INDUSTRY

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- Intel Corporation today established the CAD (Computer Aided Design) 3-D Working Group to define, develop and deploy a common format to represent 3-D images on the Web. The working group, which is part of the Web3D Consortium, includes members from various segments of the 3-D graphics industry, including CAD software vendors, CAD users, digital content creators and industry standards bodies. Creating 3-D standards for the Web is expected to reduce the time and cost associated with developing and publishing 3-D content for the Web, while providing CAD tool users a more effective means to collaborate and share data for design, marketing and manufacturing applications. "We believe that removing the barriers to proliferation of 3-D data is a critical next step in offering a richer experience for people on the Internet," said Patrick Gelsinger, Intel vice president and chief technology officer. "The absence of a flexible, standard 3-D format represents one of those key barriers. By working with industry leaders and graphics experts, we plan to create a format that will do for 3-D on the Web what the JPEG format did for digital photography on the desktop." There are multiple formats for viewing 3-D on the Web, which make it difficult for companies to use 3-D content. Creating Web 3-D content is also too costly for businesses to justify using it on their Web sites. This lack of content has slowed the pace of innovation and adoption of 3-D on the Web. The majority of 3-D data today is created in CAD applications, which is why the working group is initially concentrating its efforts on providing greater and more effective access to that data. In addition to Intel, the CAD 3-D Working Group members are 3Dlabs Inc., Actify Inc., Adobe Systems Inc., ATI Technologies Inc., The Boeing Company, Dassault Systemes, i3Dimensions Inc., Lattice Technology Inc., Microsoft Corporation, mental images GmbH & Co. KG, Naval Postgraduate School, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Parallel Graphics Limited (ParallelGraphics), SGDL Systems Inc. and Tech Soft America/OpenHSF. The working group expects to complete its initial standards development effort in about 18 months. In forming this working group, Intel is also joining the Web3D Consortium, a forum for the creation of open standards for Web 3-D specifications. The Web3D Consortium includes a number of working groups that focus on specific projects. For more information on the Web3D Consortium, visit http://www.web3d.org/.