A new simplified markup language aims to make the average Web page bulge into the third dimension.

San Francisco-based startup, Flatland, on Monday released the spec for 3DML, a no-frills markup language for building three-dimensional content into Web pages.

Flatland hopes the language can kick start the proliferation of 3-D content on the Web by making it simpler to create.

"If people who build their own homepages can't use 3-D, then it won't work," said Lee Cummings, Flatland's head of online marketing.

Flatland uses a building-block approach. It provides Web page builders with prefabricated 3-D objects -- 3-D blocks, tubes, and surfaces. Authors use HTML-like code to position these objects a la carte in their site.

For example, a user could assemble and customize architectural components to create a three-dimensional image of a building. By navigating into the scene, users could travel through 3-D worlds much as they now navigate hypertext links.

The prefab approach also makes 3DML better suited to Web use, Flatland says, since the bulk of predefined information for displaying the 3-D is already contained in end-user software. This prevents data-intensive information from having to be transmitted every time 3-D content is encountered.

Still, the software faces the same roadblock as any Web add-on software: before people will be able to view 3DML-enhanced sites, they have to download Landrover, a free plug-in offered at the company's Web site.

• FLATLAND Easy 3-D Publishing on the Web

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: : A new simplified markup language aims to make the average Web page bulge into the third dimension. : San Francisco-based startup, Flatland, on Monday released the spec for 3DML, a no-frills markup language for building three-dimensional content into Web pages. : Flatland hopes the language can kick start the proliferation of 3-D content on the Web by making it simpler to create. : "If people who build their own homepages can't use 3-D, then it won't work," said Lee Cummings, Flatland's head of online marketing. : Flatland uses a building-block approach. It provides Web page builders with prefabricated 3-D objects -- 3-D blocks, tubes, and surfaces. Authors use HTML-like code to position these objects a la carte in their site. : For example, a user could assemble and customize architectural components to create a three-dimensional image of a building. By navigating into the scene, users could travel through 3-D worlds much as they now navigate hypertext links. : The prefab approach also makes 3DML better suited to Web use, Flatland says, since the bulk of predefined information for displaying the 3-D is already contained in end-user software. This prevents data-intensive information from having to be transmitted every time 3-D content is encountered. : Still, the software faces the same roadblock as any Web add-on software: before people will be able to view 3DML-enhanced sites, they have to download Landrover, a free plug-in offered at the company's Web site.

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