Dimension X's Liquid Reality, Licensed by Microsoft Drives Consumers Across the 3D Threshold on the Web; Liquid Reality Incorporated into Internet Explorer and Future Versions of the Windows Operating System as its 3D Java VRML 2.0 Implementation

Business Wire, August 5, 1996

NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 5, 1996--Dimension X, the leader in Java and VRML application development tools and platforms for the Internet, announced today an agreement with Microsoft that will make its Liquid Reality platform the standard implementation for 3D on the Web.

Microsoft licensed a portion of the Liquid Reality platform to embed into Internet Explorer and coming versions of the Windows operating system so users can see, create and interact in VRML 2.0 worlds.

With the announcement of this agreement, Dimension X and Microsoft bring the 3D animation used in today's games and simulations to the Internet. 3D is quickly coming to the marketplace and Liquid Reality is the platform to deliver it to the Internet consumer.

"The Liquid Reality VRML 2.0 viewer based on high speed DirectX API's takes the viewing of 3D worlds on the Internet to a whole next level of performance" said John Ludwig, vice president of Microsoft's Internet Tools and Platform Division. "Dimension X's VRML viewer offers capabilities to exploit the transparent hardware acceleration offered by DirectX, high-speed Virtual Machine (VM) and the Just In Time (JIT) compiler native for IE 3.0. Consumers will experience exciting levels of realism and interactivity in 3D worlds on the Internet," added Ludwig.

"Liquid Reality is the leading platform for 3D Internet activity. We are excited about establishing a new way to communicate ideas and information that will benefit designers, programmers, and millions end users," said Karl Jacob, CEO of Dimension X. "The ActiveX technologies in combination with Liquid Reality give Microsoft the best VRML 2.0 implementation."

Licensing Liquid Reality

Microsoft will license only Liquid Reality Core for reading, writing and viewing VRML 2.0 on the Windows 95 and Windows NT platforms. The entire Liquid Reality platform is also available on Solaris, Linux and Macintosh platforms.

Liquid Reality is more than just a VRML 2.0 browser embedded into Internet Explorer. It stands apart from the portion licensed to Microsoft as an entire platform for 3D content development with Java extensibility. Dimension X will offer developers a fully customizable tool kit, server technology, VRML world and object Editor, and an applications development interface, all of which are fully extensible through Java. The editor manipulates and saves VRML 2.0, replacing its complex language of numbers and intricate commands with easy-to-understand syntax and direct-manipulation interface.

Microsoft's support of Java and VRML, and its decision to incorporate a portion of the Liquid Reality platform into both the Windows operating system and the next version of its Internet Explorer 3.0, is critical to the future development of 3D Web space.

This Fall, millions of Windows users will have this technology on their desktops and be able to see and interact on the Internet using Java and VRML 2.0. This agreement guarantees the proliferation of a 3D Java platform to an expanded user base, increasing the market opportunity for Liquid Reality-based applications.

Mark Pesce, co-creator of VRML, said, "Microsoft's unquestioned strength in systems software and tools, partnered with Dimension X's deep mastery of Java and VRML 2.0 have given the entire VRML community a platform of incredible flexibility and versatility."

VRML 2.0 and ActiveX

With applications currently ranging from games and entertainment to data warehousing, VRML and Java will make the Internet captivating and will provide a more useful and natural way to communicate concepts and ideas. As an ActiveX control, Liquid Reality will also be able to pull in functionality from a word processor, accounting program or any other application that supports ActiveX, and use it directly in 3D environments. This tightly woven integration positions Liquid Reality as a solid option for 3D business applications, such as interactive advertising.

"Dimension X is clearly the most exciting player in VRML 2.0 industry. The Dimension X Liquid Reality Platform complemented by Microsoft's comprehensive API infrastructure and technology will deliver the industry highest-performance VRML 2.0 implementation on IE 3.0," said J. Neil Weintraut, partner, Twenty-First Century Internet.

Java and VRML

Dimension X was the first company to bring Java and VRML together. Liquid Reality is the first platform-independent implementation of VRML 2.0, entirely coded in Java. The importance of using Java as the basis for the platform is compelling. Java, a cross-platform programming language, was designed to be easily portable and supports a component and dynamically extensible architecture. Making updates, changes or even introducing new functionality to an application or content written in Liquid Reality is as simple as adding new classes to your web site. In short, anything built with Java and Liquid Reality will be resilient to the exponentially rapid evolution of Internet technology.

The beauty of a platform with layers of Java is that every step of the development process is customizable, and any content or experience created will always be able to systematically grow and increase in functionality.