How Does the Palace compare to VRML, Java, or Shockwave?
Some other multimedia or virtual reality elements which have recently come on the scene as additions to web browsers are very powerful and share a resemblance to some of the outward appearances of The Palace. These technologies, however, are enhancements to Web browsers — they do not support several key architectural requirements that a virtual shared space must have. For example: VRML allows you to move in a 3D environment … by yourself (see below for a discussion of VRML+). There are no other people in there with you! Java and the Netscape / Director integration are essentially the same: complex multimedia can play back locally on your system, but there is no interaction with others on that same server. THERE IS NO REAL-TIME INTERACTION WITH OTHER PEOPLE! This is the key difference. VRML+ is a proposed extension to VRML to allow it to support real-time interaction with other people. It is not yet publicly available. It is a 3D environment, like VRML, but with the addition of suppo
