S3 Eliminates Internet Bottlenecks To Enable Powerful,
Easy-To-Use and Content-Rich 3D Worlds
Unveils The RIO Platform and the Industry's First VRML 2.0 Plug-In To
Support 3D Hardware Acceleration on PCs
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Driving the convergence of the Internet with
3D graphics, video and audio, S3(R) Incorporated (Nasdaq: SIII) today unveiled
industry-first technology that will reduce bandwidth constraints in immersive 3D worlds by
up to 75 percent. At a press conference today at the World Movers Developer show in San
Francisco, S3 demonstrated the RIO (Redistributed Internet Objects) Platform, a
high-bandwidth solution that enables users to store graphics and audio data directly on their
hard drive - eliminating the need for lengthy downloads over the Internet. In addition, the
company demonstrated the industry's first Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) 2.0.
plug-in to incorporate 3D hardware acceleration.
"S3 is the leader in delivering accelerated 3D technology to personal computing applications,
especially those in the multimedia arena, where we hold the majority market share," said
Neal Margulis, senior vice president, Research & Technology, S3 Incorporated. "Today, we
are leveraging this success and knowledge by creating an industry standard that allows
developers and end-users to maximize 3D capabilities on the exploding World Wide Web."
S3 Internet Initiative Components
S3 is a charter member of the VRML Consortium and also a host of the World Movers
Developers Conference, the industry's first event focusing on VRML 2.0. This conference is
backed by S3, Apple Computer, Inc., Netscape Communications Corporation, Microsoft
Corporation and Intervista Software, Inc. S3's Internet Initiative components currently
support today's VRML 2.0 language, with future Internet 3D technologies supported as they
become available.
S3's Internet Initiative includes:
-- RIO (Redistributed Internet Objects) -- Designed to eliminate the need to download
massive amounts of data, RIO consists of standardized libraries of graphics textures and
audio samples that will be distributed with future shipments of S3's 3D accelerators.
Developers can use these standard libraries to create immersive, 313-enabled Websites.
As the end-user enters a 3D, or VRML-based Website, textures and sounds can be loaded
directly from the hard drive, rather than downloaded via a modem from the Internet. This
capability will increase the performance of 3D worlds and improve the end- users'
experience while navigating through such sites. Also distributed with the texture and audio
databases will be six sample VRML 2.0 worlds, currently used as a benchmark for 3D
browsers. |
