Alice is a free "3D interactive graphics programming environment" developed at Carnegie Mellon University. The Windows-based authoring tool includes a program from a professor at the University of Tokyo that allows the user to create 3D models. Alice is then used to paint the objects, which can be included in Web sites and viewed by anyone with the free browser plug-in. The tools are known for...

The AnaBuilder application is a novel visualization application that assists users in the creation of stereoscopic photographs, such as anaglyphs (those photographs that are generally viewed through red-tinted glasses). The application also features a conversion tool that allows users to convert a two-dimensional photograph into a three-dimensional photograph. The website features detailed...

Are you interested in animation? If so, you might want to take a look at Blender 2.46. This open-source 3D rendering program contains a wide range of essential animation tools, including rendering, modeling, and shading. The program can be quite complicated but the good folks at Blender offer a wide range of tutorials on their site. This version is compatible with computers running Windows 98 and...

This website describes the Interactive Dome Project of the Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center. The project explores how interactivity can work effectively in a dome environment and the possibilities for building something "to show off the capabilities of the dome." This is the initial project in a series of many that will run a 3D engine to explore uses of the dome and...

Body scanning is a focus of research at Cornell University that uses three-dimensional visualization technology to create accurate digital models of the human body, with the goal of enabling cost effective, custom-fit apparel. This Web site describes the process of capturing a 3D image and how it can be applied to enhance online shopping. The section called Virtual Try-On illustrates how "a...

Several major companies, including Google, are working on getting elaborate 3D maps online. This latest iteration of Google maps for Android-powered devices allows users to browse select cities in a 3D fashion. Utilizing aerial imagery, the buildings appear in a three-dimensional format, which can aid people navigating their way around an unfamiliar urban environment. Visitors can customize their...

The primary mission of the Imaging Technology Group (ITG) is "to provide state-of-the-art imaging facilities for researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign." Its work includes visualization projects designed to complement a range of scientific fields and endeavors. In the Communications area, visitors can learn about...

OpenSCAD is an application for creating 3D models. In contrast to tools like Blender, where users build 3D objects by means of an interactive, graphical editing system, with OpenSCAD users instead create a script in OpenSCAD's language that describes the object they want. The OpenSCAD documentation describes it as working "something like a 3D-compiler that reads in a script file," and "renders the...