What is the most standard way to display 3d content in a browser?

Question

I want to replace a flash applet that displays a three dimensional matrix of dots (up to 200.000). I want the content to be displayed in the majority of web browsers, including mobile browers, by using standard web technology. I know that flash is very popular and almost multiplatform, but it is not a standard. Can this be achieved with standard web technology?

Answer 1

With web standards you have two possibilities: WebGL and CSS 3D Transforms

The browser support for WebGL isn't very good. But with 3D transforms , you will miss a few browsers as well.

Which technology better suits your needs is hard to tell without knowing too much, from what I imagine WebGL would be more appropriate for you.

Either way, you probably will have to include the Flash Version as a Fallback for browsers who don't support WebGL/3D Transforms.

Answer 2

The best standard that I've found thus far is X3D . This standard does not have good browser support, but X3DOM is a javascript implementation of X3D that does (it uses other browser technologies to implement X3D). You can find browser support information for X3DOM here .

For your dot matrix, the X3D PointSet node appears to do what you want.