How Web of Worlds, X3D/Web3D, and the Metaverse Standards Forum Tie Together

Web of Worlds sets the spatial ‑ web vision, X3D/Web3D provides the open 3D standard to build it, and the Metaverse StandardsBg Forum coordinates the broader ecosystem so everything interoperates across platforms and industries. 

​X‑Ite, X3DOM, and the Castle Game Engine — three tools that all deal with X3D. Together, they form a complete ecosystem for 3D Web visualization.

Blender, the powerful open-source 3D creation suite, offers robust capabilities for creating, manipulating, and exporting 3D content in various formats. X3D (Extensible 3D) is an ISO standard XML-based file format for representing 3D computer graphics. This blog explores how to effectively use Blender with X3D, enabling you to create immersive 3D content for web applications, virtual reality, and more.

What is X3D?

The 3D web is entering a new era—one defined by openness, interoperability, and immersive experiences that run everywhere. At the center of this evolution stands X3D Version 4, the latest generation of the ISO‑standardized framework for declarative 3D graphics.

The 3D web has evolved from experimental to a mature ecosystem powering cultural heritage, e‑commerce, scientific visualization, digital twins, and immersive storytelling. At the heart of this transformation are three foundational technologies: WebGL, glTF, and X3D. Each plays a distinct role—one is a rendering engine, one is a content format, and one is a full declarative standard for interactive 3D scenes. See comparison table below. 

There is great excitement around the development of new features and formats, from glTF 2.0 to X3D 4.0. This blog provides a high-level view of the leading open formats and how and why they should be used together.

See glTF + X3D integration on WebGL examples: