What are the requirements to start technical work with 3D?

[azaroth42]

The 3D Community Group has been making great progress, and technology is also rapidly improving. 3D seems to still be a long way from the absolute mainstream of images, but IIIF is well positioned to make a big difference if we can engage at the right time. How will we know when we are at the right time to begin technical work, as opposed to use case, community and demo/experiment gathering?

We should have a clear list of requirements that can be checked off. When they're all checked ... we should start work :)

Process wise, I suggest that we put suggested requirements in the comments, and when they're 👍ed by folks, they're added to the issue here. I'll start the list with a non-controversial one (as required by process)

Requirements:

• 3D TSG Charter is available
• Document enumerating the base use cases
• Three or more institutions publishing 3d models, and willing to participate in a TSG to implement experiments
• Technology demo of two 3d models in different formats being rendered in the same space
• Document analyzing and describing requirements around annotation in a 3d environment
• Document analyzing and describing requirements around intersection of 3d content and non-3d content in the same rendering environment
• Document analyzing and describing the requirements around intersections with Authentication and Search APIs for 3d content

[azaroth42]

Proposed requirement: Technology demo of two 3d models in different formats being rendered in the same space is available

Rationale: In the same way that we can render jpgs and pngs together, we should be able to render multiple models. Otherwise there's no need for the IIIF level of interoperability - the individual format's viewer is all that's needed, and we cover that already with rendering.

Status: I believe that this is possible today using (for example) the threejs loader paradigm and libraries

[azaroth42]

Proposed requirement: A document enumerating the base use cases is available

Rationale: IIIF process is based around use cases. We need to know what we're trying to do, before trying to do it :)

Status: 3D CG has been collecting use cases, and should categorize and draw a line in the sand at some point as to when there's sufficient to take to a TSG

[azaroth42]

Proposed requirement: 3 or more institutions openly publishing 3d models that are willing to participate in a TSG and implement experiments

Rationale: If there's no content, there's no need for a specification. If there's less than three institutions actually willing to engage, then there's no community to make that specification or content.

Status: I think we're well past this :)

[azaroth42]

Proposed Requirement: A document analyzing and describing the requirements around annotation precision in a 3d environment. For example, is a cube enough, or do the use cases require arbitrary volumes?

Rationale: Annotation is a core functionality of IIIF, and there aren't 3d annotation targeting specifications we can simply reference, thus knowing the requirements explicitly around annotation is very useful to set out in the right direction. This is needed for both comment annotations (look at this arm of the statue) and positioning models in the space (this statues goes here, that statue goes there).

Status: Unknown

[azaroth42]

Proposed Requirement: A document analyzing and describing the requirements around the intersection of 3d and other formats in the same canvas / space. For example, what should happen when you include audio, video or image content along with a 3d model in a 3d space.

Rationale: The existing functionality of the Presentation API should be available, in the same way that adding AV material in v3 can be done in the same environment as the content available in v2.

Status: Unknown

[azaroth42]

Proposed Requirement: A document analyzing and describing the requirements around the intersections with Authentication and Search. Especially pertinent, given the current TSGs for those topics.

Rationale: All of the IIIF APIs should work together when needed. If there are authentication or search requirements that are specific to 3d, now is the time to work on them, not after the current TSGs have concluded.

Status: Unknown

[zimeon]

I think the set of use cases to be supported (and the corresponding ones that will not be supported) will be really key to defining scope for a 3D TSG effort

[azaroth42]

Note from Editors' call of 2021-05-13: The notion of the canvas-like 3d space is the key feature. Use cases that don't require composition of multiple models or other content (including commentary annotations) can already be accomplished using rendering. If there are no use cases that need a 3d canvas, then there's no need for a new specification.

[azaroth42]

Discussed in 3d CG group on 2021-05-20. No new requirements added, and after some discussion no suggestion to remove any. Seemed like a general understanding of "requirement vs solution" was reached -- that we should know what we're aiming to achieve before starting (and that it needs to fit with existing IIIF paradigms), but that we don't need to know how we're going to achieve it.

[mikeapp]

TSG created.