What would you have done 15 years ago had you known how popular the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) was going to be? Imagine, an application that would allow people to create and view documents with embedded images regardless of the format or the operating system the document was created in. The only requirement would be to have a PDF reader to view and print these rich documents. Would you have gone out and purchased stock based on this one revolutionary application?

We know that PDFs ease document and information exchange. The obvious next step for the creation and dissemination of documents is to move from two dimensions to three dimensions. Moving from 2-dimensional images to 3-dimensional ones offers a richer experience for the viewer. For example, creating a 3-dimensional chart can enliven information that was otherwise dull in a 2-dimensional perspective.

In new product development, an additional dimension can be a big value-add all the way along the production chain, starting with the product designer and ending with the customer. Whether on a printed page or the web, 3-dimensional representations are inherently compelling. Some other scenarios where adding a third dimension adds value include:

• a customer purchases a new printer and sees, in three dimensions, the process for inserting paper and toner;


• an aircraft mechanic sees and manipulates a 3-dimensional representation of an engine during routine maintenance;


• an assembly line worker in training sees exactly how one complex mechanical component should fit into another;


• a doctor sees a tumor;


• a procurement officer sees exactly which component to order from a list of 3-dimensionally listed and inventory cross-referenced components.

All of these rich applications save time, money, and possibly lives in the long run, by giving more information to the customer, eliminating errors, saving money, and offering the customer a more productive experience.

Finding A Unified Standard

Classically, adding 3-dimensional representations to documentation or to the web has been plagued with problems, from coarse and rough graphical representations of 3-dimensional components to issues with large files and incompatible formats. These issues make for rough and impractical applications. What's more, a unified standard for 3-dimensional files, like the PDF format, hasn't presented itself. There has been slow progress, with no real leaps. That may be changing for the better.

Every time a designer or engineer creates a drawing, a large number of eyeballs need to view that drawing, usually both domestically and overseas, to offer comments and suggestions to further enhance the end product. In the past, this valuable feedback hasn't gotten back to the designer or engineer simply because of the deployment of large enterprise applications to view a CAD drawing and the large file sizes common to CAD/CAM drawings themselves. These heavy requirements bring collaboration to a standstill and, inevitably, product development and manufacturing suffer.

While solving these size and portability issues won't alleviate cultural issues or help bring down departmental walls or tip silos that currently impede the sharing of information, creating portable documents facilitates collaboration. PDF-enabled documents were revolutionary for communication in two dimensions, and by bringing information to departments outside design and engineering, collaboration can bloom.

Moving into three dimensions requires standardization. One solution for 3-dimensional representation is Lattice 3D's standards-based eXtensible Virtual world description Language (XVL).

Based on the open standard eXtensible Markup Language (XML), the web description language, XVL has several enhancements over using standard CAD/CAM application files, including creating rich 3-dimensional representations while creating incredibly compressed file sizes. With XVL, compression of conventional files can be increased by a factor of 20 to 50 times, which suddenly makes multi-hundred megabyte CAD files extremely portable. One implementation of XVL also creates extremely smooth surfaces at high magnification, in addition to creating small file sizes.

Converting CAD/CAM to XVL

Converting large CAD/CAM content to XVL format is a 4-step process. The first step is to create or convert the XVL data. The next step is to integrate the XVL file into other applications or onto the web. The third is to view the XVL data, and last but not least, is to protect the finished XVL files.

If CAD design work files exist, then conversion is fairly trivial using a solution like Lattice Technology's XVL product line. Integration of content into Microsoft Office applications or onto the web for viewing over the Internet is straightforward using XVL.

Similar to the PDF reader, an XVL viewer is needed to view the newly created 3-dimensional content. A plug-in to a web browser, the XVL viewer is used to rotate, zoom, and pan 3-dimensional images and shapes. The quality of the image can be manipulated and the viewer's perspective can change from, for example, a few inches to a few thousand feet. This perspective and distance adjustment is especially effective for viewing Geographic Information System (GIS) terrain information.

While the ability to share complex 3-dimensional images has previously been out of reach, doing so now is fairly trivial via XVL. Sharing those images, however, requires some planning. Using XVL to facilitate departmental communication and collaboration is an excellent end goal, but the content creator must be mindful of possible minefields along the way.

Protecting Intellectual Property

Because it is so easy to convert CAD/CAM drawings into XVL and have all that rich 3-dimensional information wonderfully presented, several concerns should be addressed during the conversion planning stage. The primary concern has to do with protecting intellectual property. After all, if a newly manufactured product is converted into XVL and now the much smaller and 3-dimensionally rich XVL file were to make it to the hands of a competitor via email, then all the hard work going into design and creation is for naught.

Additionally, the content of XVL files needs to be protected in transit, which can easily be resolved via encryption of the XVL files. Another way to increase security is by varying the granularity of the XVL content; for example, creating only an exterior shell of the product and not including the interior components when it isn't necessary. Password protection of the XVL content can also be used to insure that copyrights are protected and industrial espionage doesn't occur, while still allowing authorized personnel to view the XVL content. An XVL product like that from Lattice 3D can be used to secure the XVL file on several levels and obviate the problems associated with security.

Departmental collaboration, enhanced employee training, effective product design, easy component assembly, enhanced customer service, reduced procurement cost, 3-dimensional manuals and documentation for consumers and line assemblers: if all of these things sound related, they are. Each company that takes advantage of XVL by adding another dimension to existing web pages, documents, presentations, and designs can leverage their most important resource: information. XVL is the future of 3-dimensional imaging and presentation. Based on standards and with the ability to highly compress CAD/CAM drawings, it is the next PDF.