VisualExpresso : Generating a Virtual Reality Internet

Finding knowledge from vast quantities of data is a difficult task, made simpler by visually representing this information. The Internet can be considered a vast (global) database, but whose unstructured format frequently leads to a feeling of being “lost in hyperspace”. Visualising this structure can make browsing a more productive endeavour. In this paper we introduce a means of “lossy” translation from HTML to VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language). This allows for the generation of a virtual world containing the structure with some content information about the site. This implements a new metaphor for intranet and internet browsing