| Q&A |
Web3D Symposium
10th International Conference on 3D
Web Technology
March 29 - April 1 2005, Bangor, U.K.
Nigel
W. John
co-chair for the Web 3D 2005 Symposium
05 feb. 2005 |
| Q1 |
What
is the purpose of the Web3D 2005 Symposium? |
| A1 |
The
annual Web3D Symposium is the premiere event in the Web3D
community, uniting researchers, developers, experimenters
and content creators in a dynamic learning environment. Attendees
share and explore methods of using, enhancing or creating
new 3D web technology such as X3D, VRML, MPEG4, OpenHSF, and
Java3D. |
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| Q2 |
What
are the main events of the forthcoming Symposium? |
| A2 |
This
year the Web3D community attains a significant landmark, the
10th conference in the series. The event returns to Europe,
and for the first time will be hosted in Wales (UK). The main
conference themes will be education and training, mobile applications
and medical. We have high quality papers presenting new research
in these areas. Martin Reddy of Pixar is an invited key note
speaker, and he will be talking on 3D Graphics and the Film
Production Pipeline. We also have a fascinating medical session
in which three practicing clinicians will speak about the benefits
that can be obtained through the use of Web3D tools in their
field. The Web3D Medical Working group will then respond with
the latest news on the technology road map that is being implemented
with the goal of integrating Web3D into medical applications.
As always, we will also have a series of tutorials from world
leading experts covering X3D, SVG, Java3D and more. |
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| Q3 |
Will
it be possible to see concrete web3D applications in the fields
of industry, e-learning, architecture...? |
| A3 |
The
paper presentations cover a wide spectrum of Web3D applications
and will provide an excellent opportunity to see demonstrations
of the current state-of-the-art. Also, not to be missed is the
Web3D Showcase. This event provides the opportunity for all
delegates to demonstrate their Web3D content in a lively and
fun environment, with prizes awarded by the audience for the
best presentations. As ever, the Web3D Showcase will be hosted
by Sandy Ressler of NIST. The Web3DArt 2005 show will be a part
of the Symposium too. |
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| Q4 |
What
is the profile of the expected participants ? |
| A4 |
The
event attracts a good mix of professionals from both industry
and the university sector. Most of the key individuals who lead
Web3D developments will be here. The excellent tutorial programme
will also attract delegates from many local high tech companies,
where they can interact with and learn new skills from world-leading
experts. |
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| Q5 |
What
are the links between University Research and the Web3D Consortium? |
| A5 |
Much
of the work of the Web3D Consortium relies on the work of volunteers.
University research is well placed to provide some of this resource
and to prototype and develop ideas for the use and extension
of Web3D technology. Research results can then be fed into the
Web3D consortium and become part of the standardisation process. |
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| Q6 |
What
is the current status of X3D implementation in MPEG4 standard? |
| A6 |
<This
is a question that you should ask the MPEG4 Group. This is my
take>
The MPEG4 standard takes most of its concepts for a 3D scene
graph from VRML, but it adds many more nodes including 2D nodes
and human animation nodes. The X3D standard has been developing
in parallel with MPEG4, but not in isolation. For example, there
has been coordination between the HANIM (Humanoid Animation)
working group of the Web3D Consortium, and the Body Animation
Parameters (BAPs) of MPEG4. As the two standards evolve, we
are already seeing tools available such as the Octaga Player
that can display content from both X3D and MPEG4. |
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| Q7 |
Web3D
consortium is focused on X3D, VRML, MPEG4, OpenHSF, and Java3D.
What are links between all those technologies? |
| A7 |
The
link is that they all enable interactive 3D graphics to be efficiently
delivered across the internet. The concept of having applications
and tools available at any place and at any time is made possible
by all of these technologies. |
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| Q8 |
Is
the Consortium involved in new markets such as Realtime 3D on
embedded devices (Smartphones, PDA), Realtime 3D film rendering? |
| A8 |
<This
is something that I am not involved with, but I'll provide my
view>
There
is great interest in the delivery of Web3D to devices such as
smartphones and PDAs. There is currently much discussion within
the community on how to do this, and you will see papers presented
at Web3D 2005 on this topic. |
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