3D Internet by Melvin Thomas, Gireesh Singh Thakurathi*, Haresh Savlani and Vipul Sankhe

3D Internet can be called as the combination of Internet and 3D graphics. The result of such a combination will be interactive and real time 3D graphics all delivered through the web. It is the simulation of a 2D web page in true to life graphics.

Sections of Internet that we use today come under the category of web 2.0 and web 3.0. The next form of Internet takes user interaction and 3D experience to a whole new level. This type is often so lively that it is considered as virtual reality. 3D Internet can be visualized as a virtual world. People who are active in the virtual world are more interested and active in the digital world than in real life. It can be

termed as the combination of :

• Passiveness of television

• Vastness of web

• Networking like in the social media

• Stereoscopic experience of 3D movies

But as we can see Television is a passive source whereas 3D Internet is engaging and interactive. An example of such a virtual world can be “Second Life”. The people in this world are called as residents. The residents are capable of doing the following things:

• Participate in social events

• Distance attendance to meetings and educative classes

• Meeting new people

• Participate in virtual commerce

• Trying new products

• Participate in brand experience which is like the real world

3D Internet has the live broadcasting property of television with the copious content of the Internet. The disadvantages of the current Internet can be given as follows:

• Wastage of time due to mouse movements

• Less interactive web pages

• Less Efficient i.e. slow speed of working

• Ineffective representation of certain images and 3D graphics

Thus we can see the current technology is highly futile. It needs a replacement or an upgrade in the coming time. The solution to these shortcomings can be covered in 3D Internet. A detailed description of the various applications with the help of this technology has been mentioned.

V. Current Status

A significant innovation is taking place globally, from which a few points are highlighted here:

• The EU Future Internet Research and Experimentation (FIRE:www.cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/fire)

• The NSF Future Internet Design (FIND) and GENI programs (www.nets-find.net & https://www.geni.net/)

• China Science and technology Network (www.cstnet.net.cn)

• In Japan the AKARI Architecture Design Project (akariproject. nict.go.jp/eng/overview.html)

• Korea implementing 3D Internet (https://fif.kr/fiw2007/ presentations/architecture_tsch oi.pdf)

• In the SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics conference companies like Mozilla, Google and Opera announced the Web GL, which can be used to build in 3D graphics into a homepage without any separate external plug-in [5].

Technical Necessities and Obstacles

Along with the benefits, obstacles such as present network speed, hardware limitations and cost factors also come with 3D Internet. These hurdles obstruct the evolution of traditional Internet to 3D Internet [6] (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Internet Speeds in 2015.

Internet speed

Internet Speed is one of the major obstacles for the full implementation of 3D Internet. These are in terms of limitation of bandwidth. As 3D Internet requires high end graphics and models, the requirement of high bandwidth is mandatory. The report by “Akamai Technologies” named as the state of the Internet in 2015 shows that the world average Internet speed is 5.1 M bit/s [7]. This report shows that there are very few countries with high speed Internet while others lack the necessary speed for 3D Internet. Thus even though some countries do have good speed, most of them can’t support 3D Internet. Due to which complete implementation of this technology is difficult.

Hardware

The current Internet which we use is 2D thus it requires a normal screen. When we move from 2D to 3D Internet, we will also have to move from our traditional screens to ones that are compatible to render 3D graphics. We will also require separate tools to view these 3D images. Moreover rendering of such high end models requires high usage of RAM and GPU. Thus upgrading to this technology requires an overall upgrade of the present system around the world.

Cost

As we see in above two points, it can be concluded that the cost involved in the overall implementation is high, which may discourage the masses.

Applications

The world is moving into a digital era. Our day to day activities are getting digitalized and Internet is at the center of everything. A few possible applications of modernizing the current Internet to 3D Internet have been listed below.

Education

By implementing 3D Internet in education, people can have a better understanding of the subject. They can view lectures and experiments in a 3D manner that will help them learn more efficiently than the traditional approach. One such example can be that the Medical professionals can view operations in 3 dimension, distance education will be valued, illustrative and demonstrative tutorials shall be more effective.

Real estate

3D Internet can drastically change the real estate industry. Customers can view the property they are interested in online with a stereoscopic view. They will get a basic idea of the area and locality they are going live in even before its complete construction. This will ease the selection process of property to a great extent.

Social interaction

The current generation has a much more active online social life as compared to real life. Addition of 3D to social networking can revolutionize our digital world. Video calls can be more interactive and appealing. 3D chat spaces can be introduced to social media. Personal interaction won’t be limited to real world. People unable to meet on regular basis can interact online.

Tourism

It is important to choose the right destination to spend holidays which can be much easier after the implementation of 3D Internet. Tourists can have a sample 3D view of the desired locations and later decide which destination has to be visited. They can have a short demo of the place they are about to visit and decide if its worth investing on the trip.

Entertainment

Online 3D games, 3D movies, etc., won’t be a dream anymore. All this can be achieved using 3D Internet. Users won’t be compelled to go to a multiplex for experiencing a 3D movie. Gamers can enjoy 3D online games at home and can easily connect with their friends. Live action sports will be more interesting.

E-commerce

Online Shopping can be more realistic and reliable with the employment of 3D Internet. Concept like Online Shopping Malls and Stores can be implemented so that the users can visit virtual malls from Internet. Vicarious feeling of shopping can be fulfilled by consumers by sitting at home. It will be a benefit to both, the buyer and the seller as the basic necessity to meet at a common trading place will be eliminated completely while the shopping experience will remain intact.

Spiritualism

People can visit their desired holy place without actually traveling to the destination. Religious organizations can plan meetings at a selected time covering devotees of a specified region and 3D Internet will maintain the experience of the trip and cut the cost and traveling time on the other hand. 3D avatars and first person view will make it easy for users to devote time to their religion.

Culture

3D Internet will open gates to art forms that don’t exist at today’s date. Artists can portray their artwork to the whole world in a entirely new fashion. Just as 2D art has a ton of different forms such as paintings, drawings, photography, mixed media, craft, etc. 3D art will also create a new genre of creative forms, something that can’t be imagined as of now due to the absence of a 3D platform and human brain’s limited scope to 2D imagination.

Advantages

Every aspect of human life is now linked with the digital world or 2D Internet. Businessmen and potential investors can use this as their advantage to attract more consumers or visitors to market their products. By adding 3D effects to the normal web, we can increase the productivity of various fields.

Participants experience virtual world

Several virtual world environments have already been produced where users can experience a false but appealing reality. This experience can be improved tremendously with advanced hardware which can produce 3D outputs. This entire process translates to experiencing a virtual world having its own applications such as social interaction, education, entertainment in actual 3D just like our day to day activities instead of 2D.

Participant have control over entire virtual space

3D Internet allows the user to enter into a virtual space which enables him to interact with several others. This virtual space can be completely controlled by the user accessing it. This includes the movement of the user, changes of directions, entering/exiting structures etc.

Participants can choose to engage with an offering

The user has a choice of accepting or rejecting the communication or interaction requests that are offered in this virtual world.

Better understanding of concepts

3D Internet provides a platform for improving the understanding of several concepts. Certain concepts cant be understood directly from 2D monitors as they require visualization of 3D objects. 3D Internet provides a way for teaching and learning such concepts.

Replicates real life

3D Internet provides the user an experience which is very similar to real life. Users will experience real life situations in this virtual world. Avatars will play a key role in revolutionizing the future Internet. It will change the way in which people tend to interact with each other. Conversations, rendezvous and other private meetings will move from real world to virtual as it will be more promising, secure and private.

Efficiency

3D Internet when implemented can improve the overall efficiency by reducing the mouse movements. People would no longer have to manually enter data via keyboard and other time consuming input devices.

Glimpse into 3D Virtual World

3D Internet is yet to achieve it’s full potential but virtual world’s like “Second Life” have made an attempt to avail 3D features to traditional Internet. Second life is a 3D world created by Linden Lab where everyone the user meets is a real person and every place the user visits is created by developers [10]. The platform also provides users with Oculus Rift which helps the user experience the 3D effect. Using this hardware, the user can enjoy a full panoramic view of the virtual world. It has features like head tracking and motion sensing, users no longer suffer from 2D boxed visions on their regular LED/ LCD displays. Linden Lab has taken care that their stereoscopic view of second life doesn’t leave the users with motion sickness, thanks to the motion tracking features and fast response to minute movements.

Users can choose between first person and third person view. First person view will make the experience more realistic as people can see the world from their avatar’s perspective.

3D Internet Meets the Internet of Things (IoT)

Today’s Internet is not limited to our laptops, smart phones and tablets. Everything (living and non-living) having a distinct IP address, which can be identified uniquely can be considered to be a part of this massive network [11] (e.g. People using heart implants that can be monitored via Internet are also considered to be a part of IoT). Various embedded systems are now accessed via Internet and are capable of data transfer and this idea is termed a IoT (Internet of Things). Electronic appliances, lights in household and commercial environment, speakers, vending machines, cars, thermostats, security systems are all examples objects that fall in the scope of Internet of Things for now. In future IoT can be combined and largely benefited by the onset of 3D Internet. Avatars in 3D Internet would be more realistic and could be considered as the spitting image of the user himself.

Imagine buying a new car, clothing, footwear, smart phone, etc. in near future. People would no longer need a test drive to judge if the car will satisfy their needs. The user can fit their avatar inside the car model to see if it is spacious enough and fulfills other specific requirements using 3D Internet. They could also control the vehicle in real world without leaving their room with the help xof IoT and view the test drive in 3D. Thus with the combination of “3D Internet” and “Internet of Things” a lot can be achieved.

Augmenting Reality with 3D Internet

Abbreviated as AR, Augmented Reality is a type of virtual reality that aims to duplicate the world’s environment in a computer. An augmented reality system generates a composite view for the user that is the combination of the real scene viewed by the user and a virtual scene generated by the computer that augments the scene with additional information. The virtual scene generated by the computer is designed to enhance the user’s sensory perception of the virtual world they are seeing or interacting with. The goal of Augmented Reality is to create a system in which the user cannot tell the difference between the real world and the virtual augmentation of it.

Several augmented reality software’s have already surfaced. However these applications are only created for devices that produce 2D output. When we think of our surroundings, we think in 3D, we experience the world in 3D, so augmenting the world and showing the output in 3D makes more sense. If 3D Internet is implemented several devices having 3D displays will surface and developers will start creating augmented reality applications for such devices. Such devices will produce much more realistic view of the reality that we are trying to augment. The function of the software will remain same in both the cases, but because we are receiving a 3d view, it will be much more realistic. Also it will help us understand the augmentation clearly. In short, we will be augmenting reality and it will be in 3d, so the result after augmentation must also be 3d.

For example consider a application which allows user to view themselves while trying different clothes out. A camera records the user and projects it on a screen where user can browse through several clothes. The computer automatically adjusts the clothes on screen according to the positioning of the person. A 2D output like this gives us a general idea about how the clothes will look on you. On the other hand a 3D output will give a more detailed view, explaining how the dress will look in real life. 3D Internet will cause a lot of applications like these to be developed, shared and used. 3D Internet will prove to be a backbone for improving current AR experience [12] (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Users trying different outfits at home on 3D displays.

Methods of Implementation

Software approach

1) Depth perception with artificial intelligence

Figures shows the conversion of 2D images into 3D using algorithms but here we discuss the conversion of web pages, graphics and images using artificial intelligence. Imagine a browser that can think, a browser that doesn’t need inputs all the time like the present browsers that we use. A browser smart enough to understand the difference between two colors, difference between the depth of two objects. Such a browser is capable enough to understand a still image that is being displayed on the screen, if the objects in it are near the observer or away from it. For example when we see the motion of a bullet on screen, the still image of this bullet is on the basis of the x and y co-ordinates. Now the same motion of the same bullet on a browser capable of perceiving depth it can estimate the z coordinate of the moving bullet and display it appropriately. Due to which the user viewing this motion can experience a 3D effect on screen. As browsers are becoming more and more self-adaptive and responsive to the client’s needs, users need not worry about general problems like screen resolution, platform dependency, etc.

Similarly a 3D web browser may in-cooperate a additional feature of storing estimated depth or elevation of a selected entity. These values will be entered by the person hosting the website or the browser can be self-reliant and give the necessary depth to this entity based on its estimation. Artificial intelligence must be incorporated for the latter implementation. This parameter will decide the extent to which the user on the client end may experience the 3D effect. The hardware required to implement such ideas may need some thought process. Such a browser will give the developers and website creators a new functionality that can be adjusted as desired to give their content the exact level of 3D effect as required to make their content more interactive and entertaining.

2) WebGL

Making a dream of 3D graphics on Internet can become a reality by using WebGL which stands for Web graphics library [13]. It is a JavaScript library for displaying interactive 2d and 3d content on the compatible web browser without any use of plugins. It has been derived from OpenGL ES (Embedded Systems) 2.0. WebGL is capable of transforming the static visual variables of shape, size, texture, color, value, orientations and overall presentation of information into 3D virtual space providing a rich 3d graphics experience on the browser. WebGL provides a delightful experience and function as a great data visualization tool that can turn normal data into a compelling virtual story. Major browser vendors Apple (Safari), Google (Chrome), Mozilla (Firefox), and Opera (Opera) are working on WebGL [14].