Initial Petition Letter v2.1
Hello, we are with a great interest in VR and as part of that, your CSL's CP suite for VRML. Since April this year we've been requesting people (former team members) to release the code for all CP applications; after all, what harm can it do now? Our reason for this tedious action is clear: to revitalise X3D development and guide it towards a new direction, based upon the failures of previous projects such as CP. CP's code will not be revealing Sony secrets, nor are any of the patents really worthwhile anymore (you can cut the patent bits out anyway), but it is extremely valuable as a reference to new development and X3D in general. Our main focus is on WebVR, however, the interaction aspect is yet to be developed properly. For that too, I find your stellar team's CP code to be extremely worthwhile for my time and effort.
Do you know whether Sony has officially kept the browser 1.1 and 2.2 codes, WLS, AOS, Bureau for NT codes, and vrml1to2 code somewhere?
Whether or not they exist will determine everything (literally). It is crucial that this is known, otherwise, it’s like waiting for an already sunken ship to come back to port.
I believe that releasing the source code is worthwhile and necessary at all costs. Additionally, I would like to know THE PERSON to contact to allow old code to be released to ‘outsiders’.
I know that X3D people aren’t currently after ‘interaction’ or ‘cyber-space’. Nor are they interested in integrating services onto one platform (Web browser plus 3D browser?) to allow seamless activity. ‘Think Extreme!’ I think every company should know that there is no harm in releasing old stuff for educational purposes (for me especially) or better development of future standards/services.
Blendo, which I’ve written 11 or more pages about, is all about blending everything into a web browser. It’s about ‘interaction with everything’; (no more static WebGL/X3DOM) I do this because I believe in your CSL's ‘Think Extreme’ and ‘Act Beyond Borders’. This is what I believe in right now, and I won’t give up.
Can you advise me as to how, if possible, Sony can actually release proprietary source code to either the public or certain interested developers/communities/or me who is after the educational aspects of the code?
With great hope once again,
Yours sincerely,
NSK
Wednesday, 28 June 2017
Hi NSK,
Thanks for contacting me.
All the statements in this email are my personal one and does not
represent Sony Corporation in anyway.
That said, as far as I can tell, there is no source code of the
software you are seeking for in Sony, at least officially. Couple of
reasons I can think of:
- Sony is not a software company. If we were Google, we might have
kept any source code in the central repository of anything. We have
never been so.
- As a project is terminated, if the code were critical to maintain
any remaining business, the code would be kept along with other design
data. But it was not the case for CP.
- Even it is hard to imagine some members keeping the code personally.
Team members still in Sony are very small, all of them were part of
the many important projects since after the termination of the CP
project. Being so is a hard thing and usually no one cares about the
code which s/he has nothing to do with anymore.
This is not what you are expecting, I know. However, I personally feel
so honestly.
BTW, I also think WebGL is good enough to replace CP browser. Writing
javascript around there to communicate with a central server to
produce shared 3D space is a trivial thing with WebGL. In other areas,
old code still has value today, but for shared 3D space, today's
technology is much better than what we had 20 years ago.
One more thing: I think Cosmo Player is open source in public.
Anyway, thanks for contacting me.
Best regards,
Reply:
The link below yields nothing related to an open source Cosmo Player of any sort, apart from news articles of what would be an empty promise. Cosmo Worlds was not released either, and I know that well.
https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=active&rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-AU%3AIE-ContextMenu&q=Cosmo+Player+source+code&oq=Cosmo+Player+source+code&gs_l=psy-ab.3...351650.353162.0.353305.11.7.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..11.0.0.2lBKAVesKVo
Also, I was already expecting that there is no central repository for keeping even the ‘less than 100MB code for CP Browsers/plugins/AOS/WLS/Bureau for NT/Sun etc.’ I know that team leader Mr Masayuki Ishikawa has in his personal safekeeping the code for Conductor, but that is not the issue here.
You mentioned: ‘That was not the case for CP’. Well the CP software should have had direct influence on 3D-IES of NRI and therefore the SpaceStream of Sony which was its successor? Which was also used for 3D-IES all the way through the mid 2010 decade. Therefore if CP code was thrown away, what of the Fusionetics SpaceStream Player and Bureau? The problem is that by then, the people working on SpaceStream were not officially disclosed and were (mostly) no longer participants of the great CSL or Arch. Lab.
So it would be difficult to find them.
Finally, I do believe that at least one person would have kept the code for Bureau/WLS/AOS. It was updated in 2000 and marketed until mid-2002. The server software was also the most important anyway. The future WebGL/WebVR is probably as easy as you writing about it, and it’s open, however there are many issues and old software is actually still useful for reference.
In any case, if Sony has not kept the source code, why can’t employees simply allow interested parties to refer to it for reference?
And have you kept ‘anything’ related to CP and other related projects?
Kind regards,
NSK
Extra- What I'm now focussing on
Is the process for Sony to release code. Aren’t there agreements and difficult non-technical details which relate to releasing code to third parties?And if employees ‘don’t care’ then why are they actually caring and seemingly not releasing the code that they have? Can’t SpaceStream data be found?
Finally, seeing as your position is according to LinkedIn: General Manager of Security Quality Technology at Sony Corporation, I’m quite sure that, using the maximum amount of your ‘god-like’ powers, it can be easily arranged as a trifle matter: the tracing and release of any existing CP stuff (particularly browser/server)(even if it is a part of Fusionetics) through any of your loyal employees. The reason for this release, despite all the argument of WebGL/VR and A-Frame being great technology, is that Interactive A-Frame is NOT great technology, still a GitHub development attracting only minor consideration compared to that of VRML.
In short, Browser;Bureau;WLS;AOS does have importance for us. It is extremely useful and is worthwhile for anyone’s time and energy in detective work in finding it. It is necessary for CP to be archived and made available for future developments in X3D, which I believe (this is where I digress and disagree with Mozilla and others) is much more important than the HTML of A-Frame.
I think it’s quite possible for everything written here to be easily carried out, because after all, there are at least 15 people inclusive of me, who are convinced that CP holds great promise as a reference for revitalising X3D, an ISO standard which is about to collapse with only X3DOM as its major use.
I strongly advise all Sony employees past and present to understand that there is always possibility and hope if people can devote a bit of time for something that may rectify faults and create the path and future that should be taken, not the wrong path.
I do not know enough about SpaceStream and I consider it irrelevant, as it is less devoted to the VRML97 standard. Also, it was relatively recent and is not yet over 20 years old. I can only request for software that is over 2 decades old. I cannot leave empty handed either, because otherwise, I would feel like my extensive knowledge of historical and usage example details of CP would be a complete waste. Time wasted belonging to mostly mine, but also Mark Pesce, Dr Lea, Dr Matsuda, Mr Ishikawa of CPC, and even yours.
After all, those developing X3DOM and A-Frame do not have the knowledge of CP that I have. It is necessary for me to act and lead in order to apply the knowledge for the future. It is necessary to complete the jigsaw puzzle. It is necessary for the background work to be revealed. Let us dig deeper.
I do not give up easily at all, unfortunately. Please have a little try.
Kind regards,
NSK
