[X3D-Public] AR working group strategy draft; teleconference Thursday

[Don Brutzman]

We had a lot of discussions recently to continue describing a
comprehensive strategy for adding Augmented Reality (AR) capabilities
in X3D.  Here is a snapshot of many ideas proposed so far.
Feedback and improvements are welcome.

- Multiple AR nodes have been proposed and implemented for X3D
	by Fraunhofer team, Gerry's team and others
- Current technical work includes harmonizing these proposals
	for best fitting AR capabilities into X3D scenes
- This will be written up as an AR Component for the X3D Specification
- Establishing common implementations and examples is important to
	demonstrate successful interoperable capabilities for the spec
- Complementary work in HTML5/DOM, geospatial GpsSensor, and
	palettes for interactive scenes might be composed as
	a new Mobile Profile for X3D
- Heavyweight advanced capabilities for mixed reality, CAVEs etc.
	kept separate from Mobile but available in an AR Profile
- Continued collaboration and reaching out to W3C Augmented Reality
	Community Group, newly formed OGC ARML, Christine Perry's
	AR workshops and other arenas of interest
- ISO Standards Committee (SC24) which administers X3D review as an
	International Standard has established a new Working Group
	for Augmented and Mixed Reality
- Common goal remains maximum interoperability with all Web standards

Lots of discussions at Web3D Conference, SIGGRAPH and ISO meeting
continue to improve and refine this strategy.

On Thursday we will have an initial teleconference on the Web3D line
to continue articulating this AR strategy.  Anita and I hope to write
it up more thoroughly, perhaps drafting an announcement or flyer.
We want to hand that off to the X3D AR Working Group chairs for
further improvement, setting goal dates, and (most important)
establishing consensus among participants that the group is working
on the right issues.

Proposed first call on the Web3D conference line:
tomorrow, Thursday 0800 pacific, 1100 eastern, 1600 Germany.

Ongoing calls for the AR group are occurring at different times on
alternate weeks to best encourage engagement across all continents.

If we can get to clarity on such a larger strategy for AR in X3D,
it will help a lot as we reach out for common ground with other
standards groups.  We especially want to encourage new participants
to join this important effort.

There are a series of upcoming meetings where we hope to publicize
this proposed X3D AR Working Group strategy.
- OGC 3D Summit in Boulder Colorado, 19-23 September 2011
- Christine Perry AR workshop, Zurich Switzerland, 25-27 October
- W3C Tech Plenary and Advisory Committee (TPAC) meeting, San Jose,
	31 October - 4 November
- ISO JTC 1 - standards committee leadership meeting, San Diego CA,
	7-10 November
- any others?

Looking forward to further collaboration and improvement.  Thanks
for considering the possibilities and hopefully engaging as a player!

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, virtual worlds, underwater robots     http://faculty.nps.edu/brutzman