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A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars. This habitation usually is represented in the form of two or three-dimensional graphical representations of humanoids (or other graphical or text-based avatars). Some, but not all, virtual worlds allow for multiple users. It has been suggested that simulation software be merged into this article or section. ...
Example of an avatar as used on internet forums. ...
3D computer graphics are different from 2D computer graphics in that a three-dimensional representation of geometric data is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images. ...
The world being computer-simulated typically appears similar to the real world, with real world rules such as gravity, topography, locomotion, real-time actions, and communication. Communication has, until recently, been in the form of text, but now real-time voice communication using VOIP is available. This type of virtual world is now most common in massively multiplayer online games (Active Worlds, There, Second Life--although not games, per se, but more like virtual environments that can include gaming--Entropia Universe, The Sims Online, Red Light Center, Kaneva, Weblo), particularly massively multiplayer online role-playing games such as EverQuest, Ultima Online, Lineage, World of Warcraft, or Guild Wars. A computer simulation or a computer model is a computer program that attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system. ...
The term Real World or real world may mean: the stage of life that one enters after completing ones schooling, as in the sentence, After students enter the real world, they may not be able to sleep late as often as they did while in school. ...
Gravity is a force of attraction that acts between bodies that have mass. ...
For discussion of land surfaces themselves, see Terrain. ...
In a general sense, locomotion simply means active movement or travel, applying not just to biological individuals. ...
Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Communication is a process that allows beings - in particular humans - to exchange information by several methods. ...
IP Telephony, also called Internet telephony, is the technology that makes it possible to have a telephone conversation over the Internet or a dedicated Internet Protocol (IP) network instead of dedicated voice transmission lines. ...
World of Warcraft, a popular MMORPG Massively multiplayer online game (also called MMOG) is a computer game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. ...
Active Worlds (AW) is a 3D virtual reality platform. ...
There is a 3-D online virtual world created by Will Harvey and Jeffrey Ventrella. ...
Second Life (abbreviated as SL) is an Internet-based virtual world launched in 2003, which came to international attention via mainstream news media in late 2006 and early 2007 [4][5] and a libertarian anarchy developed by Linden Research, Inc (commonly referred to as Linden Lab). ...
Entropia Universe is a massively multiplayer online virtual universe designed by Swedish software company MindArk. ...
This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
Red Light Center (RLC) is a privately owned Massively Multi-User Reality (sm) site that was made available to the public early in 2006 by Utherverse, Inc. ...
The Kaneva Game Platform is the game development solution from Kaneva, Inc [1], designed for end-to-end MMO game (MMOG) development for FPS and RPG genres. ...
World of Warcraft, a popular MMORPG Massive(ly) multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a genre of online role-playing video games (RPGs) in which a large number of players interact with one another in a virtual world. ...
EverQuest (EQ) is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that was released on March 16, 1999. ...
Ultima Online (UO) is a popular graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), released on September 25, 1997, by Origin Systems. ...
Lineage (Korean: 리니지) is a medieval fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 1998 by the South Korean computer game developer NCsoft. ...
World of Warcraft (commonly abbreviated as WoW) is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is the fourth game in the Warcraft series, excluding expansion packs and the cancelled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. ...
Guild Wars is an episodic series of multiplayer online role-playing games created by ArenaNet, a Seattle game development studio and a subsidiary of the South Korean game publisher NCsoft. ...
History The earliest virtual worlds were not games but generic virtual reality simulators. The first virtual worlds presented on the Internet were communities and chat rooms, some of which evolved into MUDs and MUSHes. They attempted to create sets of avatars for virtual interaction. Community virtual worlds allowed access to the environment and encouraged creating buildings, art, and structures (and many did not include avatars). Virtual reality (VR) is a technology which allows a user to interact with a computer-simulated environment, be it a real or imagined one. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
In computer gaming, a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon, Domain or Dimension) is a multi-player computer game that combines elements of role-playing games, hack and slash style computer games and social chat rooms. ...
The login screen from M*U*S*H, the centre of development for PennMUSH. A MUSH (sometimes said to be an abbreviation for Multi-User Shared Hack, Habitat, Holodeck, or Hallucination, though these are backronyms) is a text-based online social medium to which multiple users are connected at the...
Some early prototyptes were WorldsAway, a prototype interactive communities featuring a virtual world by CompuServe called Dreamscape, and The Palace, a 2-dimensional community driven virtual world. However, credit for the first online virtual world usually goes to Habitat, developed in 1987 by LucasFilm Games for the Commodore 64 computer, and running on the Quantum Link service (the precursor to America Online).[citation needed] WorldsAway was an 2D virtual community in which users were represented as avatars. ...
CompuServe, (in full, CompuServe Information Services, or CIS), was the first major commercial online service in the United States. ...
The Palace is a software program used to access two-dimensional virtual communities, also called palaces. ...
Habitat was an early and technologically influentual online role-playing game developed by Lucasfilm Games and made available as a beta test in 1987 by Quantum Link, an online service for the Commodore 64 computer and the corporate progenitor to America Online. ...
Official LucasArts logo LucasArts Entertainment Company (sometimes shortened to LEC), is a video game developer and publisher. ...
The Commodore 64 is the best-selling single personal computer model of all time. ...
Quantum Link main menu Quantum Link (or Q-Link) was a U.S. online service for Commodore 64 and 128 personal computers that operated from November 5, 1985 to November 1, 1994. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ...
In 1996, the city of Helsinki, Finland with Helsinki Telephone Company (since Elisa Group) launched what was called the first online virtual 3D depiction, intending to map the whole city. The Virtual Helsinki project was eventually renamed Helsinki Arena 2000 project and parts of the city in modern and historical context were rendered in 3D.[citation needed] Helsinki (pronounced with the stress on the first syllable in Finnish — think Helsin Ki), or Helsingfors in Swedish, is the capital of Finland. ...
In 1998, Emil Sina designed and launched the world's first distinct 3D virtual community on the Internet called Ultraworld. Ultraworld featured streets, buildings, and shops, where users could explore and communicate as animated, lifelike avatars. Other features included teleportation, telegrams, surround sound and music. Sina, coining the term "The New Internet," allowed businesses to purchase virtual real estate within the world.
The first virtual world devoted to the education of children was launched as Whyville.net by Numedeon inc. in 1999.[citation needed] Site design included many features that are now common to other virtual worlds, including user-customizable avatars, an "in world" economy, and 'bubble chat". In addition, the site includes educational games and simulations.
The virtual world concepts One perception of virtual worlds requires an online persistent world, active and available 24 hours a day and seven days a week, to qualify as a true virtual world. Although this is possible with smaller virtual worlds, especially those that are not actually online, no massively multiplayer game runs all day, every day. All the online games listed above include downtime for maintenance that is not included as time passing in the virtual world. While the interaction with other participants is done in real-time, time consistency is not always maintained in online virtual worlds. For example, EverQuest time passes faster than real-time despite using the same calendar and time units to present game time. Online means being connected to the Internet or another similar electronic network, like a bulletin board system. ...
A type of video game in which the game automatically loads adjacent rooms while you explore the one you are in. ...
As virtual world is a fairly vague and inclusive term, the above can generally be divided along a spectrum ranging from:
- massively multiplayer online role-playing games or MMORPGs where the user playing a specific character is a main feature of the game
- massively multiplayer online real-life/rogue-like games or MMORLGs, the user can edit and alter their avatar at will, allowing them to play a more dynamic role, or multiple roles.
Some would argue the the MMO versions of RTS and FPS games are also virtual worlds if the world editors, such as GtkRadiant allow for open editing of the terrains if the "source file" for the terrain is shared. Emerging concepts include basing the terrain of such games on real satellite photos, such as those available through the Google Maps API or through a simple virtual geocaching of "easter eggs" on WikiMapia or similar mashups, where permitted. An image from World of Warcraft, one of the largest commercial MMORPGs as of 2004, based on active subscriptions. ...
The ten avatars of Lord Vishnu, copyright BBT In Hindu philosophy, an avatar (also spelt as avatara) (Sanskrit: , ), most commonly refers to the incarnation (bodily manifestation) of a higher being (deva), or the Supreme Being (God) onto planet Earth. ...
GtkRadiant is a level design program developed by id Software and Loki Software. ...
Screenshot of Google Maps showing a route from Toronto to Ottawa on the 400-Series highways. ...
The first easter egg. ...
// WikiMapia is an online map resource that combines Google Maps with a wiki system, allowing users to add information (in the form of a note) to any location on the globe. ...
A mashup is a website or application that combines content from more than one source into an integrated experience. ...
Single-player games Many of these allow you to save the current state of this world instance to allow stopping and restarting the virtual world at a later date. (This can be done with some multiplayer environments as well.)
The virtual worlds found in video games are often split into discrete levels. Namcos Pac-Man was a hit, and became a universal phenomenon. ...
In computer and video games, a level (sometimes called a stage, course, episode, round, world, map, wave, board, phase, or landscape) is a separate area in a games virtual world, in modern games typically representing a specific location such as a building or a city. ...
In the classroom In principle, virtual worlds represent a powerful new media for instruction and education. Persistence allows for continuing and growing social interactions, which themselves can serve as a basis for collaborative education. Virtual world platforms can also provide a foundation for serious games, intended to instruct and illuminate. Some virtual world platforms also provide support for simulation based instruction, increasingly recognized as a powerful new computer enabled approach to learning. Finally, virtual worlds can provide new methods for learning evaluation and teacher professional development, including embedded assessment and teacher training linked directly to student performance.
A growing number of educational institutions are exploring existing general purpose virtual world platforms as a means to extend and enhance their offerings to students. Typically, educators create an online presence where students can interact, using their avatars to learn about new assignments or create projects that are viewable within the virtual world. For example, students taking a computer manufacturing class can log into a virtual world in which they are the inhabitants of a burgeoning village that needs their expertise for the construction of houses, furniture, machines, and other goods. An example of such a program is AWEDU, a project started by Active Worlds, Inc. A number of educational institutions are now running virutal classrooms and discussion sections in worlds like Second Life. Active Worlds (AW) is a 3D virtual reality platform. ...
Second Life (abbreviated as SL) is an Internet-based virtual world launched in 2003, which came to international attention via mainstream news media in late 2006 and early 2007 [4][5] and a libertarian anarchy developed by Linden Research, Inc (commonly referred to as Linden Lab). ...
In fiction The concept of a virtual world has become a popular fictional motif and setting in recent years, although science-fiction writers have been portraying similar ideas (for example, cyberspace) for decades. Among the most prominent virtual worlds in the literature is the ones written about by William Gibson. Virtual worlds were prominent in such movies and books as TRON, Neuromancer, The Lawnmower Man, The Lawnmower Man 2, Epic, Snow Crash, and Ghost in the Shell. There are many other examples of the virtual world; for example Lyoko in the French animated television series Code Lyoko. Science Fiction redirects here. ...
It has been suggested that Virtual world be merged into this article or section. ...
William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948), Conway, South Carolina) is an American-born science fiction author who has been called the father of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction, partly due to coining the term cyberspace in 1982,[5] and partly because of the success of his first novel...
Tron is a 1982 Walt Disney Productions science fiction movie starring Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn (and Clu), Bruce Boxleitner as Alan Bradley (and Tron), Cindy Morgan as Lora (and Yori)and Dan Shor as Ram. ...
For the 1988 video game, see Neuromancer (video game). ...
The Lawnmower Man is a 1992 film which uses elements from Stephen Kings short story The Lawnmower Man. The films original script, written by director Brett Leonard and producer Gimel Everett, was titled Cyber God and had nothing to do with Stephen King. ...
Snow Crash is Neal Stephensons third science fiction novel, published in 1992. ...
Motoko Kusanagi from the manga Ghost in the Shell. ...
An outside view of Lyoko. ...
Code Lyoko is a French animated television series featuring both conventional animation and CGI animation. ...
A popular example of a virtual world in fiction is from the movie series The Matrix, a virtual reality so realistic that the great majority of those humans plugged in think they are living in the real world and do not know that they are living in a virtual world. The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski and starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano and Hugo Weaving. ...
In business As virtual worlds grow in popularity, businesses of all sizes have begun to specialize in providing related services, including the following:
Millions of Us, Inc. Millions of Us is an agency specializing in virtual world marketing and communications campaigns. The firm was founded in May 2006 to assist clients in entering Second Life, and now works on multiple virtual world and social media platforms. Clients include Warner Bros., Intel, Microsoft, Toyota Scion, Electrolux and Diageo.
See also This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ...
Emerging Virtual Institutions collectively include the future economic and community-based growth of virtual reality worlds such as Second Life and World of Warcraft, the point where these spaces are no longer just a place for individuals to interact through computer-mediated reality, but instead become significant structures and mechanisms...
The Web3D Consortium is a not-for-profit, member-funded industry consortium whose purpose is to define and develop the X3D royalty-free open standards file format and runtime architecture to represent and communicate 3D scenes. ...
Google Earth, a highly detailed virtual globe that comes with simple atmosphere and star dome NASA World Wind, an open source virtual globe with stars and advanced atmosphere & sunlight effects Microsoft Virtual Earth 3D within Windows Live Local site NASA World Wind showing near-real-time NASA JPL Terra MODIS...
This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
External Links - Guide to Virtual Bars and Clubs
- Virtual Weblo City Example
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