What Happened To XWEB?

If you have used Compass in the past, you are probably aware that Compass could display 3D cave images on the internet using a tools called XWeb. Unfortunately, Microsoft discovered a security problem in XWeb and decided to supporting the viewer. For a while, I was able to support it on my own, but with latest updates to Windows XP, has installed features that prevent it from being used in Internet Explorer. For this reason, Compass is now switching to better options.
VRML Export
 To solve this problem, the next version of Compass will support VRML export. VRML stands for "Virtual Reality Modeling Language" and it a special type of computer file that supports the viewing of the 3D objects over the internet. It has many advantages over the old approach. For example, with XWeb, you cave images could only be viewed on Windows computers that were running Internet Explorer. With VRML, virtually any computer, using any browser can viewer the images. Also because many different companies provide VRML plug-ins, the standard will probably be viable for many years into the future.
Compass VRML Preview
The VRML export option will be a part of the next major Compass release, which I expect to be available in late summer or early fall. However, you can look at a preview of the capabilities by clicking on the link below. You will need to install a VRML plug-in to view the images and there are links that will walk you through the installation process
Click Here To Preview Compass VRML