In a comment on my last blog post I mentioned that:
“I have a vision of something which basically *is* the web, but in 3D. In fact, I think the user should be able to choose how they wish to view a given web resource – in plain text, 2D shapes, 3D shapes, simulated speech etc. This can be done with content negotiation in HTTP. The same resource could be rendered by lots of different devices, from a light switch to a 3D headset.”
I then found the Metaverse Roadmap, a “public ten-year forecast and visioning survey of 3D Web technologies”. They have a wiki where you can input your thoughts. I was going to add my own vision statement about how the 3D web could just be one mode of interaction with a multimodal web (as mentioned above). I found this vision statement which is a similar idea:
“The world will be the metaverse. People often think of Stephenson’s metaverse as an “other” place, and the web as a window onto cyberspace, but as Paul Saffo and Mike Liebhold of Institute for the Future note, the best model for the metaverse of 2016 may be an information-drenched world, where the 3D web is just one particular instantiation. Mixed reality is likely to be the dominant user experience. You will use virtual worlds when they are an appropriate mode of interaction, but they are not your primary mode of communication – you have your chat, your email, your augmented reality, your 2D and 3D browser, etc. While people will continue to use online spaces and media centers for particularly high quality 3D content, the pervasiveness of information access and augmented reality will give world itself new layers of “metaverse-itivity.” The ubiquity of small, portable Sidekick-like and wearable devices will enable immediate access. Voice will be used for many basic queries, but text, even IM text, is private and unobtrusive, so it will not disappear.”
Someone also mentions the need for a new type of browser which will allow us to access “all our 3D access through one piece of software” and mentioned that “Open standards will be particularly important for this”. I've downloaded FreeWRL, the X3D renderer I want to use for Webscope
In other news…
It seems CES is all about convergence again this year with Apple's iPhone being announced alongside the Nokia N800, Apple TV and Windows Home Server. The iPhone was inevitable but it sure is pretty now it's here, very nice design touches like motion sensors and multi-touch screen that I didn't expect to see yet. Note the lack of 3G and the presence of WiFi. This is the kind of hardware we should be thinking about for future web software development.