Ontology‐Based Representation and Modelling of Synthetic 3D Content: A State‐of‐the‐Art Review

Abstract

An indispensable element of any practical 3D/VR/AR application is synthetic three‐dimensional (3D) content. Such content is characterized by a variety of features—geometry, structure, space, appearance, animation and behaviour—which makes the modelling of 3D content a much more complex, difficult and time‐consuming task than in the case of other types of content. One of the promising research directions aiming at simplification of modelling 3D content is the use of the semantic web approach. The formalism provided by semantic web techniques enables declarative knowledge‐based modelling of content based on ontologies. Such modelling can be conducted at different levels of abstraction, possibly domain‐specific, with inherent separation of concerns. The use of semantic web ontologies enables content representation independent of particular presentation platforms and facilitates indexing, searching and analysing content, thus contributing to increased content re‐usability. A range of approaches have been proposed to permit semantic representation and modelling of synthetic 3D content. These approaches differ in the methodologies and technologies used as well as their scope and application domains. This paper provides a review of the current state of the art in representation and modelling of 3D content based on semantic web ontologies, together with a classification, characterization and discussion of the particular approaches.An indispensable element of any practical 3D/VR/AR application is synthetic three‐dimensional (3D) content. Such content is characterized by a variety of features—geometry, structure, space, appearance, animation and behaviour—which makes the modelling of 3D content a much more complex, difficult and time‐consuming task than in the case of other types of content. One of the promising research directions aiming at simplification of modelling 3D content is the use of the semantic web approach.