We are on, the threshold of a step-change in Internet services, with i
mplications perhaps greater than those arising from the introduction o
f the WWW graphical interface. Current developments, such as VRML and
Java, promise a future of interactive, multiparticipant, multimedia en
vironments and applications. This article outlines the background to t
hese developments and describes early demonstrators which provide a gl
impse of future services.