By Staff, September 13, 2003
Today at SIGGRAPH 2003 (Booth #2346) the ManyOne Network announced that it has acquired Media Machines, a premier provider of technologies for creating real-time, interactive 3D content based on open standards. ManyOne will
integrate Media Machines' Flux suite into its pioneering web browser and portal service; the combined result enables the development, deployment and
distribution of rich and seamless 3D interfaces to web-based information and a dazzling browsing experience regardless of bandwidth.
"We are honored and thrilled with the opportunity to help lead the evolution of 3D standards for the next-generation web. Flux offers higher
performance capabilities and a more rugged and flexible architecture than other technologies available today. Under the leadership of Tony Parisi, we
intend to provide an ideal platform for all developers working in the online 3D media industry. Such a platform is particularly important for our
network of institutional partners, who are now beginning to create the beautifully rendered 3D portals comprising the advertising-free ManyOne Digital
Universe. Over the next decade, their combined efforts will yield a living encyclopedia of over 400,000 subject-focused portals," commented Joseph P.
Firmage, chairman and CEO of ManyOne. "Through the evolution of the ManyOne platform, FLUX's rich 3D software application layer will add the
power and flexibility needed for this epic endeavor."
Media Machines was founded in 1999 by Parisi, one of the original authors of the pioneering 3D Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML)
and widely recognized as an expert in standards, technologies and emerging markets for interactive rich media. Parisi is currently co-editor of the X3D
specification, the successor to VRML as the ISO open standard for 3D graphics on the Web. Parisi will join ManyOne as senior vice president and
fellow, Media Technologies and Developer Programs, and continue to lead the development of Flux and open standards for 3D.
"Flux's advanced capabilities complement ManyOne's pioneering caching technology, ground-breaking browser navigation system and unique business
model to deliver on the computer industry's most elusive promise to date: a truly immersive, rich-media interface to the Web regardless of bandwidth,"
said Parisi
. "Flux frees programmers and content creators from the low-level details of 3D development, allowing
them to focus on building the industrial-strength applications and 3D portals that will comprise the next-generation web."
The Flux technology suite is comprised of components for developing and deploying interactive real-time 3D graphics via the web. These components
include the Flux Engine, an extensible system for managing the low-level details of 3D graphics rendering and animation; Flux Web, a set of utilities
for supporting web applications, including X3D and VRML97 file readers and application programming interfaces (APIs); and the Flux Media Player,
a web browser-hosted ActiveX control that loads Flux scenes, provides user-level navigation features and connects to other web page elements via
XML/DOM scripting. FLUX Version 1.0 for Windows is in its final beta release and will ship in August.
At SIGGRAPH 2003, ManyOne will preview its breakthrough technology platform and tools which will provide a global distribution network for
developers interested in building and publishing photo-realistic, rich-media content in a new 3D medium being touted as "Web 2.0." ManyOne
currently employs Macromedia's Flash and Director to create the rich media and 3D spaces that comprise the ManyOne Digital Universe. Future
versions of ManyOne's browser will include support for FLUX and Open GL.
ManyOne is creating a next-generation Internet medium through the ManyOne Universal Browser and Portal Service. The ManyOne Browser is an
open-source Mozilla-based browser -- with the Internet's first "visual" navigation system -- which uses icons based on Nature to navigate 3D content
portals. The ManyOne Universal Browser is powered by the ManyOne Universal Portal Service, which will allow partners to create
revenue-generating, private-labeled portals for their members, complete with services such as Internet access, e-mail, Universal Instant Messaging,
news and content feeds, and transaction-fee-free auction and barter.
ManyOne will soon introduce the ManyOne Universal Browser and Portal Service, which together transform the user's Internet experience from flat
pages and text into a dazzling, 3D visual universe of information that is free from ads. ManyOne's reusable web portal service enables non-profit
organizations, companies and even individuals to create private-labeled, world-class portals, complete with ISP services, e-mail, trade, and Instant
Messaging within a matter of days and offer this functionality to their constituencies via subscriptions, transforming their web sites into revenue
generators.
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