Java']Java3D in modeling and simulation

In this paper, we describe the Java3D API and discuss its use in modeling and simulation. Java3D raises the level of abstraction of 3D programming (objects instead of polygons, for instance), leaving the efficient rendering of a scene to the compiler and run-time system. Java3D is a comprehensive 3D graphics API that allows one to create a highly-detailed virtual universe that includes objects as small as sub-atomic particles and as distant as the extent of the physical universe. Geometric modeling, rendering, lighting, and animation are easily programmed. We describe three strategies for the application of Java3D in simulation. First, an MVC simulator architecture allows Java3D views to be added without modification to the rest of the simulator. Second, Java3D's modeling and event-handling facilities can be extended to turn Java3D into a modeling and simulation API. Third, a layered simulator architecture places Java3D in an inner layer of code generated by a simulation language (or script) translator.