Place Metaphors in Digimech Learning Environments

In the recent years, the usage of 3D Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) for educational purposes has increased. The metaphors behind the design of virtual places are quite diverse, from replication of real universities to art museums and scientific labs. At the same time, recent technological developments have opened new perspectives for the cooperation between human learners, virtual humans and anthropomorphic robots, thus extending the realm of CVEs to an augmented virtual reality continuum, where real and virtual parts supplement and influence each other. This kind of learning environments can be defined as DigiMech Learning Environments (DMLE). The goal of this paper is to provide a characterization of place metaphors for the augmented environments of DMLE. It will serve as a background for future design of such environments for different educational goals.