What is the most standard way to display 3d content in a browser?

Question

I want to replace a flash applet that displays a three dimensional matrix of dots (up to 200.000). I want the content to be displayed in the majority of web browsers, including mobile browers, by using standard web technology. I know that flash is very popular and almost multiplatform, but it is not a standard. Can this be achieved with standard web technology?

Answer 1

With web standards you have two possibilities: WebGL and CSS 3D Transforms

The browser support for WebGL isn't very good. But with 3D transforms, you will miss a few browsers as well.

Which technology better suits your needs is hard to tell without knowing too much, from what I imagine WebGL would be more appropriate for you.

Either way, you probably will have to include the Flash Version as a Fallback for browsers who don't support WebGL/3D Transforms.

Answer 2

The best standard that I've found thus far is X3D. This standard does not have good browser support, but X3DOM is a javascript implementation of X3D that does (it uses other browser technologies to implement X3D). You can find browser support information for X3DOM here.

For your dot matrix, the X3D PointSet node appears to do what you want.