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<p>Last week I read an article from _Communications of the ACM_
titled "Preserving Hybrid Objects". This is from the May 2016
issue. You can access the teaser online at <a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2016/5/201601-preserving-hybrid-objects/abstract">http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2016/5/201601-preserving-hybrid-objects/abstract</a>.
If you are an ACM member with Digital Library access you can read
the whole thing.</p>
<p>The article discusses what is meant by preserving an object.
[Side note: a couple of examples cited in the text use VRML.] The
discussion is mostly about art, but to some extent it applies to
anything you are trying to preserve / archive. The examples cited
in the text all take inputs from the Internet and generate results
(appearance) based on those. These include stock prices, images
uploaded to Flickr, and other data sources.</p>
<p>The author is trying to determine what is necessary to preserve
an object. Is it strictly the code that generates the display? Is
it the code plus data? How do you account for the time-varying and
(separately) 3D nature of the displays?</p>
<p>He does not come to a resolution but does ask a lot of questions.
One question that I derived from the article is</p>
<p> "What do we mean by X3D is archivable."</p>
<p>Does that mean:<br>
* the data that generates a particular display needs to be saved?<br>
* the process of saving X3D files archives everything needed for
the display?<br>
* how do you archive a particular user's experience interacting
with the display?<br>
* only the code that is capable of generating the display is
archivable?<br>
* is there a difference between archiving code and data for the
display of scientific work (e.g., CT scan) vs. the display of art?</p>
<p>Since the X3D file is not itself capable of generating and
managing a display, how important is it to have a program that
does so? Are there archivability requirements on that software?</p>
<p>I feel that these questions are important because the X3D WG (and
others) are trying to figure out what it means to be archivable in
an HTML environment.<br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
<font class="tahoma,arial,helvetica san serif" color="#333366">
<font size="+1"><b>Leonard Daly</b></font><br>
3D Systems & Cloud Consultant<br>
LA ACM SIGGRAPH Chair<br>
President, Daly Realism - <i>Creating the Future</i>
</font></div>
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