A framework for 3D interactive applications on the web
Tansel Halic, Woo Jin Ahn, Suvranu De · 2011
Increasing capabilities of the latest web browsers have facilitated the accessibility, interoperability and mobility of the web. Platform-independent applications run directly through the web browser and a minimal operating system on various devices. It is now possible to develop complex computational environments including 3D graphics directly using the web browser. Recently, the emergence of the WebGL 3D graphics API's. coupled with high performance JavaScript engines, have shown many interesting variations in creating new generation of applications in the web environment. The WebGL accesses the GPU by the use of JavaScript language to efficiently present high quality 3D graphics directly on the web browser as it delivers text, pictures, and movie clips. An important benefit of this technology is that there is no need to install any additional software or plug-ins. In this paper, we introduce a web browser-based software framework for 3D interactive applications that include three essential modules: visualization, simulation and hardware integration. It can be applied to various platform independent applications that require 3D graphics technology, i.e. visualization, computer animation, gaming, and medical simulation.