VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) — VRML (pronounced as “V-R-M-L” or “ver-mal”) is a modeling language which helps to create platform-independent 3D objects and interactive scenes on a web page. It was first introduced in 1994 at the first World Wide Web conference by Mark Pesce, Tony Parisi, and others. VRML had initially stood for Virtual Reality Markup Language. The VRML files are known as worlds and have “.wrl” extension. A VRML world is built using nodes. Nodes describe the geometry, sound, properties of the world, and more.
Three versions of VRML are : VRML or VRML 1, VRML 2.0, and VRML 97. At the time when VRML was introduced, most of the businesses as well as other users were accessing internet through slow dial-up connections. The lack of bandwidth proved to be a major hindrance in increasing the popularity of VRML. VRML was used as a data-exchange format for 3D models, particularly in CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) programs. In 2001, X3D was introduced as an XML encoding of VRML.
