The World Wide Web was invented in 1989 as a system for retrieving information using hypertext, a means of linking together documents from all over the world (Berners-Lee et al., 1992). These documents, created using HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), contained plain text as well as links and other media such as images (Berners-Lee et al., 1994). Using a specialized software known as a web browser, users could request these documents from a server by searching or clicking a link within a document they were currently viewing. By the mid-1990s, the popularity of the World Wide Web surged, and web browsers were available for most operating systems (Oshri et al., 2010). Furthermore, the support of Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) enabled these browsers to process file types beyond HTML documents with the use of plugin software. For instance, if the browser received a file with a MIME type of video/mp4, it recognized the file as an MP4 video and used the appropriate plugin to play the content. Consequently, an approach for sharing three-dimensional (3D) environments over the web emerged, giving users a more natural and engaging experience while exploring the web. In 1994, a language called VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) was developed for creating web-based virtual reality (VR) environments, which could be viewed from any web browser using a VRML plugin for handling files with a “model/world” MIME type (Nadeau, 1999). Over the next several years, more advanced VR languages were introduced. However, the plugin-based approach remained the standard way of rendering web-based virtual reality environments until HTML5 became standardized in 2014. HTML5, the latest version of HTML as of this writing, provides native support for multimedia content, eliminating the need for browser plugins (Kleinfeld 2011). With the addition of the <canvas> element, web developers could now display graphics on an HTML document using a scripting language like JavaScript (Boulos et al., 2010). Moreover, JavaScript APIs (Application Programming Interface) such as the Web Graphics Library (WebGL) enabled the use of interactive 3D graphics in a web browser (Kang & Lee, 2019). The WebGL API contributed to the development of the Web Extended Reality (WebXR) API, which added support to standalone and PC-connected VR headsets and augmented reality (AR) devices (Zubair & Anyameluhor, 2021). Today, the A-Frame framework facilitates the development of WebXR environments by providing a user-friendly, high-level language (Moreno-Lumbreras et al., 2023). This chapter presents several web-based VR technologies used for creating 3D virtual experiences since the inception of the World Wide Web, beginning with VRML, and concluding with A-Frame, the focus of this text.</canvas>

History of Web-Based VR

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发表日期：

2026年

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William Sause

摘要

The World Wide Web was invented in 1989 as a system for retrieving information using hypertext, a means of linking together documents from all over the world (Berners-Lee et al., 1992). These documents, created using HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), contained plain text as well as links and other media such as images (Berners-Lee et al., 1994). Using a specialized software known as a web browser, users could request these documents from a server by searching or clicking a link within a document they were currently viewing. By the mid-1990s, the popularity of the World Wide Web surged, and web browsers were available for most operating systems (Oshri et al., 2010). Furthermore, the support of Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) enabled these browsers to process file types beyond HTML documents with the use of plugin software. For instance, if the browser received a file with a MIME type of video/mp4, it recognized the file as an MP4 video and used the appropriate plugin to play the content. Consequently, an approach for sharing three-dimensional (3D) environments over the web emerged, giving users a more natural and engaging experience while exploring the web. In 1994, a language called VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) was developed for creating web-based virtual reality (VR) environments, which could be viewed from any web browser using a VRML plugin for handling files with a “model/world” MIME type (Nadeau, 1999). Over the next several years, more advanced VR languages were introduced. However, the plugin-based approach remained the standard way of rendering web-based virtual reality environments until HTML5 became standardized in 2014. HTML5, the latest version of HTML as of this writing, provides native support for multimedia content, eliminating the need for browser plugins (Kleinfeld 2011). With the addition of the