Java news from Siggraph ’98

Sun Microsystems continued to push its Java Media and Communications technologies at this year’s Siggraph conference, the meeting of the Association of Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group for Graphics, held in Orlando, Florida, from July 19 to 25. Sun displayed Java 2D and Java Media Player demos in its booth, but placed the brunt of its Java-oriented focus on Java 3D.

Sun and the VRML Consortium (VRML-C) jointly announced the official creation of the Java 3D Working Group within the consortium. Sun also used the VRML-C press conference to announce that it would be releasing the source code for its Java 3D VRML loader and a Java 3D-based VRML browser as a part of the Java 1.2 Beta 4 JDK release (available for download now from Sun’s java.sun.com site). This source code release is meant to bootstrap the development of interoperable Java 3D and VRML solutions for the Web, according to Sun Spokesperson and Java 3D Architect Henry Sowizral.

Sun released a case study on the Nearlife Virtual Fishtank (see Resources for more on this), which uses Java 3D to support its 3D graphical aquatic world.

Sun arranged a full day course on using the Java 3D API, “Introduction to Programming in Java 3D,” and hosted a birds-of-a-feather (BOF) session on Java 3D. Sun also worked with several partner companies to demonstrate Java 3D support for large display screens and virtual reality (VR) devices.

Java makes its way into product debuts and demos

This year’s conference found several companies advertising their Java support with announcements and demonstrations of new or updated products.

Sun Marketing Manager Ken Tallman did a first-ever demonstration of Java 3D applets at the Web 3D Roundup — a special evening event at which select organizations and individuals were allowed to demo their cutting-edge 3D Web technologies in a tightly time-controlled environment. This demo received approval from the audience, though several developers later expressed frustration with the fact that Java 3D implementation had languished for a year despite promises made at Siggraph ’97.

Both Live Picture and Template Graphics Software officially joined the Java fray, with support in their next generation of products. (Refer to the Resources for more information on these products and their use of Java.)

Microsoft demonstrates Chromeffects

At Siggraph, Microsoft officially debuted its new Chromeffects technology (formerly known as Chrome). Though details are very sketchy at this time, loosely put, Chromeffects is a Windows 98 desktop and Web multimedia technology based on the DirectX APIs. It is geared toward making animations and similar effects easier to achieve for the Web and desktop developer than is possible with current technology.

Time will tell if Chromeffects can muster the support of Java-based technologies.

Conclusion

Java has infiltrated the fibers of network-aware programming to the extent that it has become difficult to find Web-savvy applications that do not use Java in some way. The offerings at Siggraph ’98 proved no exception to this rule.

Keep your eye on the Media Programming column in an upcoming issue of JavaWorld for more in-depth technical information on Java developments at Siggraph ’98.