There is currently a lot of speculation in the popular press regarding the ultimate forms and capabilities of Web 3.0. If the opinions of the companies likely to create and dominate Web 3.0 such as Google (Mountain View, CA; www.google.com) and Yahoo (Sunnyvale, CA; www.yahoo.com) are to be believed, the future is in 3D. But does that mean stereoscopic 3D or rendered 3D?

Art Berman
Insight Media Consultant

To start with, Web 3.0 is not yet a household word. Assuming this, it follows that Web 2.0 and Web 1.0 are also as unfamiliar. So, let’s explain these designations.

Web 1.0: Search is accomplished by browsers. Web pages are composed of interactive hypertext where the presentation (HTML), logic (web services application programming interface) and data (data models) are indistinguishable. Web 1.0 is dial-up with an average bandwidth of about 50K.

Web 2.0: Is based on an application programming interface driven web of services. In it, application logic has been separated from the presentation, logic and data pages of Web 1.0 which remain intermingled. Examples of Web 2.0 application profiles include: blogs (user-generated websites where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order), wikis (websites that allows visitors to add, remove, edit and change content), the use of Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML web development techniques used for creating interactive web applications) and mashups (websites or applications that combine content from more than one source into an integrated experience). Web 2.0 does not explicitly expose data models. Web 2.0 has an average 1 megabit of bandwidth.

Ever since the term Web 3.0 first appeared prominently in early 2006 in a blog article by Jeffrey Zeldman the term has been used to describe the decomposition of monolithic web pages into discrete components that include: presentation, logic and data. In other words, to transition web pages into web data. The emergence of Web 3.0 will simplify the development and deployment of data-model-driven composite applications that provide easy, transparent and organized access to the world’s data, information and knowledge. Web 3.0 will provide 10 megabits of bandwidth and support full video.

Since all this constitutes quite a mouth full, a somewhat more user friendly working definition of Web 3.0 is in order. Web 3.0 is a term that has been coined to describe the evolution of Web usage and interaction into a natural language database with the content accessible by multiple non-browser software applications and the use of artificial intelligence technologies and three-dimensional interaction and collaboration.

The last point takes us back to the starting point of this discussion.

A possible path for Web 3.0 is towards the open source, 3 dimensional vision such as that championed by the Web3D Consortium (Menlo Park, CA; www.web3D.org). This would involve rendering Web imagery in 3D. An early version of what such the Web might look like is the closed source concept realized by Second Life (Linden Lab, San Francisco; www.secondlife.com). Although this can be considered a step in the right direction and might open up new ways to connect and collaborate, we are still talking about 2D imagery in which the graphics have been rendered to have the appearance of depth, rather than stereoscopic 3D.

A vision of the Web in stereoscopic 3D might contain elements to be included by Eon Reality (Irvine, CA; www.eonreality.com) in their Eon Experience web site scheduled for launch in 2007.

The Eon Experience an online streaming service and library that allows users an interactive experience and the ability to share 3D content that has been uploaded by content providers, companies, academic institutions or members. The content of the library will be searchable using a tool called ISearch. The company’s web site describes ISearch as providing "a modular server based solution for search, management and distribution of large 3D digital asset repositories over the web. EON ISearch is an Interactive 3D Digital Exchange solution that facilitates an ecosystem for the digital media sector including Interactive Product Content Management, Simulation Based Learning, Rich Media Online Publishing and Augmented Tele Immersion". Once again, quite a mouthful, but…they are talking about some of the right things.

Web 3.0 is not yet an accomplished fact and its’ actual form, workings and capabilities are not yet determined. So, the question is, will Web 3.0 feature stereoscopic 3D or rendered 2D that looks like 3D? Given the early nature of this debate, now is a good time for all interested parties to think more carefully about the issues and to decide which interface might offer new and compelling way to navigate information. And, if stereoscopic 3D came to the Web en’mass, how might this create new opportunities for your business. Finally, I suggest you send your well reasoned ideas to the Web3D Consortium so they are fully informed of the technical and business needs of those within the user community that support the stereoscopic 3D point of view.