AR, VR, and a Model for 3D in HTML

Anytime I see mention of some element I don’t recognize, my mind goes straight to Huh! New to me, but probably old news for everyone else. It’s poor posture, I know, as it could just as easily be:

Truth is, it’s sorta all three.

As I understand it from this limited context:

HTML allows the display of many media types through elements such as <img>, <picture>, or <video>, but it does not provide a declarative manner to directly display 3D content. Embedding 3D content within a page is comparatively cumbersome and relies on scripting the <canvas> element. We believe it is time to put 3D models on equal footing with other, already supported, media types.

[…]

The HTML <model> element aims to allow a website to embed interactive 3D models as conveniently as any other visual media. Models are expected to be created by 3D authoring tools or generated dynamically, but served as a standalone resource by the server.

The basic example pulls this together. It really does feel like the <video> or <picture> elements:

.usdz? .glb? Not the type of files that typically cross my desk. Guess I’ll need to brush up on those and any other file types that <model> might support. Again, all of this is merely the original proposal.

There’s a lot to figure out. Most of what’s there are documented issues that need addressing. It does, however, shed more light on <model> like proposed attributes that make it feel even more like <video> such as autoplay, controls, loop, muted, poster, etc.

Google seems to have its foot in the door, albeit on the Web Components side of things. It’s easy to see how there may be a conflict of interest between what Apple and Google want from AR on the web.

These are all just my notes from trying to grok everything. There’s gotta be a lot more nuance to it than what little I know about it so far. I’m sure someone smarter can tie neater bow around <model> in the comments. 😉

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