Khronos Releases Final WebGL 1.0 Specification

By DE Editors

The Khronos Group has released the final WebGL 1.0 specification to enable hardware-accelerated 3D graphics in HTML5 Web browsers without the need for plug-ins.  WebGL defines a JavaScript binding to OpenGL ES 2.0 to allow 3D graphics within a browser on any platform supporting the OpenGL or OpenGL ES graphics APIs.

WebGL has the support of major silicon and browser vendors including Apple, Google, Mozilla and Opera with multiple browsers already shipping with WebGL implementations including the beta releases for Mozilla Firefox 4.0, all channels of Google Chrome 9.0,  an Opera preview build, and Apple Mac OS Safari nightly builds.

The ability for Web developers to directly access OpenGL-class graphics from JavaScript, and freely mix 3D with other HTML content, could enable a new wave of innovation in Web gaming, educational and training applications and graphically rich user interfaces.

“WebGL enables an entire new class of applications on the web. Being able to take advantage of first-class 3D hardware acceleration in a browser on both desktop and mobile allows web developers to create compelling and immersive experiences for their users,” says Vlad Vukićević of Mozilla and chair of the WebGL Working Group.

Khronos has also announced the formation of the WebCL working group to explore defining a JavaScript binding to the Khronos OpenCL standard for heterogeneous parallel computing. WebCL creates the potential to harness GPU and multi-core CPU parallel processing from a Web browser, enabling acceleration of applications such as image and video processing.

For more information, visit Khronos.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.