VRML / WRL
Also known as: .wrl file, VRML, Virtual Reality Modeling Language
VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language), saved as .wrl files, is an early text-based format for 3D scenes on the web. It described interactive 3D worlds in the 1990s and was later succeeded by X3D.
- Early text-based 3D format for the web (.wrl)
- Succeeded by X3D; sometimes used for color 3D printing
- Replaced on the modern web by glTF
What VRML did
A .wrl file describes a 3D scene in plain text — shapes, materials, lights, and basic interactivity — so early browsers with a plugin could render walkable 3D worlds. It was an ambitious attempt at 3D on the web.
VRML was later revised into the XML-based X3D, and it still shows up as an export option, notably from CAD and 3D-printing tools that use it to carry color.
VRML today
For modern 3D on the web, glTF has largely replaced VRML. Convert old .wrl files to OBJ or glTF to use them in current tools and viewers.