This VRML2 scene was put together to check the design of a wall unit and to illustrate how the components fit together.

The whole model is put together just like a real wall unit - it is made up of blocks the same size as the sheets of wood used in the actual unit. This allows me to check if all the pieces fit together correctly and the whole thing look OK. Some motion is added to show how the disjoint parts work.

The wall unit was designed to hold a hi-fi system, two PCs with their monitors, a laser printer, a scanner and a TV set. The hi-fi system consists of a surround sound amp, two VCRs, a CD player, a tape deck, two main speakers, a centre speaker and two surround speakers. As you can imagine the setup is a huge jungle of wires. The unit was designed so that absolutely no wires are visible. The wall behind the unit has a variety of connections - phone lines, mains, connections to surround speakers and a second set of speakers. Easy access to these connections is also vital.

The wall unit fills the entire space between the perpendicular wall and a doorway. The total width is about 3 metres. To prevent the whole thing from being unwieldy, it is designed as two units side by side each roughly of equal width. Each sub-unit has a slide out section to access the back wall easily. The entire unit has a clearance at the back for wires. The computer table has a much larger clearance - about 100 mm to accommodate power strips, speaker terminals on the wall, etc. All wires to equipment are behind the unit and reach each component through access holes behind it. The component hides these wires itself.

The VRML2 scene has animation to show the two side-by-side units and the slide out sections in actions. Some minor components such as drawers are animated as well. Each animation is initiated by clicking on a component. The various animations in the scene are listed below.

• Clicking on the left hand side speaker on the far top left of the unit shows how the two units and the slide out sections come apart.
• Clicking on the right hand side speaker on the far top right of the unit shows how the two units and the slide out sections come together again.
• Clicking on the centre speaker above the TV set shows how the slide out section on the left unit slides out.
• Clicking on the TV set shows how the slide out section on the left unit slides back in.
• Clicking on the left hand side monitor shows how the slide out section on the right unit slides out.
• Clicking on the right hand side monitor shows how the slide out section on the right unit slides back in.
• Clicking on any of the drawers shows the drawer sliding out and back in.