Web3D Consortium Advances X3D as ISO 19775

Web3D Consortium Announces X3D Specification Approved as ISO International Standard

Unanimous Vote to Advance X3D as ISO 19775

X3D Evolving to Enable and Encourage New Markets for Communicating Real-Time 3D

Los Angeles, California, USA. August 09, 2004. SIGGRAPH 2004

The Web3D Consortium today announced that the X3D specification has been approved by the International Standards Organization (ISO) as International Standard ISO/IEC 19775 with formal publication expected in October 2004. Developed and tested within the Web3D working group process, X3D is the Web3D Consortium's foundation technology for enabling real-time 3D communication across networks and between applications and it was unanimously approved by fourteen national committees within ISO. Web3D/ISO specifications for X3D, a royalty-free standard, are available online at www.web3d.org/x3d/specifications.

X3D defines a runtime system and delivery mechanism for 3D content and applications running on a network. X3D supports several file format encodings and programming languages, providing unsurpassed interoperability for 3D data and significant flexibility in manipulating, communicating and displaying scenes in real time. X3D incorporates the latest advances in graphics hardware to provide the best performance and visual impact in an extensible architecture that supports ongoing evolution.

"The advancement of X3D as an ISO standard is a significant milestone for the 3D industry," observed Tony Parisi, president of Media Machines and co-chair of Web3D's X3D Working Group. "Now developers, solutions providers and customers alike can rest assured that their investments in real time 3D content and applications will be preserved by embracing a rugged architecture and an open, extensible framework that will stand the test of time. X3D was built to last and it is here to stay."

The Web3D Consortium has already commenced work on the continued evolution of X3D to encourage and enable further advances in real-time communication of 3D data. These developments will be packaged as Amendment One to the X3D specification which is projected to include: programmable shaders - enabling cinematic rendering effects; advanced texturing support - including 3D textures and cubic environment textures for hyper-realistic environments; improved Level Of Detail (LOD) support for optimized performance on a broad range of machines; improved text support and the CAD Distillation Format (CDF) for enabling re-use of CAD data through an organization.

Web3D working groups will complete Amendment One in September 2004 for ratification by the Consortium membership Amendment One and submission to ISO in October 2004. Web3D will then update X3D on an annual basis. X3D extends the prior Web3D/ISO standard, VRML 97, still widely supported by numerous content models and software tools. X3D retains backwards compatibility with a Classic VRML Encoding while adding many new capabilities.

Don Brutzman of the Naval Postgraduate School MOVES Institute has been instrumental in leading the X3D effort since 1998. "Web3D Consortium members have 'stayed the course' to successfully build a major standards revision, resolving key technical challenges facing the entire 3D graphics industry. Immediately responding to ISO approval, last week the U.S. Navy Business Standards Council approved X3D for Navy-wide use. Safely navigating all these rigorous processes is significant: X3D is now ready for widespread use in government, industry and education."

In addition, as previously announced, the Web3D Consortium is developing an X3D Binary Format to enable advanced compression of 3D data to shorten the transmission time of models and scenes across a network and a data encryption scheme to protect sensitive model information. Lastly, Web3D has initiated the creation of an X3D Conformance Program, which will enable compliant implementations of X3D to use the X3D trademark, providing reassurance to application developers that an X3D product will provide a reliable platform for their application.

"X3D is the foundation for Web3D's mission to grow market opportunities and the X3D Working Group within the Consortium deserves to be congratulated on this significant achievement," stated Neil Trevett, senior vice president of 3Dlabs and president of the Web3D Consortium. "Now is not the time to relax our efforts however. X3D is just beginning to unleash the potential for standardized real-time 3D communication and so the Consortium is actively ramping up its X3D-based initiatives. The best is definitely yet to come. We invite any interested company to join the Consortium and help us explore the possibilities for this enabling International Standard."

About X3D

X3D forms the extensible technology foundation for the Consortium's market-focused standardization activities. X3D is a powerful open file format standard for 3D visual effects, behavioral modeling and interaction. X3D's XML-encoded scene graph enables 3D to be incorporated into web services architectures and distributed environments, which facilitates moving 3D data between applications. X3D's language-neutral Scene Authoring Interface (SAI) enables real time 3D content and controls to be easily integrated into a broad range of web and non-web applications. Standalone X3D browsers are shipping today from leading 3D browser companies including CRC, Media Machines, and Yumetech.

About the Web3D Consortium

The Web3D Consortium is a member-funded industry consortium committed to the creation and deployment of open, royalty-free standards that enable the communication of real-time 3D across applications, networks, and XML web services. The Consortium works closely with the ISO, MPEG and W3C standardization bodies to maximize market opportunities for its membership. All Consortium members are empowered to participate and vote in Consortium working groups and are able to accelerate the delivery of their cutting-edge 3D platforms and applications through access to specification drafts and conformance tests before public deployment. More information on the Consortium and Consortium membership is available at www.web3d.org.

Contact

Web3D Consortium
Neil Trevett
Tel: +1-408-464-7053
Email: neil.trevett@3dlabs.com

Prepared by Robin Cover for The XML Cover Pages archive. See also "Web3D Consortium Forms Working Group to Develop X3D Binary File Format Encoding." General references in "VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) and X3D."

SEARCH Advanced Search ABOUT Site Map CP RSS Channel Contact Us Sponsoring CP About Our Sponsors NEWS Cover Stories Articles & Papers Press Releases CORE STANDARDS XML SGML Schemas XSL/XSLT/XPath XLink XML Query CSS SVG TECHNOLOGY REPORTS XML Applications General Apps Government Apps Academic Apps EVENTS LIBRARY Introductions FAQs Bibliography Technology and Society Semantics Tech Topics Software Related Standards Historic	Web3D Consortium Advances X3D as ISO 19775 Web3D Consortium Announces X3D Specification Approved as ISO International Standard Unanimous Vote to Advance X3D as ISO 19775 X3D Evolving to Enable and Encourage New Markets for Communicating Real-Time 3D Los Angeles, California, USA. August 09, 2004. SIGGRAPH 2004 The Web3D Consortium today announced that the X3D specification has been approved by the International Standards Organization (ISO) as International Standard ISO/IEC 19775 with formal publication expected in October 2004. Developed and tested within the Web3D working group process, X3D is the Web3D Consortium's foundation technology for enabling real-time 3D communication across networks and between applications and it was unanimously approved by fourteen national committees within ISO. Web3D/ISO specifications for X3D, a royalty-free standard, are available online at www.web3d.org/x3d/specifications. X3D defines a runtime system and delivery mechanism for 3D content and applications running on a network. X3D supports several file format encodings and programming languages, providing unsurpassed interoperability for 3D data and significant flexibility in manipulating, communicating and displaying scenes in real time. X3D incorporates the latest advances in graphics hardware to provide the best performance and visual impact in an extensible architecture that supports ongoing evolution. "The advancement of X3D as an ISO standard is a significant milestone for the 3D industry," observed Tony Parisi, president of Media Machines and co-chair of Web3D's X3D Working Group. "Now developers, solutions providers and customers alike can rest assured that their investments in real time 3D content and applications will be preserved by embracing a rugged architecture and an open, extensible framework that will stand the test of time. X3D was built to last and it is here to stay." The Web3D Consortium has already commenced work on the continued evolution of X3D to encourage and enable further advances in real-time communication of 3D data. These developments will be packaged as Amendment One to the X3D specification which is projected to include: programmable shaders - enabling cinematic rendering effects; advanced texturing support - including 3D textures and cubic environment textures for hyper-realistic environments; improved Level Of Detail (LOD) support for optimized performance on a broad range of machines; improved text support and the CAD Distillation Format (CDF) for enabling re-use of CAD data through an organization. Web3D working groups will complete Amendment One in September 2004 for ratification by the Consortium membership Amendment One and submission to ISO in October 2004. Web3D will then update X3D on an annual basis. X3D extends the prior Web3D/ISO standard, VRML 97, still widely supported by numerous content models and software tools. X3D retains backwards compatibility with a Classic VRML Encoding while adding many new capabilities. Don Brutzman of the Naval Postgraduate School MOVES Institute has been instrumental in leading the X3D effort since 1998. "Web3D Consortium members have 'stayed the course' to successfully build a major standards revision, resolving key technical challenges facing the entire 3D graphics industry. Immediately responding to ISO approval, last week the U.S. Navy Business Standards Council approved X3D for Navy-wide use. Safely navigating all these rigorous processes is significant: X3D is now ready for widespread use in government, industry and education." In addition, as previously announced, the Web3D Consortium is developing an X3D Binary Format to enable advanced compression of 3D data to shorten the transmission time of models and scenes across a network and a data encryption scheme to protect sensitive model information. Lastly, Web3D has initiated the creation of an X3D Conformance Program, which will enable compliant implementations of X3D to use the X3D trademark, providing reassurance to application developers that an X3D product will provide a reliable platform for their application. "X3D is the foundation for Web3D's mission to grow market opportunities and the X3D Working Group within the Consortium deserves to be congratulated on this significant achievement," stated Neil Trevett, senior vice president of 3Dlabs and president of the Web3D Consortium. "Now is not the time to relax our efforts however. X3D is just beginning to unleash the potential for standardized real-time 3D communication and so the Consortium is actively ramping up its X3D-based initiatives. The best is definitely yet to come. We invite any interested company to join the Consortium and help us explore the possibilities for this enabling International Standard." About X3D X3D forms the extensible technology foundation for the Consortium's market-focused standardization activities. X3D is a powerful open file format standard for 3D visual effects, behavioral modeling and interaction. X3D's XML-encoded scene graph enables 3D to be incorporated into web services architectures and distributed environments, which facilitates moving 3D data between applications. X3D's language-neutral Scene Authoring Interface (SAI) enables real time 3D content and controls to be easily integrated into a broad range of web and non-web applications. Standalone X3D browsers are shipping today from leading 3D browser companies including CRC, Media Machines, and Yumetech. About the Web3D Consortium The Web3D Consortium is a member-funded industry consortium committed to the creation and deployment of open, royalty-free standards that enable the communication of real-time 3D across applications, networks, and XML web services. The Consortium works closely with the ISO, MPEG and W3C standardization bodies to maximize market opportunities for its membership. All Consortium members are empowered to participate and vote in Consortium working groups and are able to accelerate the delivery of their cutting-edge 3D platforms and applications through access to specification drafts and conformance tests before public deployment. More information on the Consortium and Consortium membership is available at www.web3d.org. Contact Web3D Consortium Neil Trevett Tel: +1-408-464-7053 Email: neil.trevett@3dlabs.com Prepared by Robin Cover for The XML Cover Pages archive. See also "Web3D Consortium Forms Working Group to Develop X3D Binary File Format Encoding." General references in "VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) and X3D."