The Role of Ontologies for 3D media Applications

Semantic multimedia, as the evolution of traditional multimedia, makes it possible to use and share content of multiple forms, endowed with some kind of intelligence, accessible in digital form and in distributed or networked environments. This chapter discusses issues related to the definition of semantic 3D media, taking into account the perspective of researchers in the field of computer graphics as well as the perspective of the 3D application requirements. The computer graphics community could indeed bring a significant contribution to the development of ontologies for 3Dapplications by taking care of defining a comprehensive schema for documenting and sharing 3D media representations, to be linked and further specialised by experts in different domains. To better understand the characteristics of the 3D scenario, the chapter discusses the evolution of 3D modelling paradigms, from the traditional geometry-oriented to the emerging semantics-driven approaches. Also, we will analyse the levels of knowledge management required in applications, exemplifying the concepts in the scenario of product modelling, which is among the most complex and consolidated of 3D application domains. Finally, preliminary results related to the definition of ontologies for describing and processing 3D media in a semantics-aware context will be presented.