OurBricks Imports COLLADA Files into a Shareable Space on the Web -- Even Second Life & Blue Mars-Compatible Files!

OurBricks is the latest project from Linden Lab alum Henrik Bennetsen, founder of the Web GL-powered KataSpace, and it's his latest effort to bring 3D immersive experiences to the web.  It has epic potential as an application, because it imports COLLADA-compatible files to the web, where they can be shared.  Watch:

You can try this out yourself now, but you'll probably want to do so using Chrome Beta. "The thought is that now that 3D in a browser becomes possible," Henrik tells me, "the next problem is that the content type is a real pain. We are trying to take the thorns out of that for people." To see how it works, go to this sandbox site in KataSpace.

"We have this connected to KataSpace so that when you upload a piece then you can plop it into a multiuser enviroment," Henrik explains, as I log in.  Here's what it looks like:

"[S]o what I did was to upload a model to OurBricks," Henrik tells me, referring to the buildings above, "then I pasted the URL into the box and it plopped into this sandbox space. We are working on letting you move scale etc." Yes that's right, you can add COLLADA content just by inserting an URL. "You can also embed it into a blog," he goes on, "Or drop a link on Facebook. Or plop it into the sandbox." In principle, then, you can even upload COLLADA mesh files for Second Life or files intended for Blue Mars, and share them on the web.

"We want to reach everyone who finds themselves needing 3D (this is kinda our shot for the moon) though in an early stage," Henrik tells me.  Moon shot indeed. Give it a try, and if you are able to upload SL or Blue Mars files into KataSpace, share screenshots in Comments!

Update, 1/5: Bumped up for coolness.

Comments

[Danielle]

I was able to upload a simple object, but the Kataspace page tells me to use the latest Firefox 4 beta *which I already have*, so it fails at that point.

[Henrik Bennetsen]

Danielle: You're right. The site is in beta and has lots of issues but that is an oversight and we will get that fixed.

If anyone else has questions or comments I'd be happy to try my best to respond.

[Daniel]

Danielle: it's possible you need to go into about:config and search for webgl and set that to enabled instead of disabled
The mozilla team keeps flipping that on and off every few releases so it's hard to tell if it's "on by default"

[Daniel]

I wasn't being very clear
type about:config in the address bar, hit enter like it's a website

then type webgl in the search bar
then click enabled.

[n.n]

Been using Chrome Beta - after uploading, the viewer gets stuck on "LOADING" and never gets around to loading the object preview. (Object is extremely low-poly so that should not be a consideration. DAE exported with 3DSMax 9; DDS texture included in ZIP.)

Tested with Firefox Beta and got the same result.

Tried to end-run the university firewall with a VPN connection; couldn't even finish uploading - the filesize showed uploading complete but the "now uploading" message refused to disappear.

On the plus side, Chrome Beta does load the sandbox, but without the ability to upload models there's no point to going in.

[Danielle]

This was already set in my copy of Firefox 4 beta 8:

webgl.enabled_for_all_sites;true

[Danielle]

Turns out I needed to overrride this setting from false to true:

network.websocket.override-security-block;true

I'm not very happy about using software that requires overriding a security feature, so for now I will pass on this.

[Patrick]

@Danielle
You're probably trying out our Kataspace demo at http://sandbox.ourbricks.com>http://sandbox.ourbricks.com -- sorry about the confusing domain name. KataSpace is a demonstration of an interactive world showing other users online in real time. I'd recommend also taking a look at OurBricks as well.

The OurBricks upload site http://www.ourbricks.com>http://www.ourbricks.com will work without enabling any insecure features, since it doesn't show other users in real-time.

FYI: the security hole Danielle affects a minority of the population--those with ISPs which intercept web traffic and do so improperly. Firefox made the decision to turn WebSockets off by default, while Chrome left it enabled. For the curious, you can read http://www.adambarth.com/experimental/websocket.pdf>the transparent proxy paper [PDF].

[Arcadia Codesmith]

Cool. Now give me DC Universe Online in a browser.

I'll wait.

[Hums tunelessly for a few seconds].

Are we there yet?

[Henrik Bennetsen]

Att n.n. Sorry you encountered bugs. If you haven't heard from my via email yet then please ping me at henrikATkatalabsDOTcom

[Richard England]

What I also found especially impressive is that this is already a candidate Immersive Education platform: kudos! The "create once, experience everywhere" video at http://YouTube.com/ImmersiveEd was really impressive. Congratulations on this exciting work, folks.

[Daniel]

n.n I believe we've fixed content exported by the Autodesk 3DSMax 9 exporter. If you were using that you can try viewing your content again after clearing your chrome cache and hopefully it will appear in world. If not please provide a link to your content and we can take a closer look :-)

[n.n]

Daniel: It works now! Thanks, that was quick.