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Speakers from Sun Microsystems and US Navy to keynote Web3D 2004 Symposium
Press Contact: Rita Turkowski
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Ninth International Conference gives first look at development work on X3D-based standards that deliver 3D Web technology into new vertical market opportunities
March 31, 2004 - Monterey, California - The Web3D Consortium today announced that Doug Twilleager, Senior Manager of Graphics & Media and Chief Architect of Game Technologies Group at Sun Microsystems, and Captain Chris Gunderson, Commanding Officer of the US Navy’s Fleet Numerical Oceanographic & Meteorological Center (FNMOC) will be the keynote speakers for the Ninth Annual Web3D Symposium at the Monterey Marriott Hotel in Monterey, California on April 5-8 2004. The Web3D Symposium is held in conjunction with ACM Siggraph and is the premiere event in the Web3D community; annually uniting researchers, developers, experimenters and content creators in a dynamic learning environment. The outstanding technical program is designed for anyone that wants to share and explore methods of using, enhancing or creating new 3D web technologies such as X3D, VRML, MPEG-4, OpenHSF, and Java3D.
“Sun has been a pioneer in networking, 3D graphics and open standards for many years, and we have significant synergy with the Web3D Consortium. As such, we will work to make sure that X3D, the next generation of VRML, has implementations that utilize and leverage Java technologies,” said Mr. Twilleager. “We will continue our work with the Web3D Consortium to share our vision for the future of 3D.”
“The U.S. Navy’s supercomputing center expects to stream 3D views of atmospheric and underwater weather to deployed desktops around the world. The standards being developed by the Web3D Consortium, such as interactive X3D graphics and XMSF Web Services, are enabling us to connect an important new set of customers and help make this vision possible,” said Captain Gunderson.
The Web3D 2004 Symposium is organized as two days of detailed tutorials, followed by two days of keynote, papers and exhibits. For more information please go to http://www.web3d.org/s2004/.
The Symposium will include updates from Web3D Consortium Working Groups developing X3D-based standards to create vertical market opportunities for the 3D graphics industry. These working groups include:
- The CADistiller format which enables complex 3D CAD data to be simplified and seamlessly integrated into common desktop applications to increase productivity, cut costs and generate new revenue streams.
- The MedX3D format which represents human anatomy based on a wide variety of imaging modalities and enables physicians and students to view and use that data on standard PCs.
- The Web3D-MPEG working group which successfully integrated the X3D Interactive Profile into MPEG-4 to enable state-of-the-art 3D graphics in diverse network and broadcast applications.
- XMSF (Extensible Modeling & Simulation Framework) which integrates simulation frameworks with XML and X3D to enable sophisticated, web-based, distributed visual simulations.
- The X3D Programmable Shaders working group which is integrating hardware-accelerated programmable shaders into X3D, enabling breakthrough performance, unprecedented photorealism and stunning visual effects anywhere that X3D is used.
About X3D
X3D forms the technology foundation for the Consortium�s market-focused standardization activities. X3D is a powerful and extensible open file format standard for 3D visual effects, behavioral modeling and interaction. It provides an XML-encoded scene graph and a language-neutral Scene Authoring Interface (SAI). The XML encoding enables 3D to be incorporated into web services architectures and distributed environments, and facilitates moving 3D data between applications. The SAI enable real time 3D content and controls to be easily integrated into a broad range of web and non-web applications. X3D browsers are shipping today from leading 3D browser companies including CRC, Media Machines, and Yumetech.
About the Web3D Consortium
The Web3D Consortium is a member-funded industry consortium 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. The Consortium works closely with the ISO, MPEG and W3C standardization bodies to maximize market opportunities for its membership. All Consortium members are empowered to vote at various stages before public deployment, and are able to accelerate the delivery of their cutting-edge 3D platforms and applications through early access to specification drafts and conformance tests. More information on the Consortium and Consortium membership is available at http://www.web3d.org.
VRML and X3D are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Web3D Consortium. All other trademarks and registered trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.