TOKYO--COLLADA (Collaborative Design Activity), a common data format for content developers and one heavily promoted by Sony Computer Entertainment, has been approved as an open standard by the Khronos Group.

The toolset has been promoted by Sony as one that will make programming for the PlayStation 3 less costly and more efficient.

COLLADA is an XML-based file format for the quick exchange of digital assets within the interactive 3D graphics industry. It was created by SCEI to address a need for content creators to work freely with their data, across more than one platform.

At last week's PlayStation Meeting 2005, SCE chief technical officer Masami Chatani said that the PS3's development environment will support COLLADA.

"Approved by the Khronos Group as a complementary and necessary addition to their existing family of open standards, COLLADA will be recognized as common data format not only for games, but also for a wider field of cutting-edge graphics creation, such as movies and computer graphics," Chatani said.

The Khronos Group is an industry consortium focused on the creation of open standard APIs to enable the authoring of media on a wide variety of platforms and devices. The consortium consists of more than 80 companies, including 3D Labs, ATI, Nokia, Nvidia, Sun Technologies, Texas Instruments, and Sony Computer Entertainment.