SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 15, 2004 -- Intel Corporation and key members of the 3D Industry Forum today applauded Adobe Systems Incorporated’s announcement of support for the Universal 3D (U3D) format in Acrobat 7.0* software and Adobe PDF*. Developed by Intel and the 3D Industry Forum, the U3D specification marks a significant step toward turning 3D graphics into the next ubiquitous office media.

Adobe’s support for U3D will allow users of Acrobat 7.0 Professional* to place U3D objects -- such as 3D graphic product designs -- inside PDF files where they can be viewed and fully interacted with by anyone with free Adobe Reader* 7.0 software. Adobe has distributed more than half-a-billion copies of Adobe Reader since its 1993 introduction.

The 3D Industry Forum is a cross-industry group of more than 30 developers and corporate users of 3D graphics technology, including Adobe, Bentley Systems, Boeing, HP, Intel and Right Hemisphere. The group is working with Ecma International, an international standards body, on proposing the U3D Format as an ISO standard.

"Adobe’s support of Universal 3D provides users around the world with a common vehicle for sharing rich 3D content in the workplace," said Richard Benoit, Intel researcher and chairman of the 3D Industry Forum. "Intel’s collaboration with Adobe and others in the 3D Industry Forum seeks to revolutionize how complex product data is communicated by enabling 3D CAD programs to easily export their rich, interactive media into a new generation of intelligent office documents."

The U3D format allows 3D Computer-Aided-Design applications to export the on-screen interactive experience to mainstream office applications that support the specification. The format will allow viewers of the data to see and interact with the same high-quality on-screen representation of a product without the megabytes of background engineering data. This will allow complex product designs rendered in 3D graphics to be used in sales, marketing, customer support, online promotions, maintenance, training and many other workflow areas.

"Integrating 3D graphics into Acrobat 7.0 and Adobe PDF is an important step in advancing productivity in the digital office," said Gregory Bryant, Intel director of digital office marketing and planning. "Unlocking rich, 3D content creates opportunities for new uses and new products based on intelligent documentation, such as interactive training simulations, product-life cycle management, electronic repair manuals, and workgroup collaboration."



The 3D Industry Forum

The 3D Industry Forum (http://www.3dif.org) began when Intel researchers gathered a group of leading 3D graphics hardware and software developers together to discuss establishing a common standard for sharing 3D content over the web. Additional discussions with corporate users of 3D graphics revealed a desire to repurpose the 3D assets developed for product design across the corporation in training, documentation, marketing, sales, and over the Web. With more than 30 members, the goals of the 3D Industry Forum are:

Creation of a common standard for sharing interactive 3D content

Provide tools and information for the use of these technologies

Establish a community for on-going initiatives and development in 3D graphics

Promotion of industry growth and ecosystem development for the 3D graphics market

The first version of the U3D open format will be released later this year with a sample player and runtime libraries to support adoption and implementation. Key features will include streaming and compression, animation and the capability for end users to begin interacting with the content before the entire file is downloaded to its destination.