Forum:Wiki3D Let's build a 3D internet together

Currently Massive Online RPGs are a hot topic. For example, Second Life(r) is a booming game where real-life corporations currently are building virtual headquarters. It's more than a game, it's a prototype of the Internet of tomorrow. The Internet is moving away from the document interface towards 3D virtual worlds. The Internet is no longer a pure information space, it is increasingly important as a space for social interactions. We are running into the limits of flat user interfaces and 3D virtual worlds open up new possibilities for communicating, cooperating, debating, learning, sharing and you name it.

I am sure huge changes are going to happen on the web in the years to come, but nobody can tell where we are going right now. It's the right time for the pioneers among us to explore the possibilities of 3D on the web. It's the right time now to start building a 3D web together!

Of course we can just subscribe to an existing 3D game/virtual world, and I think the developers of such systems are really doing a great and ground breaking job. This message is absolutely not meant in a negative or offensive way. However, I think it's time to move on to the next step. I do not believe that a few organizations will hold the future of the entire web. The web is a distributed system which can scale endlessly. No single person or organization owns the Internet of today. Similarly in the 3D Internet of tomorrow there will be many providers of 3D content, 3D browsers and 3D servers. New standards are required to take your avatar from one 3D site to the next, to hyperlink to 3D sites operated by different providers, to search for 3D virtual web spaces, etc.

Let's develop a Wiki3D: the ideas, concepts, design, technology, standards and etiquette of an open 3D Internet of tomorrow. Just like Wiki software can be created by the open-source community and freely be used by everybody, a Wiki3D will be an open 3D platform developed by the open-source community, and used by social groups from all over the world.

I assume the challenge is huge, both in terms of technology and organization and I cannot tell where to start. There will be many aspects which I cannot foresee, and maybe others already started working on this idea. For now I am just curious for your reactions, comments and suggestions. RC 22:28, 9 March 2007 (UTC)