Welcome to The XZYBIT Library!
The “Xzybit Library” is a collection 3D interactive content developed in Google Sketchup for the purposes of illustrating concepts and designs in new and interesting ways.
Anyone may add to the Xzybit Library as long as their Xzybit follows 3 simple rules:
- It must illustrate, explain or convey some concept or idea.
- It must take advantage of 3D space.
- It must be interactive.
What is XZYBIT?
Xzybit is a project carried out by 5 Masters students studying at the Centre for Digital Media at the Great Northern Way Campus in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
The purpose of this project is to explore the possibilities of virtual libraries and 3D information visualization. Google Sketchup was chosen as the platform of choice due to the following reasons:
- Powerful, intuitive interface
- 3D content creation is quick & easy
- Excellent integration of web content
- Supports hyperlinks
- Pre-existing database integration (3D Warehouse)
- 3D Warehouse allows users to upload and edit user-created content
- Supports various types of interactivity
- Animations
- Scenes
The Xzybit library is a special collection within the Google 3D warehouse. Xzybits capitalize on all of the above aspects of this software in order to present information in a way that goes beyond 2D representation.
Being located in 3D space, Xzybits can express more information more efficiently than traditional 2D formats.
Being interactive, Xzybits can actively express concepts related to movement and agency. As well, the ability to attach hyperlinks to specific objects in an Xzybit effectively transforms each Xzybit into a library of its own.
Lastly, the ability to create new Xzybits, edit existing Xzybits and participate in an active community of contributors through Google’s 3D Warehouse will allow this project to grow beyond its humble beginnings and take on a life of its own.
