In the SF book Snow Crash, we’re introduced to the Metaverse, a 3D virtual world where the laws of physics are only casually enforced, and people from all over the world and all walks of life can meet up to discuss business or socialize, do research, or even have the occasional sword fight.
Ever since Snow Crash was published in the early nineties, I’ve noticed that the Internet has been edging closer and closer toward the ideal of the Metaverse. Nearly all the pieces are in place, except the 3D element and the advanced AI behind the Librarian program. We even have something very close to the Earth program that is available (at extreme expense) to Metaverse citizens, in Google Earth.
Well, WebGL apparently aims to add the 3D element.
It wouldn’t surprise me if, once WebGL becomes common, someone actually recreates the Metaverse. There are a whole lot of programmers out there who’ve read and enjoyed Snow Crash…
WebGL is part of WebKit, and WebOS is rumored to be adding it, using the (now unused) OpenGL acceleration available with the SoACs included on the Pre and Pixi. It won’t be like on a PC as far as the graphical acceleration goes, but it should add some capabilities to the platform and it should make WebOS faster.