VRML Worlds

Walkthrough 3D worlds in the browser, in 1996, at two frames per second.

In 2026: Dead. VRML worlds needed a plugin (Cosmo Player, mostly), the plugin needed the plugin API, and both are gone, so the EMBED below is an empty rectangle. The idea refused to die: VRML became X3D on paper, and the browser eventually grew real 3D as WebGL and WebXR. Every mid 90s tech demo had a spinning grey castle.

Where it came from: VRML 1.0, 1995, from an SGI led consortium; VRML97 became an ISO standard. Cosmo Player was the plugin everyone had. Succeeded on paper by X3D and in spirit by WebGL and WebXR.
Wikipedia ↗Web3D Consortium ↗

<embed src="castle.wrl" type="model/vrml" width="400" height="260"
       pluginspage="http://cosmosoftware.com/download/">

<p style="font:13px Verdana">An empty rectangle where a castle used to spin.
The .wrl file described the world as text; the Cosmo Player plugin drew it and
let you walk. WebGL finally gave the browser real 3D in 2011, plugin free.</p>