Web3D Consortium Announces X3D 4.0 ISO/IEC Standardization for Publishing 3D on the Web

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Submitted by anita.havele on Wed, 2024-02-21 12:12
The X3D® version 4.0 specification is now ratified by ISO/IEC as an international standard. This latest version continues the tradition of interoperability, long-term stability, and royalty-free use while providing powerful new graphics and multimedia capabilities. The Web3D® Consortium's X3D 4.0 spans a cross-platform ecosystem, including other standards such as GLTF, HTML, MIDI and WebAudio for interactive, composable worlds on the Web.

SALINAS, Calif., March 18, 2024 (Press release: Newswire.com) - 

The Web3D® Consortium is pleased to announce the ISO/IEC publication of a new version of Extensible 3D (X3D®).
The X3D® version 4 (X3D4) Architecture Specification is a major upgrade to the Extensible 3D (X3D) Graphics International Standard that provides a slew of new features and functionality including: HTML integration, glTF and Physically Based Rendering (PBR), Web Audio API, and MIDI 2.0, along with numerous other features. Humanoid Animation 2.0 (HAnim2) is also fully supported, including BVH-style motion animation. This effort was driven by the X3D Graphics Working Group with many contributions from multiple Web3D Consortium working groups and community outreach. All Web3D standards are royalty-free for any use and publicly available.
 
X3D 4.0 is an open, royalty-free ISO standard for 3D graphics on the Web. It is built on techniques advanced by Web3D members and implemented in several open source engines. For example, the HTML5+Javascript engines X3DOM and X_ITE demonstrate advanced Web integration features between X3D and HTML5. For installed and custom-built application engines, CGE and Freewrl stand out as capable platforms. 
 
The X3D 4.0, provides a fully interactive and scalable environment that is compatible with existing Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) and X3D scenes built as early as 1997, providing interoperability with long-term archival stability, compatible and integrated with HTML and web methodologies. 
 
Dr. Johannes Behr, originator and lead of the X3DOM project, said, “X3D was always for the web, but the plugin integration model was limited,”  “Recent advances in W3C technologies allow more complete integration. The X3D scene graph is now part of the web page, which enables web authors to operate on 3D scene elements directly.”
 
Dr. Don Brutzman, co-chair of the X3D Working Group, said, “For thirty years, putting scalable 3D on the Web has been challenging. We have steadily progressed step-by-step to expose 3D interaction as the Web has evolved. Now authors, companies and organizations can publish any 3D content they like, without barriers, using X3D version 4. Forward-looking innovators can gain serious new advantages.”
 
Dr. Richard Puk, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC 24/WG 6 Convenor,  welcomes the completion of the 4th Version of X3D and said,  "X3D and its predecessor VRML, have shown that it is possible to develop International Standards for Computer Graphics that are fully backwards compatible and widely supported for over 25 years. Thanks are extended to the Web3D Consortium and the many talented technical experts who have worked on the development of this technology".
 
We encourage you to take advantage of these new capabilities and support X3D4! The Web3D working groups invite participation from developers and the 3D community in this important effort. Join us as we continue to build technologies that provide for the interoperability of interactive 3D worlds to enable an open, immersive platform for the Web using Web3D and W3C standard formats and APIs. 
 
About Us:
The Web3D Consortium is a member-driven and funded industry consortium involved in many technical initiatives and workflows across the 3D value chain. The Web3D Consortium is 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. More information on Web3D and Consortium membership is available at http://www.web3d.org.
 

Contact Information:

Anita Havele, Executive Director, Web3D Consortium133 Lorimer Street, Salinas, CA. 93901 USAPhone: 248 342 7662  Email: anita.havele (at) web3d.org

Press Release: 
Yes
Release Date: 
Mon, 2024-02-12