X3D Standards Working Group

The Extensible 3D (X3D) Standards Working Group forms the core of the working groups within the Web3D Consortium. It is responsible for the development of specification of core technologies for the X3D suite of Specifications, and the integration of the specifications for non-core technologies and coordinating the technical aspects of all Web3D working group efforts. The X3D Graphics Standards: Specification Relationships graphic nicely illustrates the interaction and relationships between the various X3D specifications.

Standards editors typically meet every Friday from 09-10:00 AM pacific (see Web3D Calendar). Discussions occur on the x3d-public and X3D (member-only) mailing lists.

Current work includes X3D working with HTML5 and other Web standards to support Metaverse Standards Forum (MSF) future capabilities defined by the 3D Web Interoperability Working Group.

Interest in augmented reality, improvements in audio and visual fidelity, and new encodings including JSON and streaming binary are driving the development of the next revision of the standard. The Working Group is always happy to welcome people who want to help with the many technical challenges building out the X3D standards.

The wide-spread adoption of WebGL in all browsers now has advanced X3D rendering aligned with future developments. The new generation of X3D4 can be embedded in the browser and support full interaction with the web page. X3D4 includes all of the features of earlier generations of X3D while compatibly adding new rendering, interaction, and device support.  All X3D4 capabilities can run in standalone applications, be imported/exported from other tools, and run in your Web browser, whether it is on your desktop, a tablet, a large CAVE display or in your phone.

Activities

• Integrating X3D into HTML/DOM web pages for X3D version 4 and achieving other improvements such as advanced glTF rendering and spatial audio.
• Develop the specifications and manage the Web3D/ISO processes for the X3D International Standards.
• The Working Group meets every week to discuss, develop, and approve the current topics. These include reviewing new technologies, integration of submitted technologies, and interfacing with external organizations for X3D.
• Encourage tool updates and content validation for all forms of X3D4.
• Apply various techniques to achieve goals listed in Call for Contributions for Compressed Binary Encoding for X3D.

History

The X3D Working Group was formed in 1999 to handle new technology updates and shortcomings in VRML97 International Standard (IS). It produced X3D V3.0, an evolutionary progression from VRML97, in 2003 as an ISO Specification (ISO/IEC 19775-1). The intiial document is the abstract description of capabilities. It was followed by X3D's API - Scene Access Interface (SAI), three encodings (ClassicVRML, XML, and Compressed Binary), and two SAI language bindings (JavaScript and Java). In June 2024 the working group name was changed to X3D Standards. 

Just like X3D4, X3D V3.3 was also completed and formalized following the procedures of the International Standards Organization (ISO). It contained significant enhancements and capabilities from the original V3.0, including shaders, geospatial handling, 3D volume rendering, and 2D geometry.

The X3D standards currently comprise the following documents, with work on further adaptations in progress.