ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013

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

ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013 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• Status: Withdrawn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: 03-Apr-2013
• Withdrawal Date: 03-Apr-2013
• 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: 17-Mar-2016

Relations

• Revised: ISO/IEC 23005-4:2016 - Information technology — Media context and control — Part 4: Virtual world object characteristics
• Effective Date: 23-Nov-2013
• Revises: ISO/IEC 23005-4:2011 - Information technology — Media context and control — Part 4: Virtual world object characteristics
• Effective Date: 03-Sep-2011

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 23005-4
Second edition
2013-04-01


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 23005-4:2013(E)
©
ISO/IEC 2013

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT


©  ISO/IEC 2013
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from either ISO at the address below or
ISO's member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
Case postale 56  CH-1211 Geneva 20
Tel. + 41 22 749 01 11
Fax + 41 22 749 09 47
E-mail [e-mail]
Web www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland

ii © ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
Contents Page
Foreword . iv
Introduction . v
1  Scope . 1
2  Normative references . 2
3  Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms . 2
3.1  Terms and definitions . 2
3.2  Abbreviated terms . 3
4  Virtual world object metadata . 3
4.1  Introduction . 3
4.2  Schema wrapper conventions . 4
4.3  Root element and top-level tools . 5
4.4  Virtual world object base type . 8
4.5  Virtual world object common data types . 34
5  Avatar metadata . 58
5.1  Introduction . 58
5.2  AvatarType . 59
6  Virtual object metadata . 193
6.1  Introduction . 193
6.2  VirtualObjectType . 193
Annex A (normative) Classification Schemes . 200
Annex B (informative) Virtual World Object Characteristics Schema . 249
Annex C (informative) Possible usage of ISO/IEC 23005-4 . 250
Annex D (informative) The information on ISO 639 . 251
Annex E (informative) Patent statements . 252
Bibliography . 253

© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved iii

---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(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.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of the joint technical committee is to prepare International Standards. Draft International
Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting. Publication as
an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.
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.
ISO/IEC 23005-4 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 29, Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/IEC 23005-4:2011), 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 2013 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
Introduction
ISO/IEC 23005 (MPEG-V) 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 v

---------------------- Page: 5 ----------------------
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)

Information technology — Media context and control —
Part 2:
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 ISO/IEC 23005 is depicted in Figure 1 — System Architecture 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 1

---------------------- 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, 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 and abbreviated terms
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)
2 © ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 7 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
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
4 Virtual world object metadata
4.1 Introduction
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:
 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 an 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
© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved 3

---------------------- Page: 8 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
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 a 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 an 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:2012:01-CT-NS" xmlns:vwoc="urn:mpeg:mpeg-
v:2012:01-VWOC-NS" targetNamespace="urn:mpeg:mpeg-v:2012:01-VWOC-NS"
elementFormDefault="qualified" attributeFormDefault="unqualified"
version="ISO/IEC 23005-4" id="VWOCSchema.xsd">



schemaLocation="http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/MPEG-
7_schema_files/mpeg7-v2.xsd"/>
4 © ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 9 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
schemaLocation="http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/MPEG-
21_schema_files/rel-r/rel-r.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 Introduction
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"/>



© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved 5

---------------------- Page: 10 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
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

}


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
}

}


6 © ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 11 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
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
sensor type (8 bits)
AvatarType
00000000
Reserved
00000001-11111111

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
sensor 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.
© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved 7

---------------------- Page: 12 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
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:2012:01-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:2012:01-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 Introduction
This Subclause defines a complex type of VWOBaseType, which the avatar characteristics information and
virtual object characteristics information should inherit.
8 © ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 13 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)
4.4.2 XML representation syntax
Diagram


Source





   
 
        
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
  
  











© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved 9

---------------------- Page: 14 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23005-4:2013(E)











4.4.3 Binary representation syntax
VWOBaseType{ Number of bits Mnemonic
IdentificationFlag 1
Bslbf
DescriptionFlag 1
Bslbf
VWOCFlag 1
Bslbf
BehaviorModelListFlag 1
bslbf
IdFlag 1
bslbf


if(IdentificationFlag) {

Identification
IdentificationType
}

if(DescriptionFlag) {

Description See ISO 10646
UTF-8
}
if(VWOCFlag) {

  SoundListFlag 1
bslbf
  ScentListFlag 1 bslbf
  ControlListFlag 1
bslbf
  EventListFlag 1
bslbf
  if(SoundListFlag) {
   SoundList
VWOSoundListType
  }

  if(ScentListFlag) {
10 © ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights res
...