Immersive Internet – the future of websites

We know the internet as a two-dimensional space. Playful designs throw in shades from time to time, but in the end websites are mostly flat and minimalistic. With the innovations happening in the area of 3D graphics with animated films or modern video games, 3D graphics have taken centre stage in the media. In the case of websites, however, the disciplines of web development and 3D graphics and animation had few points of contact to date and the possibilities of integrating 3D graphics into websites have only emerged in recent years. As a result, not so many 3D websites exist yet.

3D websites are striving to incorporate these graphical advances into our everyday internet experience and utilise the new possibilities to tell stories or showcase products.

Using the software packages Three.js and React Three Fibre, we position self-built 3D models of our equipment and research equipment on the KIO Explore website. In addition, we are free to design the space and environment, set the lighting and can also realise abstract effects using shaders. Shaders are programmes that perform complex graphical calculations, for example for water or lighting effects.