Just the other day, Google announced O3D, their plugin for deploying 3D content on the web. Though they’re hardly the first (as anyone visiting Muse Games is no doubt aware), Google’s involvement is a sign of the growing desire for 3D in the browser.

Web-based 3D standards have had a bit of a rocky history (anyone else remember VRML?), but it’s becoming clear that, with the growing power of both hardware and browser-based scripting, the time is coming. Less than a month ago, Mozilla and the Khronos Group (that’s the standards body behind OpenGL) also announced a 3D web standard under development. It’s too early to say which of these efforts will really stick. Mozilla’s standard is pretty close to OpenGL itself, which operates on a far lower level than is really useful most of the time; its success depends on others building up libraries on top of this interface. Google’s effort may have a bit of an edge here; it operates at a slightly higher level of the 3D programming stack, while still being low enough to be flexible.

So where does that leave Unity? Still years ahead of these infant standards, leading the charge to bring 3D content to your browser. The O3D API shows promise, but by Google’s own admission this software is still a preview for web and 3D developers. I hope to see the Google and Mozilla efforts learning from Unity, and ultimately working together to create a more open 3D content standard. I suspect that standard won’t emerge fully for quite a while yet, but it’s never too early to start dreaming of what’s to come.

Of course, if you want to play with something a little more concrete, Muse Games is here now.