Adding a fourth dimension to three dimensional virtual spaces

• Authors: Robina E. Hetherington;John P. Scott
• Venue: Proceedings of the ninth international conference on 3D Web technology
• Year: 2004

The development of new standards for distributed data offer new possibilities to combine and display multiple types of information. This paper is concerned with an architectural and historical application of X3D and XML to objects, such as buildings, which have an organic quality and tend to evolve over time. The display of a 3D computer model does not always adequately describe the building or artifact and additional data are often required.This paper describes and evaluates techniques for the integration of three-dimensional data in the form of X3D and other data contained in XML format, such as temporal data. The capabilities of X3D to display a model with associated temporal data in different states or times are outlined. The relationship of X3D to XML is considered and methods described to enable 3D models and temporal data to be meaningfully combined. The use of XML to represent temporal data is outlined along with the use of XSLT (eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) and DOM (Document Object Method) to filter both model and temporal data. The use of an API (Application Programming Interface) to alter the state of an X3D model is described. These methods are applied to a simple model and data file to display temporal data along with a 3D model at different points in time. Conclusions are drawn as to the appropriate method to employ for client-side manipulation of different types of 3D models and related data.