Interactive traditional Japanese crafting system using virtual reality technique over highspeed network

In this paper we propose a user-friendly three-dimensional computer graphics (CG) presentation system for a typical traditional Japanese crafting industry based on agent and virtual reality functions over Japan gigabit network (JGN) which is a testbed for the high-speed backbone network with 2.4 Gbps. A large number of traditional Japanese fittings in a local city are redesigned by 3D computer graphics into CAD data and stored in the database servers distributed over JGN. Although each fitting data consists of more than several Mbytes size, the user can interactively retrieve the desired fittings and put them into the traditional Japanese interior to design more creative and original houses, hotels and other buildings in real-time. We present a prototype system using VRML and Java on networked CG workstations. The user can walk through the desired virtual space organized by various Japanese traditional fittings and interactively change those fittings by selecting from the database and replacing them by simple operations. As a result, our suggested system is useful not only for Japanese crafting but also for worldwide design industries.