[x3d-public] X3D4 Working Group minutes, 21 OCT 2022: discuss possible Avatar strategy

Fri Oct 21 10:30:23 PDT 2022

[Corrected erroneous agenda date: today is Friday 21 October 2022]

Attendees: Bill Benman, William Glascoe, Anita Havele, Nicholas Polys, Dick
Puk, Don Brutzman.

1.	Web3D 2022 Conference, in-person and online registration available

*	Web3D 2022 from 2-4 November 2022 Evry (Paris), France. The
conference is a hybrid event - on-line and in-person. Don't miss this
opportunity to learn more about applications and research trends of 3D on
the Web! This year's theme is "The Metaverse" with emphasize on the
interoperability of interactive 3D worlds. Keynote speakers: Marc Petit,
Epic Games, Nicholas Polys, Web3D Consortium, and Dr. Michael Zyda, Founding
Director of USC's Computer Science Games Program along with presentations
from other industry leaders and visionaries. Conference Highlights: Keynote
Speakers, Papers, Posters, Tutorials, Workshops, Panel Session and more.
*	https://www.web3d.org/news-story/web3d-2022-registration-open
*	https://web3d.siggraph.org

Keynote speakers are especially great:

*	Web3D 2022 Conference is nearly here!  2-4 Novembre 2022 in Paris
*	https://web3d.siggraph.org/#keynote
*	Marc Petit - VP, Unreal Engine -  Epic Games
*	As VP of the Unreal Engine Ecosystem, Marc oversees the growth of
Epic Games' Unreal Engine business into all markets including game
development but also film, television, AEC and manufacturing. Prior to
joining Epic Games in mid-2016, Marc was a partner and
Entrepreneur-In-Residence at XPND Capital, a Montreal-based investment fund
where he co-founded and launched Taxelco, a sustainable urban transportation
company.
*	Dr. Nicholas Polys -  President, Web3D Consortium 
*	Nicholas F. Polys is Director of Visual Computing with Virginia Tech
Research Computing Group and Affiliate Research Professor in the Department
of Computer Science. He has developed interactive 3D graphic content and
systems for over 24 years. His research interests lie at the center of
graphics and Human Computer Interaction: the intersection of visualization,
virtual environments, and perception.
*	Dr. Michael Zyda -  Founding Director of USC's Computer Science
Games Program
*	Michael Zyda is a Professor of Engineering Practice and was the
Founding Director of USC's Computer Science Games Program in the USC
Department of Computer Science. At USC, he founded the Computer Science
Games Program and the year-long advanced game projects course that forms the
core of USC Games and took that program from no program to the #1 Games
program in the world. That program has been rated #1 by the Princeton Review
for ten of the last eleven years.

2.	X3D4 international balloting continues.  Yesterday Web3D Consortium
voted at INCITS.

*	As a voting member of U.S. National Standards Body @INCITS and a
Class A Liaison at @isostandards, the @Web3DConsortium is happy to vote for
approving and advancing #X3D 4.0 Architecture as a Draft International
Standard (DIS).
*	https://twitter.com/Web3DConsortium/status/1582763030563069952
*
https://twitter.com/Web3DConsortium/status/1582763030563069952/photo/1
*	https://web3d.org/x3d4

3.	Avatar discussion: we had a lively talk together, plenty of thought
that people are thinking.  Also reviewed (and exponentially expanded!)
possible paths for X3D Working Group.

(draft) Avatar Strategy: Open, Interoperable, Personal, Secure, Diverse

Perhaps not one-size-fits-all standardized definition for an explicit
"Avatar" node is provided in X3D4 and Humanoid Animation, but please let's
be clear.

*	We Can Do It!!  Complete flexibility is already available in X3D for
anyone to display whatever kind of avatar they want in 3D virtual
environments.
*	A tremendous range of alternatives are possible, the "X" in "X3D" is
Extensible.  Vive la difference!
*	The Humanoid Animation (HAnim) Standard lets an avatar vary from any
kind of character (8 arms, whatever) to medically accurate human skeletons.
*	Realism is interesting but actually optional, relating to the user
context.  Realistic clothes are difficult (soft-body physics) and super
valuable, for one example.
*	Clothing and fashion are not fantasy role playing. or are they?!?!
*	Levels of Articulation (LOA) and (proposed) Levels of Expression
(LOE) are powerful ways to scale up fidelity with consistent-subset
fidelity.
*	Multiple powerful Web3D X3D VRML compatible avatar designs to date:

*	3DMD https://3dmd.com
*	Silhouette Avatars by IVN, https://ivn.net
*	Cybertown https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyberTown 
*	BitManagement Avatar Studio
https://www.bitmanagement.com/en/press/avatar-web
*	VCom3D humans for sign language and training, https://vcom3d.com
*	Body scanning: Size Stream  https://sizestream.com and TC2
https://www.tc2.com
*
https://www.donmccurdy.com/2017/11/06/creating-animated-gltf-characters-with
-mixamo-and-blender
*
https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/film-games/key-rigging-terms-get-moving
*	https://iaspace.zhdk.ch/wiki/blender-and-makehuman
*	Many many many (uh, many manys) more. we should spin off this list,
who wants to create a page?

*	Metadata for identity, authentication for secure digital signature,
and strong privacy of some data by encryption is possible.

*	Composing 3D scans and motion-capture (mocap) data for full avatar
realism remains both tedious and really interesting.  Can our alignment of
HAnimMotion node with BVH greatly simplify that heavy-duty process?

*	Can we repurpose and retarget such data?  Sure, interesting progress
continues on this challenge.
*	X3D includes multiple levels of detail (LOD) if progressive avatar
fidelity desired, this is essential for hugely scalable worlds.
*	Some of the first avatars ever were first shared using Virtual
Reality Modeling Language over two decades ago.
*	The VRML97 Duck exemplified "if it walks like a duck, and talks like
a duck, and acts like a duck, then maybe it is a duck."
*	Education will be important, much variation is still going on.
*	Digital Twin technologies are maturing with growing relevance

*	As best practices for avatar data structures can encourage
interoperability and interaction that users want, we can show and test it.

X3D Working Group intends to demonstrate whatever avatar definitions might
emerge and get agreed upon by Metaverse Standards Forum (MSF).  We expect to
follow our usual best practices to show full matching Implementation and
Evaluation using X3D.  Comparing approaches and learning further what avatar
designs work well is very informative.

No big decisions today. just thinking about X3D Working Group and community
strategies for going forward.

Wow, so many ideas!!  All responses welcome, of course.  Also hoping that
this growing list helps advance dialog in Paris at Web3D 2022 Conference.

Looking into farther future: as ever, thinking about what new technology
might go into an X3D4.1 is based on ideas by Web3D Consortium members and
community, recommendations by X3D Working Group based on Implementation and
Evaluation, and eventually review and approval by Web3D Consortium Board of
Directors (BoD) prior to submission to International Standards Organization
(ISO).

No member-only restricted information is included in these minutes.

Laissez les bons temps rouler, tout le monde.  Have fun with X3D, Human
Animation and Avatars!  8)

all the best, Don

-- 

Don Brutzman  Naval Postgraduate School, Code USW/Br        brutzman at nps.edu

Watkins 270,  MOVES Institute, Monterey CA 93943-5000 USA    +1.831.656.2149

X3D graphics, virtual worlds, Navy robotics https://
faculty.nps.edu/brutzman

From: Brutzman, Donald (Don) (CIV) <brutzman at nps.edu> 
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2022 9:45 AM
To: X3D Public Mailing List (x3d-public at web3d.org) <x3d-public at web3d.org>;
h-anim at web3d.org
Cc: consortium at web3d.org; bod at web3d.org; Brutzman, Donald (Don) (CIV)
<brutzman at nps.edu>
Subject: X3D4 Working Group agenda, 20 OCT 2022: discuss possible Avatar
strategy

X3D Working Group meets weekly for continued advancement of the X3D4
Specifications.

*	Meeting time 09-1000 pacific, each Friday
*
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81634670698?pwd=a1VPeU5tN01rc21Oa3hScUlHK0Rxdz09 
*	https://zoom.us/j/148206572  Password 483805 
*	https://www.web3d.org/member/teleconference-information

Here is a "new" proposed strategy, trying to say crisply the many essential
ideas that are well known already by active participants in the X3D
community.

(draft) Avatar Strategy: Open, Interoperable, Personal, Secure

No standardized definition for "avatars" is provided in X3D4, but.

*	Many alternatives are possible, the "X" in "X3D" is Extensible. Vive
la difference!
*	X3D includes multiple levels of detail (LOD) if progressive avatar
fidelity desired, this is essential for hugely scalable worlds.
*	Most powerful Web3D example design to date:  Silhouette Avatars by
IVN, https://ivn.net
*	Metadata for identity, secure digital signature and even encryption
is possible.

*	Composing 3D scans and motion-capture (mocap) data for full avatar
realism remains really interesting!  Interesting progress continues on this
challenge.

X3D Working Group intends to demonstrate whatever avatar definitions are
agreed upon by Metaverse Standards Forum.  We expect to show full matching
Implementation and Evaluation using X3D, learning further what avatar
designs work well.

Let's discuss please.  All inputs and discussion welcome.

Corresponding Web3D member-only draft slideset available at

*	Representing Metaverse Humans with Open Standards
*	Humanoid Animation (HAnim) and X3D4 ISO Specification Support
*	Web3D Consortium Communications Team
*
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13yAhoU9h7Buy5fUjSpPoOHYVJ6dgJDYulDS9
Ze8na4M/edit#slide=id.p

Membership has value!

*	Join the Web3D Consortium
*	The Web3D Consortium is a non-profit group open to industry,
academic, government and individual members.
*	https://www.web3d.org/join

Have fun with X3D, Human Animation and Avatars!  8)

all the best, Don

-- 

Don Brutzman  Naval Postgraduate School, Code USW/Br        brutzman at nps.edu
<mailto:brutzman at nps.edu> 

Watkins 270,  MOVES Institute, Monterey CA 93943-5000 USA    +1.831.656.2149

X3D graphics, virtual worlds, Navy robotics https://
faculty.nps.edu/brutzman

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