Re: Standardizing coordinate systems, units of measure

Kevin Goldsmith (unitcirc@netcom.com)
Mon, 15 Aug 1994 14:44:01 -0700 (PDT)


> The need for staadardization is for a far more practical reason.
> Consider this: I have just entered a new virtual space. Because
> the initial camera orientation is part of the vrml spec, so far
> everything is OK. But now I want to "walk" (take a "step" or "stride"
> by "one-half meter") in the "forward" direction. How far is that?
> In what direction?
>
Either the viewer should scale your movement relative to the size
of the scene, or this should be designed as part of the VRML spec. There
are good a bad parts to the allowing this to be part of the VRML spec.
Good: I can do some really wierd things with my camera that I wouldn't be
able to if I was forced to allow whatever movement. Bad: Can you imagine
how hard it would be to explore if every new vrml document you used
screwed with the way the camera works...

> Similarly, If someone gives me a "cool picture of a ming vase",
> how big can I expect the vase to be? 1 unit? 1000000 units? Thus,
> Its nice to agree on the size of a meter, and which way is "up".
>
I think that we agreed that a meter was 1 unit. Am I wrong?

> --linas
>
>

Kevin