> Even if the site is distributed, continuity of space and time
> must be preserved across site boundaries, or else the existence of space is
> lost.
Depends on what your use of vrml is. Several examples I know of where
databases from external sources initiate vrml worlds, and the user
interacts with them to organise/ select through these where the worlds
are created in the browser itself from a Java feed. So what you see is a
result both of central feeds you subscribe to and your own personal
preferences. Its a beginning anyway.
Also working on a simple game where each participant has their own way
of viewing the world (sort of like seeing the world from a wide angle
view, or telephoto, or as "radar" view.) If you are at least a team of a
programmer and a 3D designer this is easy to do.
> If the designers of VRML had thought about network protocols (how space is
> transmitted to multiple parties) and distributed spatial databases (the
> loci of shared spatial experiences)
Well thats all in the next spec as they say. Vrml fed from a database,
or multiple databases, is part of the next spec, and you should get
involved if interested. My group has managed to create worlds that react
to users movements and then stream data accordingly. No big deal either.
Also you dont need massive computers to do this, any contemporary PC
will do.
Marek