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View web retention policyWe have evolved to make sense of a three dimensional (3D) world, and to communicate with others. A 3D environment potentially allows us to exploit these capabilities to navigate complex infromation systems.
3D scenes, using VRML, have recently become popular. However they are static and unresponsive, and cannot be readily modified by ordinary users.
There has also been much research and development in collaborative systems; these do not use a 3D metaphor.
It is proposed to take the best practice from these two strands of development and, using open standards, produce a toolkit for constructing extensible, dynamic 3D environments. This would be made available to the UK academic community together with an exemplar application - a Virtual Graduate School, which would also serve as a showcase for the toolkit to aid dissemination.