Final WebGL 1.0 specification released

OPEN STANDARDS consortium 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 industry standard OpenGL or OpenGL ES graphics APIs. In addition to the WebGL specification, Khronos has created a WebGL test suite that can be downloaded free of charge.

WebGL is supported by browser vendors including Apple, Google, Mozilla and Opera. Multiple browsers are 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 Khronos Group says, "The ability for Web developers to directly access OpenGL-class graphics directly from JavaScript, and freely mix 3D with other HTML content, will enable a new wave of innovation in Web gaming, educational and training applications."

Tools for creating 3D content for WebGL-enabled browsers include C3DL, Copperlicht , EnergizeGL, GammaJS, GLGE, GTW, O3D, OSG.JS, SceneJS, SpiderGL, TDL, Three.js and X3DOM.

The launch of WebGL 1.0 took place at Game Developers Conference 2011 in San Francisco. Khronos also announced the formation of the WebCL working group to explore defining a Javascript binding to the Khronos OpenCL standard for parallel computing. µ