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Java news from Siggraph '98
Sun and partners choose to make their Java mark at the world's premier graphics conference and exposition
Sun Microsystems continued to push its Java Media and Communications technologies at this year's Siggraph conference, the meeting of the Association of Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group for Graphics, held in Orlando, Florida, from July 19 to 25. Sun displayed Java 2D and Java Media Player demos in its booth, but placed the brunt of its Java-oriented focus on Java 3D.
Approximately 30,000 attendees converge on Siggraph '98
Sun and the VRML Consortium (VRML-C) jointly announced the official creation of the Java 3D Working Group within the consortium. Sun also used the VRML-C press conference to announce that it would be releasing the source code for its Java 3D VRML loader and a Java 3D-based VRML browser as a part of the Java 1.2 Beta 4 JDK release (available for download now from Sun's java.sun.com site). This source code release is meant to bootstrap the development of interoperable Java 3D and VRML solutions for the Web, according to Sun Spokesperson and Java 3D Architect Henry Sowizral.
Sun Engineer Jim Graham discusses Java 2D rendering features
Sun released a case study on the Nearlife Virtual Fishtank (see Resources for more on this), which uses Java 3D to support its 3D graphical aquatic world.
An attendee designs her own fish and releases it into the virtual tank
Sun arranged a full day course on using the Java 3D API, "Introduction to Programming in Java 3D," and hosted a birds-of-a-feather (BOF) session on Java 3D. Sun also worked with several partner companies to demonstrate Java 3D support for large display screens and virtual reality (VR) devices.
Java makes its way into product debuts and demos
This year's conference found several companies advertising their Java support with announcements and demonstrations of new or updated products.
Sun Marketing Manager Ken Tallman did a first-ever demonstration of Java 3D applets at the Web 3D Roundup -- a special evening event at which select organizations and individuals were allowed to demo their cutting-edge 3D Web technologies in a tightly time-controlled environment. This demo received approval from the audience, though several developers later expressed frustration with the fact that Java 3D implementation had languished for a year despite promises made at Siggraph '97.
Both Live Picture and Template Graphics Software officially joined the Java fray, with support in their next generation of products. (Refer to the Resources for more information on these products and their use of Java.)
Microsoft demonstrates Chromeffects
At Siggraph, Microsoft officially debuted its new Chromeffects technology (formerly known as Chrome). Though details are very sketchy at this time, loosely put, Chromeffects is a Windows 98 desktop and Web multimedia technology based on the DirectX APIs. It is geared toward making animations and similar effects easier to achieve for the Web and desktop developer than is possible with current technology.
Time will tell if Chromeffects can muster the support of Java-based technologies.
Conclusion
Java has infiltrated the fibers of network-aware programming to the extent that it has become difficult to find Web-savvy applications that do not use Java in some way. The offerings at Siggraph '98 proved no exception to this rule.
Keep your eye on the Media Programming column in an upcoming issue of JavaWorld for more in-depth technical information on Java developments at Siggraph '98.
Author Bio
Bill Day is a software engineer at Silicon Graphics Computer Systems. In addition to writing the Media Programming column for JavaWorld, Bill is authoring a book entitled Java Media Players for O'Reilly & Associates. When Bill is not writing or programming, he loves to mountain bike, travel with his wife, and speak French. Java, c'est magnifique!
- The official Siggraph '98 Web site archives the conference program. You can also find information on upcoming conferences by clicking from this site to the Siggraph home page. http://www.siggraph.org/s98/
- PR Newswire links to Siggraph '98 press releases http://www.prnewswire.com/tech/siggraph98.html
- How far have we come in a year? Read my Siggraph 97 article in JavaWorld to find out where Java was then compared to how it's doing this year. http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-09-1997/jw-09-siggraph.html
- The Java 3D and VRML Working Group site provides more information on the efforts to insure the best possible interoperability between the two. http://www.halcyon.com/close/vrml-java3d/
- Nearlife's Virtual Fishtank demonstrates a real-world use of the Java 3D API. http://www.nearlife.com/vft/fishframe.html
- Web 3D Roundup highlighted the best and brightest 3D applications for the Web. The roundup included VRML worlds and Java applets as well as demos of Microsoft Chromeffects apps. This is definitely one event not to be missed, if only for the crazy voting devices (this yearsqueaking frog toys) and zany approach to demos (demo speakers are blasted with nerf arrows if they go beyond their allotted time). http://www.stl.nps.navy.mil/~brutzman/roundup/
- Sandy Ressler, keeper of the Miningco.com VRML Web site, has put together a nice photo retrospective on the Web 3D Roundup. Among other things, catch a glimpse of one of the above-mentioned squeakable frogs! http://vrml.miningco.com/library/sig98/bl0721w98.htm
- Live Picture announced initiatives to use Java in Live Server and client-side applications. http://www.livepicture.com/
- Template Graphics Software demoed the Java-based version of its 3D-Mastersuite toolkit. This toolkit contains a set of classes that can be used to create 3D graphics apps. 3D-Mastersuite is also available as a set of C++ objects. http://www.tgs.com/
- Microsoft's Chromeffects site provides marketing information on the technology. It includes a minimal FAQ. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/chromeffects/