With the recent developments in information and communication technologies, 3D virtual worlds have the potential to make a major contribution to design education as constructivist learning environments. Considering the changing trend in design education, we have been employing cutting-edge technologies in our design teaching, allowing students to collaborate within the 3D virtual environments s...

In this paper we discuss the potentialities of 3D virtual worlds in education. We argue that assignments in virtual worlds and a constructivist approach go hand in hand. We identify the aspects of virtual worlds (such as ActiveWorlds and SecondLife) that make them useful for education and research, as well as aspects that do not. We found that intertwining real life instructional courses with v...

Virtual worlds have become very popular recently, in particular 3D virtual worlds with a built-in virtual currency that enables providers and users to monetize their creations. Virtual Worlds based on the relatively new opensource and free-to-install “OpenSimulator” software currently lack such a virtual currency framework, in particular one that can be used across the boundaries of such virtua...

With advances in computer hardware, 3D game worlds are becoming larger and more complex. Consequently the development of game worlds becomes increasingly time and resource intensive. This paper presents a framework for generation of entire virtual worlds using procedural generation. The approach is demonstrated with the example of a virtual city.

Many researchers have paid close attention in the recent past to 3D product presentation in E-Commerce systems. Surprisingly, not many practical results have been shown. In this paper we outline the reasons for the lack of success and propose the use of 3D Virtual Worlds that not only offer natural ways of product presentation but also provide means to satisfy the social needs of customers, whi...

This paper addresses some of the central questions currently related to 3-Dimensional Inhabited Virtual Worlds (3D-IVWs), their virtual interactions, and communication, drawing from the theory and methodology of sociology, interaction analysis, interpersonal communication, semiotics, cultural studies, and media studies. First, 3D-IVWs--seen as a new and unique form of multimedia--are introduced...

Educational institutions are increasingly exploring the affordances of 3D virtual worlds for instruction and research, but few studies have been done to document current practices and uses of this emerging technology. This observational survey examines the virtual presences of 170 accredited educational institutions found in one such 3D virtual world called Second Life®, created by SanFrancisco...

Hybrid systems such as those that combine 3D virtual worlds and organization based multiagent systems add new visual and communication features for multi-user applications. In this paper we present a tool called Virtual World Builder Toolkit (VWBT) that can automatically generate a 3D virtual worlds (VW) from an organization based multiagent system (MAS) specification that establishes the activ...

The purpose of this project was to enhance the perceived naturalness of the interaction between real and virtual worlds. In order to achieve this goal, two main axes were followed. The first one is in the enhancement of the interaction with virtual worlds through a better visualization of 3D scenes and a haptic feedback from those worlds. The second axis concerns the intelligence that virtual c...

Virtual worlds allow for an immersive 3D experience with rich interactive content and learning potential for students. Through this technology, educators have abundant creative power to design and facilitate meaningful learning experiences. Even though online games and virtual worlds have been around for many years, their use in education has often been experimental or narrowed to a particular ...