Interactive 3D model without WebGL for iOS

Question

I want to make something similar to this - http://appserv.kfshrc.edu.sa/Default/Health/Anantomy.aspx, but without using flash and able to work on Mobile Safari on iPad.

I played with WebGL, it's great but doesn't work on iOS yet (though it is there in Mobile Safari, but it's just for iAds). I also tried with CSS 3D transformations, but it doesn't work properly. So, what can I use to implement this for iOS Mobile Safari?

Answer 1

I think it would be worth looking into three.js, a JavaScript 3d library which allows you to choose canvas, SVG or WebGL as the render target. three.js should make building something like the example you point to in your question fairly straightforward.

According to this thread, there have been some issues with canvas rendering in mobile Safari, but that was over a year ago so it may have been resolved. You could try some of the canvas examples on the three.js site to get an idea of the performance in mobile Safari as of today.

@Nicholas Kyriakides has also pointed out that in his experience SVG render mode has been buggy and not performed as well as WebGL.