3D Web Interoperability Working Group Vision
The Metaverse Standards Forum’s mission[1] is to foster and guide the development of interoperability standards that will drive the newly emerging spatial web. By providing a collaborative venue for stakeholders, the Forum enables knowledge exchange and the development of interoperable practices that support innovation across the metaverse ecosystem.
The work of the Forum is divided between member-driven Working Groups with specific expertise, experience and interests. The Forum’s 3D Web Interoperability Working Group aims to transform the web into a spatial, immersive realm that is seamless, efficient, engaging, safe and fun for all: ‘The World Wide Webiverse’.
Our goal is to run the open metaverse on the web
Our strategy is to influence the evolution of interoperable web standards
Our tactics include driving consensus through the generation and analysis of key use cases, and analysing gaps in the standardization landscape
Our priorities are seamless authoring and linking of experiences, and efficient client/server communication.
It has been an incredible first 18 months for the 3D Web Working Group, which has been diligently developing key guidelines and recommendations on how to position the web as the heart of the open metaverse. We are excited to share our progress with you!
The Power of the Open Web and Webiverse
With capable technologies already present throughout the web stack—from the user interface through to access to underlying silicon acceleration—this is an exciting time. The industry has the opportunity to chart a sustainable roadmap for evolving spatial web standards through education and cooperation.
Our motivating question is:
“Can we build the Metaverse on Web standards and technology?”
Our answer is ‘YES’!
The web is composed of multiple URL-addressable and linked interactive experiences called web pages.
Similarly, the metaverse will comprise multiple addressable and linked interactive and spatial experiences called virtual worlds.
It is important to recognize the enabling power of the open approach to the web, and its foundational design philosophy of building on a diversity of open standards. This is in contrast to a closed approach, relying on proprietary formats and protocols, that lacks the multiplicative networking benefit of a platform that is equally open to all. It has taken decades of creativity, time, and money to build the broad recognition that no single company owns the web or the metaverse.
The openness and scalability of the Web are well-known; indeed, we have seen decades of innovation in composing and delivering on-demand 2D and 3D content and media. Today, the web is omnipresent. Every address (URL/URI) is an entry point into a new data aspect (information space) composed of linked documents and composed API services. This transformative approach to related documents and information services of the web offers proven signposts for the future metaverse.
Thanks to bona fide Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) and open source communities worldwide, open technology solutions to design challenges almost always exist. The web and metaverse are emergent properties resulting from the compounding value of interoperability through proven conformance to standard specifications. Value and innovation happen on top of standards and within an ecosystem. These lessons are articulated and visible in technical communities and SDOs such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the Web3D Consortium, the Khronos Group, and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC).
Expanding the Web from 2D to 3D
In the modern Web, users can access rich information and multimedia from many sources, some closed and some open. For example, standards like SSO/OAUTH, enable users to surf across rich experiences and join with various identities across several different devices. With User Agents for the client, and content negotiation on the server side, the Web is moving from rich documents and MIME types to Web Services and WebApps.
As we move from the 2D to the 3D web, using URL/URIs, linked experiences can be composed and traversed dynamically. We explicitly refer to linked content and experiences, rather than ‘assets’ or files, which invoke the more traditional document-centric view. Mashups are a powerful feature of the Web where standards like HTML and X3D can be used to build multimedia experiences from distributed 3D models (e.g., glTF assets), images, video, and audio on the Web.
It is no small achievement to converge declarative and imperative standards, and now the Web provides the plumbing to work with stateful applications through URLs/URIs. Figure 1 shows how this transition from 2D web documents to 3D web apps can start today, with recognizable, shipping technologies.
Figure 1: The modern Web continuum from 2D addressable documents to data-driven, in-flight 3D content
As we build the standards for the Webiverse – there are still many vital aspects worthy of definition and debate. For example, what level of ‘Immersion’ is required for the metaverse? (very little). Or is it actually ‘Presence’ that matters? (yes). Is it a metaverse if there is only one person? (no, we believe that multiple users with ‘co-Presence’ is a necessary condition). These deep questions are important when considering who we are building the metaverse for and why.
As we enumerate the requirements of the metaverse, we can also take lessons from the shortcomings and failures of today’s web. Most notably, there are privacy and ethical concerns that we do not recreate the problems of Web 2.0, especially the security and privacy issues that vex companies, governments, and consumers alike.
Working Group Scope and Process
The Forum’s 3D Web Interoperability Working Group is focused on how to leverage and extend existing web standards to enable the metaverse, and is following a well-defined and rigorous process:
After our Working Group Charter was approved by the Forum Oversight Committee, we first developed a set of scenarios focused on the metaverse and the 3D Web. Together, these illustrate many user requirements: consistency of experience, portable personal content, metaverse bookmarks. We also considered use cases such as virtual field trips, and safety simulations.
We then conducted a Technology Pattern Inventory – examining current and emerging Web and interactive 3D Standards. We hosted guest speakers and presentations, including updates from the W3C, Web3D, Khronos, and MPEG standards organizations.
The last step was a Gap Analysis, which contrasted the requirements from our use cases, which led us to scope our first projects for the group’s work agenda and roadmap.
This work continues to evolve as Forum stakeholders and Working Group members bring their requirements and use cases to the cross-cutting perspective of web standards—that examines issues, themes, or problems across different domains, disciplines, and categories, rather than viewing them in isolation.
Working Group Roadmap
As the Working Group work continues, we will evolve and refine additional use cases from Forum members, feeding a user-centered design process that ensures we are solving industry-relevant problems. Specifically, our use cases illustrate the requirements by which we can evaluate evolving standards. For example:
Mechanisms to link and reference complete or partial virtual worldsProblem Statement: use cases demonstrate various ways to link virtual and physical worlds. How can we distinguish these modes and their requirements?
Functional profiles for metaverse applications – content interoperabilityProblem Statement: 3D scenes are built from various resources, from geometry and materials to lighting, sensors, and rich content models. How can we define levels of 3D functionality?
Role-based access and encryption of assetsProblem Statement: the metaverse must include capabilities for both network and data security. What standards and options govern these? What are their limitations? How does the metaverse infrastructure enable trust, ownership, previewing, and monetization?
3D User Agent investigationProblem Statement: a user agent is software that interprets a text string from a Web server on behalf of the user. What capabilities could be added to the user agent to enable an accessible metaverse?
Efficient delivery of 3D experiencesProblem Statement: how to review and evaluate the current solutions for delivering 3D assets and experiences (X3D, glTF, 3DTiles, USDz) and how to identify gaps and requirements.More detailed thinking on linking and sharing virtual worlds is explored by the Working Group in the next blog in this series “Linked Spatial Experiences: The Web of Worlds.”
Join us!
The Forum is open for any organization to join – we welcome your participation in the working group to explore and evolve Metaverse open standards for the 3D Web!
References
Metaverse Standards Forum Overview Presentationhttps://portal.metaverse-standards.org/document/dl/3321
