What do you advise to use as development langauge, Flash or Java?

I am trying to develop a software to be loaded on the client via a webinterface where the client can enter a house in a 3D perspective and zoom ina nd out.. Do you think I should use Java or flash for developing such software?Thank you

Flash isn't really suitable for 3D yet (without plugins, anyway)
Java has a 3D module (cleverly named Java3D) It requires an extra download, and is frankly kind of a pain to work with.

You might consider VRML. It's been around for a long time so people tend to think of it as old-fashioned, but it might be just the thing for this app (and it was way ahead of its time)

You can build a model by hand, or most 3D packages (including the free blender - http://www.blender.org) have VRML exporters.

The model can be navigated through a free browser plugin (cortona - http://www.parallelgraphics.com)

VRML and the plugin are completely free

The files can be easily transmitted over the web

You can allow the user to navigate the model, or provide an interactive tour.

Basic animations and user feedback can be created without programming.

I have a free online interactive VRML book (with models and audio walkthroughs) available at http://wally.cs.iupui.edu/~aharris/n355/

(The book is no longer in print, so I'm just giving away the contents - If you like it, check out one of my more recent works)

i think the end result would be a flash, but to create that out of a scratch using java may be too much.

why not using Second Life? the engine is already there, but i'm not sure on how to make it private.

Flash is easier to learn, but Java would be better in the long run. In fact, Java would be better for this project.