This vision could indeed become reality as soon as the communications bandwidth bottleneck is resolved. Current telephone analog systems that still utilize copper wire simply cannot transmit quickly enough the vast amounts of data necessary to present a seamless continuous and complex virtual world. International communication, entertainment and digital corporations seem intent on forming new alliances to jockey into position as power brokers to control the future of interactive television, video telecommunications, and the expanding Internet. Fiber optics, coaxial cable and cellular technologies are being promoted as various means to sufficiently expand bandwidth capacity, but there is much controversy about how long a time and at what cost it will be feasible to realize unlimited bandwidth worldwide. Anyone with Web experience knows that the current bandwidth problem means waiting long periods to see anything other than test or simple graphics VRML somewhat skirts the bandwidth problem by presenting itself in a coded file that downloads relatively quickly to be interpreted by a browser that is resident in the receiving computer.
Viewers utilize the power of their own computer to render the three-dimensional environment.
There is presently a limitation of 10,000 polygons to define each VRML space, including objects. Three-dimensional computer modelers know that this means simple spaces without complex forms. Complexity can be simulated by the use of texture mapping on simple wire frame meshes, but every texture map image adds longer download times to the VRML file. Larger cyberworlds can be created by linking many VRML worlds together, but they cannot be traversed without an obvious transition from one file to the next. This eliminates the learning curve required by a new computer language and allows modelers to continue using programs that are familiar and more intuitive.