-user as well. We’re coming closer and closer
to the vision of the early pioneers who wanted to have a technology
that could colonize Cyberspace. Some of the older companies
are also coming back. Companies like SmartVR (www.smartvr.com)
have some really great multi-user applications that allow users
to fully interact with the environment and experience true multimedia.
They are also the most realistic virtual environments I have
seen to date. I also hope that ActiveWorlds continues to develop
their technology and release a new engine. I think it is very
healthy for the industry to have many companies competing with
each other. It creates a market, and an impetus to continue
improving Web3D technologies. |
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| Q9 |
How
do you see the future for Web3D? |
| A9 |
Bright
but not an immediate success !
I have no doubt that Web3D is part of the Web’s future.
As I mentioned above, I do not claim to know the answers for
an easy success. My humble opinion is that some of the present
approaches, such as product visualization (for instance showcasing
cars that you can customize in 3D, playing around with furniture
or spinning some product in 3D) will not make a company profitable.
This sort of application just does not interest users to a large
degree. I believe there will be some interesting implementations
for specific uses, perhaps in the medical, defense or scientific
research/development markets.
I think, as I mentioned above, the true killer application will
be created by providing users with a truly immersive multimedia
experience at a level beyond what currently exists. So far game
companies, although they are mainly interested in game play,
seem to understand this and are making money with it.
For multi-user Web3D, I think the true future will be providing
the excitement and immersion of game play, with the addition
of the many capabilities that the Internet offers. This may
include live music, video, e-commerce, online advertising, and
more. If someone achieves that, I have no doubt that once built,
people will come, in large numbers, returning again and again.
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