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Consumer Electronics Daily News 4 5 Thursday, January 11, 2018 Coming Soon: W3C Standards for Virtual Reality on the Web By Dominique Hazael-Massieux, W3C Community Management Virtual Reality (VR) is the next frontier for immersive entertainment experiences that let you physically interact with con- tent on the web. As witnessed by the commercial push during this past year's holiday shopping season, the entertain- ment industry has been an early adopter of VR, with proprietary solutions offered by a number of leading brands. As the Virtual Reality ecosystem expands, so too does the demand for VR to leverage standard web technologies such as HTML5, and to provide common ways to define, build and interact with 3D content on different devices. In the same way we advanced web standards for the mobile web and web and television, the World Wide Consortium (W3C) – the global stan- dards body for web technologies – con- tinues work to enable Virtual Reality solutions to use the Open Web Platform as a full-fledged development environ- ment. With standards, there will be inter- operability to avoid fragmentation and duplicated effort, which in turn low- ers development costs. At the 2016 W3C Workshop on Web and Virtual Reality, more than 70 organizations actively working in the VR ecosystem came together to demonstrate the benefits that the web can bring to VR development. Industry experts from companies includ- ing W3C members Apple, BBC, Dolby, Facebook/Oculus, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, Qualcomm and Samsung, addressed some of the short- comings needed to make the web more feature-rich and attractive for deploying innovative VR applications and services. Among the features workshop par- ticipants identified as needing standardi- zation attention were: better integration of existing web content in VR experi- ences; improved support and optimized transmission of 360° videos and audio; turning web pages into enjoyable Virtual Reality spaces; and integrating the 3D building bricks of VR content into the fab- ric of the Open Web Platform. In order for VR technology to be further defined and inte- grated into the Open Web Platform, the W3C held a 2017 workshop dedicated to bringing together WebVR stakeholders to identify unexploited opportunities as well as technical gaps in WebVR author- ing, and will plan a broad AR workshop in 2018. We will consider the path for formal standardization based on Community Group incubation after our December workshop. For more information about W3C's WebVR activities, email w3t-pr@w3.org. TDK Showcases Sensors at Show As the demand for sensor technologies grows across industries, TDK offers sen- sors, sensor solutions and platforms for mobile, wearable, AR/VR, automotive, Internet of Things (IoT), drone and industrial applications. TDK's expanding sensor portfolio covers sensing temperatures, pressures, currents and magnetic fields, as well as positions, angles and acceleration rates. The sensor offerings complement TDK's existing roster of electronic components, modules and systems (capacitors, induc- tors, ferrites and RF products); power supplies; magnetic application products and flash memory application devices. OEMs are invited to learn about market advancements, developments, design concerns and new sensor offerings across motion, sound, environment and status. The following demonstration may be viewed by invitation only: CeraCharge™ Solid-State Batteries: The world's first rechargeable solid-state SMD battery, TDK's CeraCharge has no liquid electrolyte, and is based on a mul- tilayer ceramic technology, similar to MLCCs, to excel in thermal manage- ment, with a wide temperature range. The number of charge/discharge cycles this battery is able to perform ranges from several dozens to up to 1,000. With its compact EIA 1812 package (4.5 x 3.2 x 1.1 mm), it offers a capacity of 100 µAh at a rated voltage of 1.4 V. The compact size enables the battery to be surface mounted and soldered onto circuitry for applications such as IoT and mobile com- munication devices. Mass production is slated for April 2018. About TDK Corporation TDK Corporation is a leading electron- ics company based in Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 1935 to commer- cialize ferrite, a key material in elec- tronic and magnetic products. TDK's portfolio includes passive components, such as ceramic, aluminum electrolytic and film capacitors, ferrites and induc- tors, high-frequency products and piezo and protection components, as well as sensors and sensor systems and power supplies.