3D, CAD & Web AR Terminology Glossary

STEP (.step / .stp) is the ISO 10303 international standard for exchanging 3D solid model engineering data across CAD platforms without geometric or topological precision loss.

3D StoreLink parses STEP files server-side and automatically converts them into lightweight, web-optimized GLB models.

GLB is the binary container format of glTF 2.0 that packs 3D meshes, textures, materials, and animations into a single compact file optimized for sub-second web delivery.

Known as the "JPEG of 3D", GLB delivers immediate browser rendering without external plugins.

Apple Quick Look is a native iOS/iPadOS AR engine in Mobile Safari that projects 3D models at true 1:1 physical scale without third-party app installations.

Powers AR using USDZ. 3D StoreLink automatically binds assets for seamless iOS Quick Look handoff.

Google SceneViewer is an Android-native AR engine that renders interactive 3D assets in physical environments directly from Chrome via ARCore services.

Directly consumes GLB models with realistic environmental lighting estimation and floor placement shadows.

Draco is an open-source geometric compression library developed by Google that compresses 3D meshes, vertex buffers, and normals by up to 85–95%.

Reduces large 100 MB CAD models down to ~5 MB, enabling lightning-fast mobile loading.

PBR (Physically Based Rendering) is a computer graphics rendering approach that models real-world light physics (roughness, metallic reflection, ambient occlusion) for lifelike realism.

3D StoreLink leverages PBR shaders to reproduce authentic metal, glass, fabric, and wood textures.

Mesh Decimation is an optimization algorithm that reduces polygon face counts while preserving the visual silhouette and surface contours of a 3D model.

Transforms millions of dense CAD polygons into lean meshes ready for 60 FPS browser rendering.

WebGL 2.0 and WebXR are open W3C web standards providing direct GPU hardware acceleration for rendering 3D graphics and AR/VR directly within web browsers.

Powers 3D StoreLink cross-browser delivery with zero external software requirements.

B-Rep (Boundary Representation) is a method for representing 3D solid engineering shapes by the limits of their bounding surfaces, curves, and vertices.

Our pipeline tessellates smooth parametric B-Rep solids into ultra-clean triangular WebGL meshes.

Iframe Embed is a lightweight integration method allowing interactive 3D and AR models hosted on 3D StoreLink to be embedded into any website via a single line of HTML.

Embeds in Shopify, WooCommerce, or custom CMS in under 30 seconds without hurting page load speed.