X3D working group goes open

X3D logo

The Web3D Consortium has just announced that its standardisation activities will now be open to the public, enabling non-members to participate in development of the specification at all stages rather than just during the public review prior to final approval.   There is still the opportunity for private discussion limited to consortium members for those concerned about commercial or other factors, but the overall emphasis is clearly on making this as open as possible.

X3D is an open ISO standard for representing information about computer generated 3D environments and objects.  Unlike its predecessor, Virtual Reality Modelling (or Markup) Language (VRML), X3D features integration with HTML, and extends the range of effects supported.  X3D is supported by some high profile systems such as the Blender design tool and Sun’s Project Wonderland.

At a time when closed, proprietary players such as Linden Labs are seeing large numbers of layoffs, with inevitable concern from Second Life’s active education community about the potential loss of a huge amount of work and resources should this trend continue, adopting an open approach to development seems a very sensible decision.

2 thoughts on “X3D working group goes open

  1. Hi,
    readers may be interested in the JISC LTIG COMSLIVE project we are running based on the Open Wonderland open source virtual worlds platform.

    http://comslive.health.bcu.ac.uk/

    This project looks at the scalability, connectivity, impact on learner experience and impact on learner behaviour aspects of an Open Wonderland virtual world designed to enhance communication and teamworking skills.
    All of the artwork we are creating as part of this project will be made available to the wider community and can be accessed from the project website. Our current research indicates a very positive impact on learner experience and real wolrd behaviour. There’s also more information about COMSLIVE on a recent virtual worlds watch blog entry.

    http://virtualworldwatch.net/
    Regards
    Nigel
    nigel.wynne@bcu.ac.uk

  2. Hello Nigel,

    Many thanks for highlighting this project – I came across it recently and it looks really exciting. I’ll follow up with a post specifically about it soon!

    Thanks,
    Rowin