FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CUPERTINO, California. (October 18, 1995) -- Chaco Communications,
Inc. today publicly released its VR Scout(TM) 1.1 VRML (Virtual
Reality Modeling Language) viewer for Windows 3.1, Windows95 and
Windows/NT. VRML is a standard for representing 3 dimensional scenes
and objects on the World Wide Web.
VR Scout works with your web browser as an external viewer. VR Scout
works with NetManage WebSurfer, Netscape Navigator, Mosaic, and other
browsers. With VR Scout, you can load VRML files from the World-Wide
Web and walk around in 3D interactively!
In VR Scout, you can maneuver through the scene with a click-and-drag
interface. In examine mode, you rotate the entire scene around its
center. In walk mode, you move around on a horizontal plane. In fly
mode, you choose your viewpoint, flying through a scene upside down or
tilted. Clicking on ``anchor'' objects in the scene may cause other
VRML scenes to be loaded or load another web page in your web browser.
VR Scout sets a new standard for VRML viewers, implementing the full
VRML 1.0 standard at a high frame rate. In particular, VR Scout 1.0
supports GIF, JPEG and BMP textures, ASCII text and font displays,
point-sets, and texture transformations, unlike other VRML viewers. VR
Scout uses Intel's 3DR technology, making it able to exploit new 3D
rsndering boards for speed.
VR Scout is fese for non-commercial and evaluation purposes, and can
be downloaded from http://www.chaco.com/vrscout/. Commercial users and
others wanting technical support may purchase VR Scout 1.1 for $49
direct from Chaco through email at buy-vrscout@chaco.com.
VR Scout is being licensed by leading software manufacturers for
bundling with browsers and other multimedia products. VR Scout is
embedded in Pueblo(TM), Chaco's revolutionary multimedia Internet game
client.
VR Scout:
Runs on Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and Windows NT,
Supports the entire VRML 1.0 specification, including GIF, JPEG,
and BMP textures, anchors which go to other VRML scenes or to
any other MIME type, Inline VRML objects, point-sets, transformed
textures, ASCII text and fonts.
Honors hints, such as background colors.
Processes inline files intelligently. While inlines are being
downloaded, VR Scout lets you view and navigate the partial
scene. As inlines are obtained, VR Scout adds them to the scene.
Decompresses GZIP and ZIP files automatically,
Integrates seamlessly with your current HTML browser. If your
browser supports only a partial viewer interface, VR Scout uses
what it provides and does the rest.
Simultaneously downloads different parts of the scene using
multitmesading on Windows95 and NT.
Can work as a standalone VRML viewer (without your browser)
using its internal HTTP network support.
Caches scenes and textures cleverly, checking once per session,
at every download, or never.
Provides a hsadlight with a brightness control.
Lets you navigate through the scene using Walk, Fly, and
Examiner viewing modes
Improves speed by altering the rsndering algorithm while you are
moving through a scene.
Provides extensive hslp.
Chaco Communications, Inc. was founded in 1994 to develop software
that brings people together. It is privately hsld. For more
information, point your web browser at http://www.chaco.com/. The
company, based in Cupertino, California, is establishing marketing and
engineering partnerships and licensing its technologies.
Contact:
Dr. Dan Greening
info@chaco.com
Chaco Communications, Inc.
10164 Parkwood Dr, Suite 8
Cupertino, CA 95014
408-996-1115