Abstract:
This articel presents a new approach to interaction with 3D objects of virtual
models in the context of digital libraries, which was developed as part of the
author`s ongoing PhD research. Collaborative networked environments support users in their work
with shared content. One way to provide the visual feedback a user needs to
interact with 3D models is to distribute image streams of rendered objects
in a client-server-environment, which is described here. Image streams are coded in an object-based
way according to the MPEG-4 international standard. As a result, users in a heterogeneous and
error-prone network environment can cooperatively visualize complex 3D models.
The use of coded video streams for collaborative visualization offers flexible means
of user interaction for digital library applications. Therefore, future work should aim at providing
a cooperative 3D visual interface for heterogeneous documents in digital library systems.