def getPosition(node):
    """Read position of a phsical or visual object."""
    position = [0.0, 0.0, 0.0]
    positionString = node.getElementsByTagName('origin')[0].getAttribute('xyz'
        ).split()
    position[0] = float(positionString[0])
    position[1] = float(positionString[1])
    position[2] = float(positionString[2])
    return position
