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Apple proposes adding "model" element to HTML that displays 3D content

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Re: Apple proposes adding "model" element to HTML that displays 3D content

#141
models are heavy though. imagine sketchfab with models instead of images, is that so useful?

Isn't model loading/viewing supported by webXR? currently it seems webXR requires a lot of boilerplate to get it to work, it would be nice to have a simpler way to setup a 3d scene , and html tags should follow.

Also , limiting the functionality to 3d models seems odd, how about 360 panoramas, and what about animation?

Re: Apple proposes adding "model" element to HTML that displays 3D content

#144
post #89

My initial reaction to this was "just use WebGL", but they've made a pretty compelling case as to why that's not ideal: > Consider a browser or web-view being displayed in Augmented Reality. The developer wants to show a 3D model in the page. In order for the model to look accurate, it must be rendered from the viewpoint of the user - otherwise it is a flat rendering of a three-dimensional image with incorrect perspe…

> Consider a browser or web-view being displayed in Augmented Reality Feels like Apple is working on something that needs this.

Related history, came about from Apple's Dashboard in 10.4

Re: Apple proposes adding "model" element to HTML that displays 3D content

#145
post #14

I don't understand why a 3D geometry model would best be called simply "model" in the context of HTML. The term "model" is a pretty generic term that's very relevant to HTML, already used heavily in Web frameworks, etc.

would be nice.

Re: Apple proposes adding "model" element to HTML that displays 3D content

#146
post #118
post #89

My initial reaction to this was "just use WebGL", but they've made a pretty compelling case as to why that's not ideal: > Consider a browser or web-view being displayed in Augmented Reality. The developer wants to show a 3D model in the page. In order for the model to look accurate, it must be rendered from the viewpoint of the user - otherwise it is a flat rendering of a three-dimensional image with incorrect perspe…

I don't understand why passing a new view matrix to webGL is such a security risk or why that needs to be shared with he site owner. I also think a window with a dynamic view matrix would make more sense in certain cases. Some techniques work when rendered to a surface that would not work in VR, ie screen space effects.

It’s not exactly eye tracking, but you know some advertisers are going to use it to make ads that turn to point directly at you.

But I’m not sure the proposed tag is a good idea either. I have not used VR but I think it might be a good thing if web browsers in VR stay flat and can’t take over the space in front or behind them?

Re: Apple proposes adding "model" element to HTML that displays 3D content

#147
post #8

WebGL exists, why do we need a budget restricted version of a model viewer in the browser? None of the motivations are at all convincing. Should browsers now be obliged to integrate with VR headsets?

There are many developers, especially those just getting into the field, that don’t understand how to work with WebGL. WebGL is a great fallback if you need/want more control, but having basic support for 3D elements is a great idea for someone that just wants to show it off.

Re: Apple proposes adding "model" element to HTML that displays 3D content

#148

Based on the comments so far, I think I'm in the minority who think this would be a good feature for the web. This proposal might not be perfect, but I think the idea is great. There's lots of good reasons to semantically want to embed a 3d model in a page, like any other type of media. Say you're writing a course explaining how differential gears work - a 3d model of that could be really handy to look at to learn. A…

My first thought was "this probably wouldn't work for games, and other uses of embedded 3D content are pretty niche"

But then I thought, maybe they're niche because something like this doesn't already exist

Re: Apple proposes adding "model" element to HTML that displays 3D content

#149
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3D models are very variable: some are defined with just triangles, some include quads, some are NURBS or subdivision surfaces. Sometimes two sides per polygon are considered, sometimes just one. Ways of navigating a 3D model also vary wildly. Sometimes you just want to pivot/rotate them around a little, but sometimes "walking" inside them makes more sense. Then there are materials and lights, and here people go wild…

Seems like there's a reasonable parallel here with video content. Before native video, video was always in a flash player, and that was good enough for a lot of people— it was proprietary of course, and it it required a plugin. But it worked. Now with native video, there are still precious few instances where it's just the browser's native video widget. In basically all serious commercial scenarios, there's at least…

My understanding is that a lot of the "custom" players out there today are lightly-skinned tags. Custom controls are a very small part of what it means to make a video player
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