3D on the web: has the time arrived?

A few years ago, we did experiments in 3D on the web using the VRML technology. A heavy argument was a hefty 5 megs plugin to install, and only on Internet Explorer. No mac, no firefox, no nothing. VRML is now a almost forgotten technology and it seemed no one saw a reason to pursue the quest for a proper 3D rendering engine to consult and interact in 3D inside your favorite browser. Until…

Until the arrival of Actionscript 3 and such 3D frameworks as papervision3D and the most astonishing one i found this morning: the Alternativa3D engine.

Check out the Alternativa3D demos it’s simply amazing to be able to have such fluidity and details from within the flash plaer. Note how the mapping images are lazy loading a la google Maps, gradually showing more details.