Australian company launches 3D web browser

A new web application that transforms websites into 3D interactive worlds was released yesterday by an Australian software group. Melbourne-based company ExitReality has released the software, which works alongside any web-browser to transform pages into

A new web application that transforms websites into 3D interactive worlds was released yesterday by an Australian software group.

Melbourne-based company ExitReality has released the software, which works alongside any web-browser to transform pages into 3D digital environments that any user can explore.

Internet users are projected as “avatars” (digital representations of a human often used in video games) and can interact with other users when visiting websites through text chat.

ExitReality founder, Danny Stefanic, says he thought of the concept 13 years ago and says the plug-in will help both social interaction on the web and innovative marketing.

“This is the way the web is moving now,” he says. “There’s lots of 3D content that’s being built by websites, but it’s content you’ve never seen before… all we’ve done is build a search engine that collects this content.”

Stefanic says companies can use their websites to create applications that users can explore like Facebook, while advertisers would be keen to feature on more popular 3D sites. Businesses should seek to build up the 3D content side of their websites, he says.

He also points out digital environments are built upon the context of whatever site the user visits. YouTube becomes a cinema, while social interactive sites such as MySpace become lounge rooms.

“Embedded video ends up in a large screen TV, and the links to your friends ends up as doors to their own ‘apartments’,” he says.

While the software has only been available for one day, Stefanic says the response has been good. “It’s been very popular. We’re growing very, very rapidly.”