Open Standards for Real-Time 3D Communication

The X3D specification has been approved by the International Standards Organization (ISO) as International Standard ISO/IEC 19775 with formal publication expected in October 2004. This specification defines the core technical capabilities of the X3D runtime system and delivery mechanism for 3D content and applications running on a network. X3D supports several file format encodings and programming languages, providing unsurpassed interoperability for 3D data and significant flexibility in manipulating, communicating and displaying scenes in real time.
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The X3D Binary Format working group is chartered to develop both an encoding of X3D to enable advanced compression of 3D data to shorten the transmission time of models and scenes across a network and a data encryption scheme to protect sensitive model information. The working group is open to any member of the Web3D Consortium and has already received significant contributions, including patented, advanced geometry compression technology from Sun. X3D's binary format will be an open, royalty-free specification that is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2005.
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