ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016

Information technology — Media context and control — Part 4: Virtual world object characteristics

ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016 specifies syntax and semantics of description schemes and descriptors used to characterize a virtual world object related metadata, making it possible to migrate a virtual world object (or only its characteristics) from one virtual world to another and to control a virtual world object in a virtual world by real world devices.

Technologies de l'information — Contrôle et contexte de supports — Partie 4: Caractéristiques d'objet du monde virtuel

General Information

• Status: Withdrawn
• Publication Date: 16-Mar-2016
• Withdrawal Date: 16-Mar-2016
• ICS: 35.040 - Information coding
• ICS: 35.040.40 - Coding of audio, video, multimedia and hypermedia information
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29 - Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29 - Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information
• Current Stage: 9599 - Withdrawal of International Standard
• Completion Date: 25-Sep-2018

Relations

• Revised: ISO/IEC 23005-4:2018 - Information technology — Media context and control — Part 4: Virtual world object characteristics
• Effective Date: 15-Apr-2017
• Revises: ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013 - Information technology — Media context and control — Part 4: Virtual world object characteristics
• Effective Date: 23-Nov-2013

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 23005-4
Third edition
2016-03-15
Information technology — Media
context and control —
Part 4:
Virtual world object characteristics
Technologies de l’information — Contrôle et contexte de supports —
Partie 4: Caractéristiques d’objet du monde virtuel
Reference number
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016(E)
©
ISO/IEC 2016

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016(E)

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO/IEC 2016, Published in Switzerland
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on the internet or an intranet, without prior
written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below or ISO’s member body in the country of
the requester.
ISO copyright office
Ch. de Blandonnet 8 • CP 401
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
[e-mail]
www.iso.org
ii © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016(E)
Contents . Page
Foreword . ii
Introduction . iii
1 Scope . 2
2 Normative references . 3
3 Terms, definitions, abbreviated terms and prefixes . 3
3.1 Terms and definitions . 3
3.2 Abbreviated terms . 4
3.3 Use of prefixes . 4
4 Virtual world object metadata . 5
4.1 General . 5
4.2 Schema wrapper conventions . 6
4.3 Root element and top-level tools . 7
4.4 Virtual world object base type . 10
4.5 Virtual world object common data types . 34
5 Avatar metadata . 56
5.1 General . 56
5.2 AvatarType . 57
5.3 MakeupAvatarType . 184
6 Virtual object metadata . 202
6.1 General . 202
6.2 VirtualObjectType . 203
Annex A (normative) Classification Schemes . 209
Annex B (informative) Virtual world object characteristics schema . 260
Annex C (informative) Possible usage of ISO/IEC 23005-4 . 261
Annex D (informative) Information on ISO 639 . 262
Annex E (informative) Patent statements . 263
Bibliography . 264

© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved        iii

---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical
activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other
international organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also
take part in the work. In the field of information technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint
technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for
the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject
of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent
rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the
Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does
not constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity
assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the WTO principles in the Technical
Barriers to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: Foreword - Supplementary information
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology, Subcommittee SC 29,
Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information.
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition (ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013), which has been
technically revised.
ISO/IEC 23005 consists of the following parts, under the general title Information technology — Media context
and control:
 Part 1: Architecture
 Part 2: Control information
 Part 3: Sensory information
 Part 4: Virtual world object characteristics
 Part 5: Data formats for interaction devices
 Part 6: Common types and tools
 Part 7: Conformance and reference software
iv         © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016(E)
Introduction
This International Standard provides an architecture and specifies associated information representations to
enable interoperability between virtual worlds, e.g. digital content provider of a virtual world, gaming (serious),
simulation, DVD, and the real world, e.g. sensors, actuators, vision and rendering, robotics (e.g. for
revalidation), (support for) independent living social and welfare systems, banking, insurance, travel, real
estate, rights management and many others.
Virtual worlds (often referred to as 3D3C for 3D visualization and navigation and the 3Cs of Community,
Creation and Commerce) integrate existing and emerging media technologies (e.g. instant messaging, video,
3D, VR, AI, chat, voice, etc.) that allow for the support of existing and the development of new kinds of social
networks. The emergence of virtual worlds as platforms for social networking is recognized by businesses as
an important issue for at least two reasons.
1) It offers the power to reshape the way companies interact with their environments (markets, customers,
suppliers, creators, stakeholders, etc.) in a fashion comparable to the Internet.
2) It allows for the development of new (breakthrough) business models, services, applications and devices.
Each virtual world, however, has a different culture and audience making use of these specific worlds for a
variety of reasons. These differences permit users to have unique experiences.
Although realistic experiences have been achieved via devices such as 3D audio/visual devices, it is hard to
realize sensory effects only with presentation of audiovisual contents. The addition of sensory effects leads to
even more realistic experiences in the consumption of audiovisual contents. This will lead to the application of
new media for enhanced experiences of users in a more realistic sense.
Such new media will benefit from the standardization of control and sensory information which includes
sensory effect metadata, sensory device capabilities/commands, user sensory preferences, and various
delivery formats. The MPEG-V architecture can be applicable for various business models for which
audiovisual contents can be associated with sensory effects that need to be rendered on appropriate sensory
devices.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission
(IEC) draw attention to the fact that it is claimed that compliance with this document may involve the use of
patents.
ISO and the IEC take no position concerning the evidence, validity and scope of these patent rights.
The holders of these patent rights have assured ISO and the IEC that they are willing to negotiate licences
under reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions with applicants throughout the world. In this
respect, the statements of the holders of these patent rights are registered with ISO and the IEC. Information
may be obtained from the companies listed in Annex E.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights other than those identified in Annex E. ISO and the IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any
or all such patent rights.
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved        v

---------------------- Page: 5 ----------------------
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD   ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016(E)
Information technology — Media context and control —
Part 4:
Virtual world object characteristics
1 Scope
This part of ISO/IEC 23005 specifies syntax and semantics of description schemes and descriptors used to
characterize a virtual world object related metadata, making it possible to migrate a virtual world object (or
only its characteristics) from one virtual world to another and to control a virtual world object in a virtual world
by real world devices.
The system architecture of this International Standard is depicted in Figure 1 and the scope of this part of
ISO/IEC 23005 is highlighted. That is, only the information representation that acts as an input to the possible
RV/VR Adaptation and as an exchangeable information format to support interoperability between the
virtual worlds, as defined in ISO/IEC 23005-1, is specified in this part of ISO/IEC 23005.
NOTE The actual RV/VR Adaptation is deliberately informative and left open for industry competition.
Figure 1 — System architecture
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved 1

---------------------- Page: 6 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016(E)
2 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and are
indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references,
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC 15938-5:2003, Information technology — Multimedia content description interface — Part 5:
Multimedia description schemes
ISO/IEC 21000-5, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 5: Rights Expression
Language
ISO/IEC 23005-6, Information technology — Media context and control — Part 6: Common types and tools
3 Terms, definitions, abbreviated terms and prefixes
3.1 Terms and definitions
For the purpose of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 23005-6 and the following apply.
3.1.1
avatar
entity that can be used as a (visual) representation of the user inside the virtual environments
EXAMPLE A player's representation in the video game and human or fantastic representations of a person's self in
non-gaming online worlds.
3.1.2
avatar metadata
defines the description schemes and descriptors to represent avatars (3.1.1)
3.1.3
Extensible Markup Language
set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form
3.1.4
Rights expression language
machine-readable language that declares rights and permissions
3.1.5
Uniform Resource Identifier
compact string of characters for identifying an abstract or physical resource
3.1.6
Uniform Resource Locator
compact string representation for a resource available via the Internet
3.1.7
virtual object
entity that is any (visual) object except for avatars in the virtual environment
3.1.8
virtual object metadata
defines the description schemes and descriptors to represent virtual objects (3.1.7)
3.1.9
virtual world object
entity that includes avatars and virtual objects in the virtual world
2         © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 7 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016(E)
3.1.10
virtual world object metadata
defines the description schemes and descriptors to represent virtual world objects (3.1.9)
3.2 Abbreviated terms
For the purposes of this document, the following abbreviated terms apply.
MPEG-21 multimedia framework (ISO/IEC 21000-5)
MPEG-7 multimedia content description interface (ISO/IEC 15938-5)
REL rights expression language
URI Uniform Resource Identifier
URL Uniform Resource Locator
XML Extensible Markup Language
3.3 Use of prefixes
For clarity, throughout this part of ISO/IEC 23005, consistent namespace prefixes are used.
"xsi:" prefix is not normative. It is a naming convention in this part of ISO/IEC 23005 to refer to an element of
the http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance namespace.
"xml:" and "xmlns:" are normative prefixes defined in Reference [1]. The prefix “xml:” is by definition bound
to "http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace". The prefix “xmlns:” is used only for namespace
bindings and is not itself bound to any namespace name.
All other prefixes used in either the text or examples of this specification are not normative, e.g., “sedl:”,
“sev:”, “dia:”, “si:”, “mpeg7:”.
In particular, most of the informative examples in this specification are provided as XML fragments without the
normally required XML document declaration and, thus, miss a correct namespace binding context declaration.
In these descriptions fragments, the different prefixes are bound to the namespaces as given in Table 1.
Table 1 — Mapping of prefixes to namespaces in examples and text
Prefix Corresponding namespace
Ct urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2016:01-CT-NS
Sedl urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2016:01-SEDL-NS
Sev urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2016:01-SEV-NS
dia urn:mpeg:mpeg21:2003:01-DIA-NS
Si urn:mpeg:mpeg21:2003:01-DIA-XSI-NS
mpeg7 urn:mpeg:mpeg7:schema:2004
Xsi http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance
Xsd http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema
4 Virtual world object metadata
4.1 General
A specificity of Virtual Environments (VEs) with respect to other multimedia applications consists in the
representation of virtual world objects inside the environment. The "virtual world object” can be classified into
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved        3

---------------------- Page: 8 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016(E)
two types: avatars and virtual objects. An avatar can be used as a (visual) representation of the user inside
the environment. These virtual world objects serve different purposes, namely:
 characterize various kinds of objects within the VE;
 provide an interaction with the VE.
In general, creating an object is a time-consuming task. Even though some components of the object may be
related to the virtual environment (e.g. the avatar wearing a medieval suite in a contemporary style VE may be
inappropriate), there is a real need of being able to create the object once and import/use it in different VEs.
To serve the latter purpose, it should be possible to control the object from external applications (e.g. the
emotions one avatar exposes in the VE can be obtained by processing the associated user's physiological
sensors).The current standard proposes an XML Schema, called Virtual World Object Characteristics XSD, for
describing an object by considering three main requirements.
 It should be possible to easily create importers/exporters from various VEs implementations.
 It should be easy to control an object within a VE.
 It should be possible to modify a proprietary template (specific to the virtual world) of the object by
using data contained in Virtual World Object Characteristics file.
In detail, once the object is created possibly by an authoring tool specific to a VW, it can be used in any other
VWs. In case of avatars, a user can have one’s own unique presentation inside all VWs, like in real life. He
can change and upgrade his avatar, i.e. "virtual himself" in one VW and then all the updated properties will be
reflected in all the other VWs. The avatar itself contains representation and animation features but also higher
level semantic information. However, each VW may have its own internal structure for handling avatars.
ISO/IEC 23005 (MPEG-V) is not imposing any specific constraints on the internal structure of representing
data by the VW, but proposes a descriptive format able to drive the transformation of a template or a creation
from scratch of an avatar compliant with the VW. All the associated characteristics of the avatar (including the
associated motion) can be exported from a VW and then imported to another VW. Similarly, any virtual object
created by a user can also be exchangeable between VWs by exporting and importing the associated
characteristics of the object. In case of interfacing between virtual worlds and the real world, the sensed real
world information will be processed to obtain the meaningful data which can be used as control parameters on
the associated characteristics of the object in the VW. As for avatar, the captured gesture of a user can be
used to control the gesture of the avatar in the VW by updating the associated characteristics of the avatar.
Similarly, the avatar motions created in the virtual world can be mapped onto a real robot for the use in
dangerous areas, the maintenance tasks, the support for disabled and/or elderly people, and the like.
The proposed schema deals only with metadata and does not include representation of the geometry, sound,
scent, animation or texture. To represent the latter, references to media resources are used. To provide a full
interoperable solution, it may be combined with ISO/IEC 14496-16 (MPEG-4 Part 16) which includes a
framework for defining and animating avatars and/or ISO/IEC 14496-11 (MPEG-4 Part 11) which includes a
framework for defining graphical assets.
There is a base type of attributes and characteristics of the virtual world objects which is shared by both
avatars and virtual objects.
The base type of the virtual world object characteristics is composed of following type of data:
 identity: contains identification descriptors;
 sound: contains sound resources and the related properties;
 scent: contains scent resources and the related properties;
 control: contains a set of descriptors for controlling motion features of an object such as translation,
orientation and scaling;
 event: contains a set of descriptors providing input events from a mouse, keyboard and etc.;
4         © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 9 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016(E)
 behaviour model: contains a set of descriptors defining the behavior information of the object
according to input events;
 id: contains a unique identifier for identifying individual virtual world object information.
The virtual world object base type is inherited to both avatar metadata and virtual object metadata to extend
the specific aspects of each of metadata.
4.2 Schema wrapper conventions
The syntax defined in this Clause assumes the following Schema Wrapper to form a valid XML schema
document.
xmlns:mpeg7="urn:mpeg:mpeg7:schema:2004" xmlns:r="urn:mpeg:mpeg21:2003:01-REL-R-
NS" xmlns:mpegvct="urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2016:01-CT-NS" xmlns:vwoc="urn:mpeg:mpeg-
v:2016:01-VWOC-NS" targetNamespace="urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2016:01-VWOC-NS"
elementFormDefault="qualified" attributeFormDefault="unqualified"
version="ISO/IEC 23005-4" id="MPEG-V-VWOC.xsd">



schemaLocation="http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/MPEG-
7_schema_files/mpeg7-v2.xsd"/>
schemaLocation="http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/MPEG-
21_schema_files/rel-r/rel-r.xsd"/>
schemaLocation="http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/MPEG-
V_schema_files/MPEG-V-CT.xsd"/>
Additionally, the following line should be appended to the resulting schema document in order to obtain a well-
formed XML document.

4.3 Root element and top-level tools
4.3.1 General
This subclause specifies the root element and the top-level tools which can follow root element in virtual world
object characteristics information. The root element is the only element which can appear as the topmost
element when the world object characteristics information specified in this part of ISO/IEC 23005 is
instantiated. The top-level tools are defined as the elements which are allowed to appear as the topmost
element within the root element.
4.3.2 XML representation syntax







 
  minOccurs="0"/>

© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved        5

---------------------- Page: 10 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016(E)




 





  maxOccurs="unbounded"/>


4.3.3 Binary representation syntax
Number of Mnemonic
bits
VWOCInfo
VWOCInfoType
VWOCInfoType{

AvatarListFlag 1
bslbf
VritualObjectListFlag 1
bslbf
if(AvatarListFlag){

  AvatarList
AvatarListType
}

if(VirtualObjectListFlag){

  VirtualObjectList
VirtualObjectListType
}



AvatarListType{

NumAvatarType
vluimsbf5
for(k=0;k< NumAvatarType;k++){

    IndividualAvatarType 8
bslbf
   Avatar AvatarBaseType
}

}

VirtualObjectListType{

6         © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 11 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016(E)
NumVirtualObjectType
vluimsbf5
for(k=0;k< NumVirtualObjectType;k++){

IndividualVirtualObjectType 16
bslbf
    VirtualObject
VirtualObjectBaseType
}

}


4.3.4 Semantics
Name Description
VWOCInfo
The root element that serves as the topmost element in the virtual world
object characteristics description.
VWOCInfoType
The root type provides basic structure that the virtual world object
characteristics information description should follow through the root
element.
AvatarListFlag
This field, which is only present in the binary representation, signals the
presence of the AvatarList element. ”1” means that the element shall be
used. ”0” means that the element shall not be used.
VirtualObjectListF
This field, which is only present in the binary representation, signals the
lag
presence of the VirtualObjectList element. ”1” means that the
element shall be used. ”0” means that the element shall not be used.
AvatarList
Optional wrapper element that serves as the placeholder for the list of
avatar characteristics information.
VirtualObjectList Optional wrapper element that serves as the placeholder for the list of
virtual object characteristics information.
AvatarListType
Wrapper element type which allows multiple occurrences of avatar
characteristics information.
NumAvatarType This field, which is only present in the binary representation, specifies the
number of Avatar information contained in the AvatarListType.
Avatar
Specifies the description of avatar characteristics information.
AvatarBaseType
AvatarBaseType is a type providing a characteristic description of an
individual avatar.
IndividualAvatarTy This field, which is only presented in the binary representation, specifies the
pe
types of each avatar.
Individual Avatar Type Binary representation for
avatar type (8 bits)
AvatarType 00000000
MakeupAvatarType 00000001
Reserved 00000010-11111111

VirtualObjectList
Wrapper element type which allows multiple occurrences of virtual object
Type characteristics information.
NumVirtualObjectTy This field, which is only present in the binary representation, specifies the
pe
number of virtual object information contained in the virtual object list type.
VirtualObject
Specifies the description of virtual object characteristics information.
VirtualObjectBaseT
VirtualObjectBaseType is a type providing a characteristic description
ype
of an individual virtual object.
IndividualVirtualO
This field, which is only presented in the binary representation, specifies the
bjectType types of each virtual object.
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved        7

---------------------- Page: 12 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016(E)
Individual Virtual Object Type Binary representation for
virtual object type (16
bits)
VirtualObjectType 0000hex
Reserved 0001hex-FFFFhex


4.3.5 Examples
The following shows two use cases of VWOCInfo element, which are for listing avatar characteristics
information and for listing virtual object characteristics information.
The first example shows the case when the VWOCInfo is used for AvatarList.
xmlns:mpegvct="urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2012:01-CT-NS" xmlns:vwoc="urn:mpeg:mpeg-
v:2016:01-VWOC-NS" xmlns:r="urn:mpeg:mpeg21:2003:01-REL-R-NS"
xmlns:mpeg7="urn:mpeg:mpeg7:schema:2004">

 
  . . .
 



The second example shows the case when the VWOCInfo is used for VirtualObjectList.
xmlns:mpegvct="urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2012:01-CT-NS" xmlns:vwoc="urn:mpeg:mpeg-
v:2016:01-VWOC-NS" xmlns:r="urn:mpeg:mpeg21:2003:01-REL-R-NS"
xmlns:mpeg7="urn:mpeg:mpeg7:schema:2004">

 
  . . .
 



Note that these examples are only showing a part of the complete XML description to show the use of the root
element, VWOCInfo, with the AvatarList and the VirtualObjectList.
4.4 Virtual world object base type
4.4.1 General
This subclause defines a complex type of VWOBaseType, which the avatar cha
...

FINAL
INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
DRAFT
STANDARD FDIS
23005-4
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29
Information technology — Media
Secretariat: JISC
context and control —
Voting begins on:
2015-12-16
Part 4:
Voting terminates on:
Virtual world object characteristics
2016-02-16
Technologies de l’information — Contrôle et contexte de supports —
Partie 4: Caractéristiques d’objet du monde virtuel
RECIPIENTS OF THIS DRAFT ARE INVITED TO
SUBMIT, WITH THEIR COMMENTS, NOTIFICATION
OF ANY RELEVANT PATENT RIGHTS OF WHICH
THEY ARE AWARE AND TO PROVIDE SUPPOR TING
DOCUMENTATION.
IN ADDITION TO THEIR EVALUATION AS
Reference number
BEING ACCEPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL, TECHNO-
ISO/IEC FDIS 23005-4:2015(E)
LOGICAL, COMMERCIAL AND USER PURPOSES,
DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS MAY ON
OCCASION HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE
LIGHT OF THEIR POTENTIAL TO BECOME STAN-
DARDS TO WHICH REFERENCE MAY BE MADE IN
©
NATIONAL REGULATIONS. ISO/IEC 2015

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
ISO/IEC FDIS 23005-4:2015(E)

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO/IEC 2015, Published in Switzerland
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on the internet or an intranet, without prior
written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below or ISO’s member body in the country of
the requester.
ISO copyright office
Ch. de Blandonnet 8 • CP 401
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
[e-mail]
www.iso.org
ii © ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
Contents Page
Foreword . ii
Introduction . iii
1  Scope . 2
2  Normative references . 3
3  Terms, definitions, abbreviated terms and prefixes . 3
3.1  Terms and definitions . 3
3.2  Abbreviated terms . 4
3.3  Use of prefixes . 4
4  Virtual world object metadata . 5
4.1  General . 5
4.2  Schema wrapper conventions . 6
4.3  Root element and top-level tools . 7
4.4  Virtual world object base type . 10
4.5  Virtual world object common data types . 34
5  Avatar metadata . 56
5.1  General . 56
5.2  AvatarType . 57
5.3  MakeupAvatarType . 184
6  Virtual object metadata . 202
6.1  General . 202
6.2  VirtualObjectType . 203
Annex A (normative) Classification Schemes . 209
Annex B (informative) Virtual world object characteristics schema . 260
Annex C (informative) Possible usage of ISO/IEC 23005-4 . 261
Annex D (informative) Information on ISO 639 . 262
Annex E (informative) Patent statements . 263
Bibliography . 264

© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved i

---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical
activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other
international organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also
take part in the work. In the field of information technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint
technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for
the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject
of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent
rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the
Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does
not constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity
assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the WTO principles in the Technical
Barriers to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: Foreword - Supplementary information
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology, Subcommittee SC 29,
Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information.
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition (ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013), which has been
technically revised.
ISO/IEC 23005 consists of the following parts, under the general title Information technology — Media context
and control:
 Part 1: Architecture
 Part 2: Control information
 Part 3: Sensory information
 Part 4: Virtual world object characteristics
 Part 5: Data formats for interaction devices
 Part 6: Common types and tools
 Part 7: Conformance and reference software
ii © ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
Introduction
This International Standard provides an architecture and specifies associated information representations to
enable interoperability between virtual worlds, e.g. digital content provider of a virtual world, gaming (serious),
simulation, DVD, and the real world, e.g. sensors, actuators, vision and rendering, robotics (e.g. for
revalidation), (support for) independent living social and welfare systems, banking, insurance, travel, real
estate, rights management and many others.
Virtual worlds (often referred to as 3D3C for 3D visualization and navigation and the 3Cs of Community,
Creation and Commerce) integrate existing and emerging media technologies (e.g. instant messaging, video,
3D, VR, AI, chat, voice, etc.) that allow for the support of existing and the development of new kinds of social
networks. The emergence of virtual worlds as platforms for social networking is recognized by businesses as
an important issue for at least two reasons.
1) It offers the power to reshape the way companies interact with their environments (markets, customers,
suppliers, creators, stakeholders, etc.) in a fashion comparable to the Internet.
2) It allows for the development of new (breakthrough) business models, services, applications and devices.
Each virtual world, however, has a different culture and audience making use of these specific worlds for a
variety of reasons. These differences permit users to have unique experiences.
Although realistic experiences have been achieved via devices such as 3D audio/visual devices, it is hard to
realize sensory effects only with presentation of audiovisual contents. The addition of sensory effects leads to
even more realistic experiences in the consumption of audiovisual contents. This will lead to the application of
new media for enhanced experiences of users in a more realistic sense.
Such new media will benefit from the standardization of control and sensory information which includes
sensory effect metadata, sensory device capabilities/commands, user sensory preferences, and various
delivery formats. The MPEG-V architecture can be applicable for various business models for which
audiovisual contents can be associated with sensory effects that need to be rendered on appropriate sensory
devices.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission
(IEC) draw attention to the fact that it is claimed that compliance with this document may involve the use of
patents.
ISO and the IEC take no position concerning the evidence, validity and scope of these patent rights.
The holders of these patent rights have assured ISO and the IEC that they are willing to negotiate licences
under reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions with applicants throughout the world. In this
respect, the statements of the holders of these patent rights are registered with ISO and the IEC. Information
may be obtained from the companies listed in Annex E.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights other than those identified in Annex E. ISO and the IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any
or all such patent rights.
© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved iii

---------------------- Page: 5 ----------------------
Information technology — Media context and control —
Part 4:
Virtual world object characteristics
1 Scope
This part of ISO/IEC 23005 specifies syntax and semantics of description schemes and descriptors used to
characterize a virtual world object related metadata, making it possible to migrate a virtual world object (or
only its characteristics) from one virtual world to another and to control a virtual world object in a virtual world
by real world devices.
The system architecture of this International Standard is depicted in Figure 1 and the scope of this part of
ISO/IEC 23005 is highlighted. That is, only the information representation that acts as an input to the possible
RV/VR Adaptation and as an exchangeable information format to support interoperability between the
virtual worlds, as defined in ISO/IEC 23005-1, is specified in this part of ISO/IEC 23005.
NOTE The actual RV/VR Adaptation is deliberately informative and left open for industry competition.

Figure 1 — System architecture
© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved 2

---------------------- Page: 6 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
2 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and are
indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references,
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC 15938-5:2003, Information technology — Multimedia content description interface — Part 5:
Multimedia description schemes
ISO/IEC 21000-5, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 5: Rights Expression
Language
ISO/IEC 23005-6, Information technology — Media context and control — Part 6: Common types and tools
3 Terms, definitions, abbreviated terms and prefixes
3.1 Terms and definitions
For the purpose of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 23005-6 and the following apply.
3.1.1
avatar
entity that can be used as a (visual) representation of the user inside the virtual environments
EXAMPLE A player's representation in the video game and human or fantastic representations of a person's self in
non-gaming online worlds.
3.1.2
avatar metadata
defines the description schemes and descriptors to represent avatars (3.1.1)
3.1.3
Extensible Markup Language
set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form
3.1.4
Rights expression language
machine-readable language that declares rights and permissions
3.1.5
Uniform Resource Identifier
compact string of characters for identifying an abstract or physical resource
3.1.6
Uniform Resource Locator
compact string representation for a resource available via the Internet
3.1.7
virtual object
entity that is any (visual) object except for avatars in the virtual environment
3.1.8
virtual object metadata
defines the description schemes and descriptors to represent virtual objects (3.1.7)
© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved 3

---------------------- Page: 7 ----------------------
3.1.9
virtual world object
entity that includes avatars and virtual objects in the virtual world
3.1.10
virtual world object metadata
defines the description schemes and descriptors to represent virtual world objects (3.1.9)
3.2 Abbreviated terms
For the purposes of this document, the following abbreviated terms apply.
MPEG-21 multimedia framework (ISO/IEC 21000-5)
MPEG-7 multimedia content description interface (ISO/IEC 15938-5)
REL rights expression language
URI Uniform Resource Identifier
URL Uniform Resource Locator
XML Extensible Markup Language
3.3 Use of prefixes
For clarity, throughout this part of ISO/IEC 23005, consistent namespace prefixes are used.
"xsi:" prefix is not normative. It is a naming convention in this part of ISO/IEC 23005 to refer to an element of
the http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance namespace.
"xml:" and "xmlns:" are normative prefixes defined in Reference [1]. The prefix “xml:” is by definition bound
to "http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace". The prefix “xmlns:” is used only for namespace
bindings and is not itself bound to any namespace name.
All other prefixes used in either the text or examples of this specification are not normative, e.g., “sedl:”,
“sev:”, “dia:”, “si:”, “mpeg7:”.
In particular, most of the informative examples in this specification are provided as XML fragments without the
normally required XML document declaration and, thus, miss a correct namespace binding context declaration.
In these descriptions fragments, the different prefixes are bound to the namespaces as given in Table 1.
© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved 4

---------------------- Page: 8 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
Table 1 — Mapping of prefixes to namespaces in examples and text
Prefix Corresponding namespace
Ct urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2016:01-CT-NS
Sedl urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2016:01-SEDL-NS
Sev urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2016:01-SEV-NS
dia urn:mpeg:mpeg21:2003:01-DIA-NS
Si urn:mpeg:mpeg21:2003:01-DIA-XSI-NS
mpeg7 urn:mpeg:mpeg7:schema:2004
Xsi http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance
Xsd http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema
4 Virtual world object metadata
4.1 General
A specificity of Virtual Environments (VEs) with respect to other multimedia applications consists in the
representation of virtual world objects inside the environment. The "virtual world object” can be classified into
two types: avatars and virtual objects. An avatar can be used as a (visual) representation of the user inside
the environment. These virtual world objects serve different purposes, namely:
 characterize various kinds of objects within the VE;
 provide an interaction with the VE.
In general, creating an object is a time-consuming task. Even though some components of the object may be
related to the virtual environment (e.g. the avatar wearing a medieval suite in a contemporary style VE may be
inappropriate), there is a real need of being able to create the object once and import/use it in different VEs.
To serve the latter purpose, it should be possible to control the object from external applications (e.g. the
emotions one avatar exposes in the VE can be obtained by processing the associated user's physiological
sensors).The current standard proposes an XML Schema, called Virtual World Object Characteristics XSD, for
describing an object by considering three main requirements.
 It should be possible to easily create importers/exporters from various VEs implementations.
 It should be easy to control an object within a VE.
 It should be possible to modify a proprietary template (specific to the virtual world) of the object by
using data contained in Virtual World Object Characteristics file.
In detail, once the object is created possibly by an authoring tool specific to a VW, it can be used in any other
VWs. In case of avatars, a user can have one’s own unique presentation inside all VWs, like in real life. He
can change and upgrade his avatar, i.e. "virtual himself" in one VW and then all the updated properties will be
reflected in all the other VWs. The avatar itself contains representation and animation features but also higher
level semantic information. However, each VW may have its own internal structure for handling avatars.
ISO/IEC 23005 (MPEG-V) is not imposing any specific constraints on the internal structure of representing
data by the VW, but proposes a descriptive format able to drive the transformation of a template or a creation
from scratch of an avatar compliant with the VW. All the associated characteristics of the avatar (including the
associated motion) can be exported from a VW and then imported to another VW. Similarly, any virtual object
created by a user can also be exchangeable between VWs by exporting and importing the associated
characteristics of the object. In case of interfacing between virtual worlds and the real world, the sensed real
world information will be processed to obtain the meaningful data which can be used as control parameters on
the associated characteristics of the object in the VW. As for avatar, the captured gesture of a user can be
used to control the gesture of the avatar in the VW by updating the associated characteristics of the avatar.
© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved 5

---------------------- Page: 9 ----------------------
Similarly, the avatar motions created in the virtual world can be mapped onto a real robot for the use in
dangerous areas, the maintenance tasks, the support for disabled and/or elderly people, and the like.
The proposed schema deals only with metadata and does not include representation of the geometry, sound,
scent, animation or texture. To represent the latter, references to media resources are used. To provide a full
interoperable solution, it may be combined with ISO/IEC 14496-16 (MPEG-4 Part 16) which includes a
framework for defining and animating avatars and/or ISO/IEC 14496-11 (MPEG-4 Part 11) which includes a
framework for defining graphical assets.
There is a base type of attributes and characteristics of the virtual world objects which is shared by both
avatars and virtual objects.
The base type of the virtual world object characteristics is composed of following type of data:
 identity: contains identification descriptors;
 sound: contains sound resources and the related properties;
 scent: contains scent resources and the related properties;
 control: contains a set of descriptors for controlling motion features of an object such as translation,
orientation and scaling;
 event: contains a set of descriptors providing input events from a mouse, keyboard and etc.;
 behaviour model: contains a set of descriptors defining the behavior information of the object
according to input events;
 id: contains a unique identifier for identifying individual virtual world object information.
The virtual world object base type is inherited to both avatar metadata and virtual object metadata to extend
the specific aspects of each of metadata.
4.2 Schema wrapper conventions
The syntax defined in this Clause assumes the following Schema Wrapper to form a valid XML schema
document.
xmlns:mpeg7="urn:mpeg:mpeg7:schema:2004" xmlns:r="urn:mpeg:mpeg21:2003:01-REL-R-
NS" xmlns:mpegvct="urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2016:01-CT-NS" xmlns:vwoc="urn:mpeg:mpeg-
v:2016:01-VWOC-NS" targetNamespace="urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2016:01-VWOC-NS"
elementFormDefault="qualified" attributeFormDefault="unqualified"
version="ISO/IEC 23005-4" id="MPEG-V-VWOC.xsd">



schemaLocation="http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/MPEG-
7_schema_files/mpeg7-v2.xsd"/>
schemaLocation="http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/MPEG-
21_schema_files/rel-r/rel-r.xsd"/>
schemaLocation="http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/MPEG-
V_schema_files/MPEG-V-CT.xsd"/>
Additionally, the following line should be appended to the resulting schema document in order to obtain a well-
formed XML document.

© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved 6

---------------------- Page: 10 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
4.3 Root element and top-level tools
4.3.1 General
This subclause specifies the root element and the top-level tools which can follow root element in virtual world
object characteristics information. The root element is the only element which can appear as the topmost
element when the world object characteristics information specified in this part of ISO/IEC 23005 is
instantiated. The top-level tools are defined as the elements which are allowed to appear as the topmost
element within the root element.
4.3.2 XML representation syntax







 
  minOccurs="0"/>





 





  maxOccurs="unbounded"/>


4.3.3 Binary representation syntax
Number of Mnemonic
bits
VWOCInfo
VWOCInfoType
VWOCInfoType{

AvatarListFlag 1
bslbf
VritualObjectListFlag 1
bslbf
if(AvatarListFlag){

  AvatarList
AvatarListType
}

© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved 7

---------------------- Page: 11 ----------------------
if(VirtualObjectListFlag){

  VirtualObjectList VirtualObjectListType
}



AvatarListType{
NumAvatarType
vluimsbf5
for(k=0;k< NumAvatarType;k++){

    IndividualAvatarType 8
bslbf
   Avatar
AvatarBaseType
}

}

VirtualObjectListType{

NumVirtualObjectType
vluimsbf5
for(k=0;k< NumVirtualObjectType;k++){

IndividualVirtualObjectType 16
bslbf
    VirtualObject
VirtualObjectBaseType
}

}


4.3.4 Semantics
Name Description
VWOCInfo The root element that serves as the topmost element in the virtual world
object characteristics description.
VWOCInfoType
The root type provides basic structure that the virtual world object
characteristics information description should follow through the root
element.
AvatarListFlag
This field, which is only present in the binary representation, signals the
presence of the AvatarList element. ”1” means that the element shall be
used. ”0” means that the element shall not be used.
VirtualObjectListF
This field, which is only present in the binary representation, signals the
lag presence of the VirtualObjectList element. ”1” means that the
element shall be used. ”0” means that the element shall not be used.
AvatarList Optional wrapper element that serves as the placeholder for the list of
avatar characteristics information.
VirtualObjectList
Optional wrapper element that serves as the placeholder for the list of
virtual object characteristics information.
AvatarListType Wrapper element type which allows multiple occurrences of avatar
characteristics information.
NumAvatarType
This field, which is only present in the binary representation, specifies the
number of Avatar information contained in the AvatarListType.
© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved 8

---------------------- Page: 12 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
Avatar
Specifies the description of avatar characteristics information.
AvatarBaseType
AvatarBaseType is a type providing a characteristic description of an
individual avatar.
IndividualAvatarTy
This field, which is only presented in the binary representation, specifies the
pe
types of each avatar.
Individual Avatar Type Binary representation for
avatar type (8 bits)
AvatarType 00000000
MakeupAvatarType 00000001
Reserved 00000010-11111111

VirtualObjectList
Wrapper element type which allows multiple occurrences of virtual object
Type characteristics information.
NumVirtualObjectTy This field, which is only present in the binary representation, specifies the
pe
number of virtual object information contained in the virtual object list type.
VirtualObject
Specifies the description of virtual object characteristics information.
VirtualObjectBaseT
VirtualObjectBaseType is a type providing a characteristic description
ype
of an individual virtual object.
IndividualVirtualO
This field, which is only presented in the binary representation, specifies the
bjectType types of each virtual object.
Individual Virtual Object Type Binary representation for
virtual object type (16
bits)
VirtualObjectType 0000hex
Reserved 0001hex-FFFFhex


4.3.5 Examples
The following shows two use cases of VWOCInfo element, which are for listing avatar characteristics
information and for listing virtual object characteristics information.
The first example shows the case when the VWOCInfo is used for AvatarList.
xmlns:mpegvct="urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2012:01-CT-NS" xmlns:vwoc="urn:mpeg:mpeg-
v:2016:01-VWOC-NS" xmlns:r="urn:mpeg:mpeg21:2003:01-REL-R-NS"
xmlns:mpeg7="urn:mpeg:mpeg7:schema:2004">

 
  . . .
 



The second example shows the case when the VWOCInfo is used for VirtualObjectList.
© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved 9

---------------------- Page: 13 ----------------------
xmlns:mpegvct="urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2012:01-CT-NS" xmlns:vwoc="urn:mpeg:mpeg-
v:2016:01-VWOC-NS" xmlns:r="urn:mpeg:mpeg21:2003:01-REL-R-NS"
xmlns:mpeg7="urn:mpeg:mpeg7:schema:2004">

 
  . . .
 



Note that these examples are only showing a par
...