The 3D Diskoteque:

virtual, real, and inbetween space

by Rhonda Nelson retreux@yahoo.com

August 1998

All Rights Reserved. All content copyright Rhonda Nelson 1998.

intro

Space defined from Webster’s dictionary:

1. that which makes extended objects conceivable and possible

2. place

3. distance from one object to another

Virtual, Real, Unreal, Cyber, and Physical: these ways of defined spatial types overlap. When a person watches TV or reads a book, is he or she completely in a Real space or is their mind in another space. The telephone translates a person’s voice through fiber optic cable lines that can then be heard on the other side of the planet; what space does this voice inhabit- real, virtual or a combination of both? An argument can be made that some physical spaces are not just real, but are beyond real, created to add an illusion to daily life, i.e. nightclubs or Las Vegas. When a person can control and influence a physical space through its online virtual representation, do these varied types of space (Real and Virtual) meet and immerse the user?

It is this conscious combination of virtual/real, the inbetween space, that I am addressing with this project.[SoL1] Sherry Turkle said it well when discussing Victor Turner’s idea of a “liminal moment”, stating that boundary between the virtual and the real can be liminal, “a moment of passage where new cultural symbols emerge.”[1]

This project focuses on research in the areas of virtual space and interactive spaces. It explores entertainment, immersive 3D graphics, and human to human interaction. I have built a 3D virtual nightclub, the 3D Diskoteque, with the purpose of being connected to a physical nightclub. This project opens discussion regarding user control, identity, virtual interactivity and 3D interface. Resembling telepresence art[2], this project would provide a portal through which participants can look through to visit, explore, and influence a real space nightclub. The 3D Diskoteque that I built is not yet connected to a real space nightclub, but research and decisions regarding interactivity were made with the original goals in mind and are the foundation of this project. See Appendix C for more details on the 3D Diskoteque deliverable.

This paper will discuss the virtual element of the project (the 3D Diskoteque) as well as the theory behind this project as it relates to community, interaction, and identity in virtual space, real space, and telepresence. I will also provide a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis, a standard business software analysis, of the software program Alice[3] that I used to create the 3D Diskoteque and will discuss other software I researched. The end result provides a needs analysis that outlines a virtual environment builder application that would support highly interactive space building, such as the 3D Diskoteque.

Background

I enjoy nightclubs and discoteques. As a place of interactive encounters where games, mating rituals, and social codes are performed and acted out, the nightclub is a pure communication experiment. This social interface is a natural setting for the investigation of new technologies of communication, including cybernetworking and telepresence. Adding a graphical element to an online community could be a mistake or could be a benefit, depending on the audience and/or the methods or devices given to the user. For this reason, it was imperative for me to study how people identify themselves in a nightclub as well as on online communities. As I will discuss later, issues of identity and interaction play a big part in the development of a online community and a virtual space.

Unofficially "doing research" on nightclubs for over 10 years, I have often aspired to design and own my own club. To some degree, developing a virtual space was a way for me to have a club without zoning laws, alcohol permits, and noise ordinances.

Delving into the creative medium of interspatial relationships and considering the combination of the real and virtual opens new topics of discussions and experiments to the nature and effects of space. The combination of virtual spaces and interactive spaces under the umbrella of entertainment is the basis for this project. There are four major fields

which arise when considering the fields of reality and spatial relationships:

1. High tech entertainment software design: the development of future entertainment and communication software packages and the desire to see increased graphical and auditory capabilities.

2. Interactive art and the invisible interface: the use of alternative interactive devices instead of keyboards, mice, and joysticks, and to allow the body and human movement to affect the user’s surroundings visually and audibly

3. Telepresence art: the virtual and the RL (real life)- allowing the movement in real space to affect the the immersive 3D worlds and enabling intuitive and creative communication between real and virtual in a nightclub environment

4. 3D graphical space: creating an immersive graphical nightclub environment focusing on interactive devices for use in multiplayer environments

On the basis of these concerns and interests, I focus on the creation of a virtual nightclub, striving toward the goal of facilitating what I call a “quest for unity” among the clubgoers. Use of the word “quest” is a pointed choice on my part to represent the priority this goal takes in the discoteque and rave scene. This goal is not secondary to the goal of and participation in rave and club culture. This quest for unity has been described by several clubkids and ravers in popular culture as the main goal for an evening out at a club. When I ask people what they want in a nightclub, most people will state something along the lines of “good atmosphere, good people, good vibe.” Current popular culture novels like Ecstasy House and Cyberia by Douglas Rushkoff, discuss ravers who seek this unity at a club. I would argue that most clubkids would say that the music, lights, and drugs are there to assist in reaching the goal of unity, a sense of togetherness, or a good vibe, not for selfish purposes. Perhaps this sounds like 60’s dogma, but in building a 3D nightclub, attention would have to be paid to this support the goal of unity, in order to attract the attention of those kinds of clubgoers. This is difficult goal to attain and and the issue of identity arises when discussing the unity quest in a nightclub:

1. Otherness: how people identify themselves in a nightclub scene and add to the nightclub environ

2. Identity in online environments: how have people used the need for identity in virtual environments and how will that affect a online virtual nightclub

Identity in the virtual and RL space directly affect issues of interaction would be twofold. Firstly, a virtual domain of simulation through representational avatars[4] and computer graphics. Secondly, there would be a relational domain of re-creation through insinuation of action. The real space should have sensors that would allow a person to move through a space and his or her movements would affect the on/off switches of lights, video, sound; this would in turn affect the light, video, sound in the virtual nightclub. The virtual club participant would also be able to affect the sound, lights, and strobe. There would be built-in “bots” in the virtual club as well as avatars representing people that are online in real time. The network would be dynamic in that each space would influence the other.

With this idea of a 3D nightclub formulated, the next step was to explore how eye and camera perspective plays a part in 3D virtual space motion, including the immersive quality of nightclubber-controlled camera movements, sound, and graphics. I tested and/or researched several software packages, with varying degress of success. I chose to use Alice software from Carnegie Mellon. This software has a clear interface, user's network and support, provides camera movement, sound, graphics, and a powerful scripting language, Python[5], that runs libraries off Microsoft’s DirectX[6]

nightclubbing- identity and interaction [SoL2]

In designing a virtual nightclub, I first explored several different Real Life[7] nightclubs in Atlanta, Miami, New York City and several in Western and Eastern Europe. A selection of clubs I’ve been to on a regular basis at one point over the last 10 years include: the Red Zone, the Copa, Danceteria, C Club, Meow Mix, Mother’s, The Pyramid, China Club, Ozone, Limelight, Palladium, Tunnel, Roxy, Meow Mix, and Webster Hall in New York; Kaya and MJQ in Atlanta; Liquid and Jet Lounge in Miami; illegal rave warehouse parties in New York and San Francisco; Heaven in London and numerous clubs in the following European cities: Copenhagen, Paris, Strasbourg, Nancy (Fr.), Nice, Monte Carlo, Berne (Sw), Cologne, Berlin, Prague, Krakow, Athens, Mykonos, Rome, Barcelona, and Amsterdam. I began to take notice of the settings of the clubs what types of personaes being expressed by the individual. I also noted that the atmosphere plays in a large role in how people react to the space and influence the atmosphere. My research was informal and anecdotal, I did not provide a formal testing method. I wanted to know what kind of experience/interaction does a nightclubber search for, what kind of media effects does a nightclub provide, and how could these be recreated, modified, and emulated virtually. I discussed with nightclubbers what sorts of experience they are looking for and I searched for ways of defining this in cultural terms and metaphors.

identity and otherness [SoL3] [SoL4]

The nightclub is an “inbetween” space inherently, a space which is somewhere between an illusion and RL. People’s identities are varied and experimental,depending on the club and the night of the week. I saw bartenders, cage dancers, waitresses, door persons, guestlist holders, bouncers, DJ's and the multitude of clubbers: rappers, rastas, drag queens, baby dykes, transvestites, coke fiends, drug pushers, preying old rich men, alcoholics, rich preppy kids on heroin or special k, and mixtures of the above.

Nightclubs are notorious for attracting people experimenting with their RL identities. The styles and fashions that people court provide entertainment and certainly a rich opportunity for watching people interact and affect each other. This obvious experimental and sense of multiplicity[8] is shown in development of a nightlife personality versus the daytime personality. Many of the clubkids and clubgoers I know do not dress and act the same way during the day. They are, in fact, creating an identity, as people in online communities, such as MUDs and MOOs, do, which Sherry Turkle discusses in her book Life on the Screen. I would propose that the behavior in MOOs and MUDs and nightclubs are similar in the testing of identities. There are those people who experience clubbing as a way of life and their daily life highly reflects their club persone, in style, attitude, and dress. However, others, only have a club side in the context of the club, like some may change identities on a MOO. It is the nightclub where the look and style and music experimentation is so freely and fiercely tested. The club life embraces the weird, the different, the Other[9], to a point where it becomes the norm. Just as people in MOOs and MUDs are creating a persona or personae online that are often times different than their RL personae, clubgoers use the nightclub as a source of refining and creating those identities that RL has made taboo to express in other contexts.

Sherry Turkle suggests that when individual identity is viewed as a unified whole, “it (is) easy to recognize and censure deviation from the norm, (but considering multiplicity) it is easier to recognize diversity and to accept an array of ours’ and others’ inconsistent personae”[10]. This acknowledgment of multiplicity and the constructed Self is therefore making it easier to allow one’s identity to be multiple, not as in multiple personalities or fragmented Self, in essence, allowing the person to formulate identities appropriate to the context. The definition of Self is changing as more opportunities to experiment with one’s Self come to the front. The identity experimentation in clubs parallels the MUDs and MOOs character and avatar creation, that I discuss later in the Virtual and Real section

interaction

Defining “interaction” as a transmission or communication of actions or ideas between people formalizes an integral foundation for an “interactive” environment, whether it be virtual or RL. The 3D Diskoteque requires interactive possibilities. As mentioned earlier, the quest for unity must be a specific element to consider with regard to interaction. If a programmed interaction is not adding to the sense of participating and the creative energy to the space, then it is primarily nonexistent as an interaction for the 3D Diskoteque and the quest for unity.

Allucquere Rosanne Stone, in her book The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age, discusses corollaries of interaction set forth by Andy Lippman of MIT in the early days of interaction research. Lippman calls interaction a “mutual and simultaneous activity on the part of both participants, usually working toward some goal, but not always.”[11] The 3D Diskoteque would provide an opportunity to be entertained, but also to entertain others. The goals may not be singular as there might be different events in different rooms of the nightclub with different purposes. One of Lippman’s corollaries of interaction is to give the participant the impression of an infinite database.[12] Providing this illusion relates to providing a structure for entertainment in the 3D Diskoteque. Nightclubs will often have different shows, fashion or otherwise, powerful VR gear, carnival equipment, etc. that is brought in for the night only, providing a rich spontaneity. One night I went to the Limelight in NY and jumped around in a blown up carnival room that everyone was bouncing around on; the next night, there was a VR game that everyone was testing and a leather fashion show on stage. If a user in a virtual nightclub, senses this infinite possibility of entertainment, they may be more likely to return.

Regarding interaction in the space of a RL club, often clubs have videos that play along with the music, thus providing a highly mediated arena, the lights provide special effects that can lift the dancer’s mind to a higher level, the bassbeat transcends normal sound levels and an send a dancer into a freestyle frenzy with heightened endorphins and emotions. How do people add to this experience? Their interaction of dancing, talking, drinking is highly social and virtual space should allow multi-participant or multi-player capabilities and chatting. A multi-sensory experience would be the goal. Having too much going on is better than having too little when it comes to clubs. Most people in a club setting want to have oversensory stimulation, as they surround themselves with this and take illegal drugs to intensify the experience.

Sometimes participant, sometimes observer, I have reflected on several specific requirements that make a nightclub experience a positive experience and a high energy vibe, focusing on the need for Otherness in a club and yet the need for feel connected, questing for unity. They are [SoL5] :

1. Spontaneity

2. Overt interaction (i.e. dancing, talking and drinking with other people)

3. Subtle interaction (i.e. watching others interact - you rarely see everyone in a club always involved with someone, rather, quite often you watch people watching people)

4. Lights/Sound/Video

5. Dancing

Similar to the two types of interaction mentioned above, overt and subtle, artist Jeffrey Shaw[13] in his 1983 interactive installation, Points of View, distinguished between “participation” and “interaction,” allowing spectators to “watch” the participant steer through a space.[14] As the participant is moving, others are watching the scene and the behaviour of the participant. Though they are not actively participating, their action of viewing is a form of interaction. If a dancer in the 3D Diskoteque has programmed some new dance moves, the surrounding avatars will participate by watching the procession. There are many artists working in the realm of interactive

active space

interactive art

American Myron Krueger started computer controlled interactive art with the Glowflow[15] in 1969. The floor had pressure sensitive sensors, loudspeakers in each corner of the room and tubes with colored suspensions on the walls. The participant would affect the lights and sounds. Then other artists like Rauschenberg and James Seawright created similar “responsive environments”. At the same time, Ivan Sutherland [16]was developing the first head mounted display to be used in virtual reality applications; the HMD provided a stereoscopic view of a scene to the viewer, while calculating perspective and roll, pitch and yaw coordinates, so the viewer appears to be moving through a space. These two areas, sensored space and head mounted displays, of art and technology have greatly influenced the present interactive art and computer technology. The 3D Diskoteque borrows greatly from the the combination of these artworks and technological developments.

Another interactive installation entitled “Dark Pools”[17] by Janet Cardiff and Georges Bures Miller was created at Banff Arts. I saw this piece at the Morrie Healey Gallery in New York City. It seems there is a story being told as I move around in the space This piece allowed the participant to walk through a space and,through the user of sensors, turn audio, video, and lights on, actively showing the use of the body as an interactive device and allowing the user a sense of true influence on the space. Without awareness of where the sensors were placed, the visitor wanders through the space affecting video, sound, and lights in the atmosphere of an apartment.

telepresence art[SoL6]

The word “telepresence” was first used in the early 1980’s, in reference to telerobotics.[18] By the end of the same decade, the word also referred to artwork that explored telerobotics as a new art medium.[19] Telepresent art, then is the merging of the virtual “telematic space” with the hardscape of the physical space. It is no longer limited to the study of the aesthetics of telerobotics, but encompasses several science and art domains. The difference between telepresence art and virtual reality may be in the kind of sense data the program imports and outputs. If the data is synthetic, then it’s purely virtual reality; if, however, the data corresponds to a remote physical reality, then it is within the realm of telepresence art, allowing a remote user to “perform a action and see the results”[20] The end goal of the 3D Diskotecque project is to include the use of telepresence. The virtual user would control and move the discoball and influence the RL space discoball at the same time. At the same time, the physical space dancers would be read by sensors that would affect both the real and the virtual space. A clear example of this give and take feedback is in the “VirtuAlice[21]” project, which links the virtual and the real through use of a wheelchair and video camera that are controlled by the virtual and the real user as a collaborative artpiece. The web participant controlled the camera while the gallery participant wheels the wheelchair around. The camera view then is affected equally by both participant.

“The Trace[22]” is a telepresent artpiece that problematizes the notion of telembodyment. Two stations are placed in two different cities. The station consists of a rear-projection screen on the ceiling, slides, robot lamps, 10 speakers, and a wireless ultrasonic tracker, which tracks the participant’s exact position. This coordinate data is transferred over an ISDN line so that each sensor controls audiovisual elements in both stations. A 3D shadow emcompasses the real space of their bodies. The Trace is re-creating a semblance of a person. Telembodyment occurs when the two participants enter each other coordinates. What is it like to inhabit or be inhabited by another? One of the purposes of this system and why I think it important in the context of a virtual nightclub, is that it addresses the “lebensraum,"[23] the physical distance we keep between ourselves and others. Most of the time people in a nightclub bump into people all the time, but personal dance space is an issue with more than just a few. Whether collision detection is turned on or off may affect people’s experiences, depending on their willingness to get bumped around or have someone walk through them.

Issues of telepistemology[24] come into play as networked environments introduce issues of scale (thus time and space). This extreme of spatiality, Peter Lunenfeld of the Art Center in Pasadena states, is a new terrain for electronic media artists.[25] This has great impact on our understanding as far as how space relates to scale and time.[26] In creating the 3D nightclub, this would affect the feeling of how long a person has been in the space. The smaller space nightclub would cause the person to feel as if they have been there longer than they actually have. Virtual spaces provide the ability to express space and time differentials and proportions, with scale as a parameter of space.

real and virtual community [SoL7]

In analyzing the social structures and needs of a nightclub and connecting the nightclub to a “virtual” discoteque, I analyze issues of online communities and the Otherness (Alterity)[SoL8] found in the escapism of the nightclub. There are many, many text-based communities that have existed over the years through MUDS and MOOs, analyzed by Howard Rheingold, Amy Bruckman and Amy Jo Kim; I look at some of the strategies that worked for MUDs and MOOs in retaining interest and getting an audience to return, including Amy Jo Kim’s “9 Timeless Design Principles for Community-Building”.[27] Several of these principles can be found in current chat communities, text, 2D, and 3D, such as JazzCentralOnline and various graphical chat communities I discuss later in the Software section.

Is the person in the inbetween space in two different spaces at once, or is it a space of its own? Affecting the interactive requirements of a nightclub then should make the experience transcend space and the place between the virtual and the real: a true interactive telepresence of entertainment. Allowing the virtual clubber to control the strobe in the real space nightclub or lights or the music would allow an opportunity for people and nightclubs all over to connect and allow guest well-known New York City DJ Keoki, for example, to "telepresent spin". A user may create a room in a nightcclub and be their own DJ for a group of people in the virtual club; this cyber DJ can then be heard in a room in the RL nightclub that is open to guest cyber DJs.

The blending of the virtual and the real is clear in the aspect of IRC (internet relay chat), MUDs (multiuser domains) and MOOs (Multiuser Object Oriented). MUDs and MOOs are text-based virtual communities that use that metaphors of physical space. IRCs are chats using the TV channel metaphor, with users often logging on for hours a day. A classic example of the blending of virtual and real life is when an IRC user once used the phrase “on RL,” as if real life was a channel on IRC.[28] MUD and MOO users log in as their own created character name and can go to different “rooms” and type in commands that then show up on other users’ screens. The user is usually anonymous in that the real gender and name of the individual is private. My own experience with different MOOs (ie. tkMOO) chat softwares(i.e.Active Worlds) shows that this anonymous social interaction allows for a great deal of role playing and gender switching. Allucquere Roseanne Stone discusses the gender crossover in the Story of the Cross Dressing Psychiatrist,[29] where a male gender switched to being a female and handicapped psychiatrist who was extremely outgoing and well-liked by others on the MOO. MOOs allow the user to take control of the action, unlike television, and to play an active role in the participation in the storyline.

MUDs have been called laboratories for the construction of identity[30] and many players use MUDs to express a different identity they may not feel comfortable doing in RL. The transference of relationships as well as psychological benefits from MUDs to RL is why many users consider MUDs very important to their RL.MUDs and MOOs need to be controlled by the user and they transfer control to the user. The freedom to create their own identity melds into the graphical VE’s in that the VE’s need to provide a way for the user to create their own avatar. Several online virtual worlds, Active Worlds[31] for example, has some prebuilt avatars that the user can use. The Palace[32], though only 2D, allows the user to pull in whatever graphic he or she wants to to use as a 2D avatar. Oz Interactive has an avatar builder that provides the user with a basic selection of avatars, but then the user can resize parts, recolor, and rename. Providing a 3D avatar builder is technically more difficult than providing 2D avatars, however, the Oz avatar builder is the beginning of the next level of 3D avatar builders, allowing the user more control of the appearance of their character. There is a software program called AvatarMaker1.0[33], which starts with a basic human form, allowing the user to resize the body, change colors of bodyparts, texturemaps for photo images to be wrapped around the face, and body positioning.

MUDs and MOOs sometimes incorporate “bots”, that is, computer programs that respond to users and can appear to hold a conversation. It is a creative use of artificial intelligence, perhaps, but also an interesting psychology experiment when people realize they are conversing with a bot. In the MUDs, the conversation with the bot may become competitive, the user wanting to outwit the bot.[34] Since the bot is programmed to only talk about certain topics of conversation, the user will usually end up feeling superior.[35] In the 3D Diskoteque, characters such as the bartender would undoubtedly be “bot-like”, having a semi-programmed response to characters. In a rave club such as the 3D Diskoteque, the emphasis would not be on having a supportive, political, kindly conversation with the bartender as an Irish pub might. Rather, the bartender would respond to basic drink and price requests, and perhaps talk about the loudness of the club music or tell a story about some drama the night before. These interactive bots would definitely pull the user into the space by providing some some form of interaction.

For all the talk of “virtuality” in popular culture, the quest for physical movement and emulation of what is familiar is desired in MUDs, MOOs, and virtual online worlds. LambdaMOO has a bar called Dred’s Bar where the user can order a drink and users can perform programmed dance segments, the text showing them dancing the tango. On Active Worlds, an online 3D graphical world, there is a sports bar where that connects to the web and shows streaming real video of sporting events. These virtual spaces are in fact, attempting to imitate more than the chatting between people. Dancing by text and watching sports via real audio while in a virtual sports bar, is providing people a familiar context in which to interact.

New and interesting uses of electronic media and connectivity of real to virtual spaces include the Cybertheatre Club[36], a live RL club space in Brussels, which uses the web to garner another community. Providing email accounts for users, as well as video and audio live streaming and archived shows, the Cybertheatre Club truly combines real space and virtual space; it is not simply a static advertisement for the physical space.

The notion of the Real is being emulated virtually in many domains and facets of our daily lives. There are virtual chemistry experiments, virtual financial exchanges, virtual photos of events that never took place, virtual self-representation. Our culture is becoming more virtual before our eyes. But no matter how virtual we get, as long as we have a body, we will have desire, pain, and mortality of the physical to deal with on a daily basis.

Software Analysis- The 3D Diskoteque: Case Study

As I tested and researched various software applications and techniques, I found several different programs to be well-suited for different tasks in the construction of a virtual space.

In creating the 3D Diskoteque and being most concerned with the above issues of an interactive nature, I researched and tested several software packages currently available for building 3D games and environments. Many of this systems are very high level, and allow the user or builder only certain and specific types of interaction and creative input. Others are low level, working with programming languages, requiring a steeper learning curve, though in theory allowing the user more freedom to develop his or her own system.

The needs of the 3D Diskoteque fell somewhere in the middle of the high- level and low level application requirements. As a non-computer scientist working to create a rapid prototype, I needed a high level scripting language, however, I did not want a system/world that already had a predetermined interaction design with preset animations like several virtual communities on the internet. I did not want prebuilt buttons; I wanted to create the interaction devices myself and allow users to click on items in the diskoteque to trigger events. In the following section, I will discuss the graphical virtual builder applications and technologies I researched. I will provide a SWOT analysis of Alice, discussing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that the program provides.

Software:

Motivate[37] is a software from Motion Factory. It provides support for intelligent characters, that is, one character’s actions can and will affect others, providing a rich interactive environment. However, when I tested this software, the tutorials weren’t always working and the software was still beta. Animations were created using keyframing which was nice. I couldn’t get texture maps to change and didn’t want to use the prebuilt characters and scenes. According to what I read in the support documentation, Motivate included built-in multi-player capabilities, however, I found they had not shipped this software section out yet.

Commercial virtual world builders allow a person to create a miniature world. In the following worlds and world builders I researched, none actually conformed to a physical space or affected or controlled items in a physical space.

Oz Interactive[38] is a company in Iceland that released the first client and server solution that enables delivery of real-time streaming 3D animation over the Web. In a partnering with RealNetworks[39], Oz intended the Real Player G2 server, creating the RealSystem G2[40] renderer, the basis of Oz Live, the first application that enables streaming of 3D animation synchronized with other multimedia data to a standard PC with a narrow-band dialup connection. Oz has a proprietary system including Oz Live Creator, which is an authoring tool that converts geometry and animations from file formats such as VRML 2.0 into the Oz Live streaming file format. This transparent conversion supports all 3D authoring tools. In a partnering with RealNetworks, Oz entended the Real Player G2 server, creating the REalSystem G2 renderer, In 1998, they made public their 3D server that allows users to move in the premade spaces from Oz. The user enters in Ozone, where he or she can teleport to another room. The soundroom opens with spatialized sound (sound cast into space) The sound gets softer as I move away from the “center” of the room. Sounds change as I move to a different part of the room. Sound pans from one speaker to the other. Avatars have realistic motion captured by motion capture plugged in performance artists.

Oz Interactive’s avatar builder is quite good, allowing the user a lot of freedom is choosing types of characters, molding and resizing them. Avatar movements are separated out by body part and and the speed of the movement can be changed. Avatar color, size, and motion can be changed

Active Worlds[41]

Active Worlds provides easy accessibility on low bandwidth connections, robust client server stability, and the only platform which currently supports streaming VRML geometry online today. You can surf the web, play java games, and participate in a multiplayer environ. There are several options to create your own avatar and you need to be a member to have full access to travelling in spaces, but must be member to build worlds.

First a web page opens up, allowing information to show about the world and discussion groups. The program can be quite slow if the world is detailed. Teleporting to another space is allowed through doors and also by typing coordinates. Citizens (paying members) can build up a list of contacts to easily find friends later. Under Help there is a list of webpages that assist a person is creating a world. I met people at a tiki bar and a sports bar with televisions broadcasting an image out every 30 seconds, and I also visited a new home of a new builder and he showed me around his VRML world.

Builder School, Active Worlds

This world within Active Worlds assists beginniners in building a world. Clicking on signs can teleport you to a space where a there is a teacher. A teacher showed me how up duplicate objects and move them around. There is a section of this world that shows all the object examples in graphic form and explains how they were built and how to copy

them for your world.

Philips Vevo, Active Worlds

This Active World is a virtual replica of the company offices in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Moving through a door opens a web page about the room that you have entered. Clicking on a virtual photo on the wall opens a web page about that future product. Obviously used for commercial purposes, it is a distinctive way of showing perspective clients a product.

WorldsChat[42]

This software comes with a proprietary avatar builder program and is based on the meetaphor of exploring a space station, floating in space, and is easy to get lost.

ComicsChat

This software provides built-in avatars that can change expression on the touch of a button in 2D comic format. Chatting is communicated in balloons or in private boxes, which are whispered. A user can be in several rooms at once, and have several conversations at once. It provides an easy search for users names and rooms’ names.

WorldsAway[43]

Originally Habitat[44], it is a 2D world, difficult for me to find any people at first, then difficult to find buttons to ask for help. WorldsAway works on an economy basis, collect tokens and buy things- the more you log in, the more tokens you get. New characters have to be careful they don’t give someone their heads; they have to be bought back at the pawn shop. Different objects that can be bought are linked to the web where more information is given.

The Palace[45]

The Palace is a 2D world with messages appearing in bubbles over the avatar’s head. There are sound and music options, interactive possibilities that can be programmed, and it is easy to move from one palace world to another by clicking on a door. Guests are only allowed partial access to the avator possibilities and interactive possibilities (no painting on the room for the Guests).

Pueblo[46] is a hybrid of a multimedia MUD or MUSH client, allowing MUDs to gain graphics and sound effects and VRML avatars. This is important to note the convergence of text-based communities that are combining with graphics capabilities. One company, Metaplay, successfully used Pueblo to host improvisational “Simprov” events,[47] which were entertainment events that were created online.

AvatarMaker1.0

Starting with a basic human form, the user can resize the body, change colors of bodyparts, texturemaps for photo images to be wrapped around the face, body positioning.

Black Sun Passport

Blaxxun Interactive was the first company to offer VRML-based multi-user interaction. They have a free server one can download for evaluation and access to the Blaxxun bot scripting language, which enables the application developer to link 30 different pre-defined Blaxxun bots actions to 20 different system events, and to define new events and responses, including invoking 3rd party functionality (e.g., database commands).

VRML 2.0 or VRML97

VRML is a standardized markup language that allows 3D rendering and movement through a space on the web. It is fast becoming the Internet standard for 3D spaces. Although one can use a text editor to code VRML, several packages with GUI interfaces allow simple building of rooms and objects. Virtual Reality Markup Language employs many of the concepts of reality regarding physics of space, light, sounds, gravity color, and movement. In order to build VRML worlds, usually one needs a VRML modeler and a VRML authoring program to add interactivity, Cosmoworlds includes both, simple modeling program and a keyframe animation editor. 3DstudioMax provides complex modelling program but low on authoring capabilities, except that it supports inverse kinematic animation.

Virtual Home Space Builder, now marketed by CosmoSoftware[48], as Cosmo Home Space Designer, allows people to build in VRML 2.0, using an object-oriented interface. VRML offers a scripting language, however, no VRML software program provides a visual way to provide interactivity for the script-challenged. This would have been a problem in building a 3D Diskoteque which was very focused on interactivity. I was also concerned with the texture mapping which vastly increases file sizes, negating some of the virtues of VRML, speed and realtime interaction. Multi-avatar VRML spaces are available with servers like Black Sun’s CyberHub[49] and a free server at Aereal Inc.[50]

Two 3-D-rendering libraries for Web browser plug-ins, authoring tools, and graphics hardware are OpenGL and Direct3D (D3D), which is more accessible. Among VRML 2.0 authoring tools that use Open GL are CosmoWorlds and V-Realm Builder, and the browser is CosmoPlayer[51]; among those that use D3D is VRCreator and browser WorldView. However, Microsoft and SGI are developing Fahrenheit, a rendering library for Windows that will look very similar to OpenGL. Several file translators exist[52] for VRML, which makes it a viable option for those building virtual worlds. A VRML world basically consists of :

1. A geometry(polygons) and an appearance (textures),

2. Position of camera viewpoints,

3. Lighting

4. Optimizations to make the world load faster over the internet

Alice[53]

Alice is a software in beta from Carnegie Mellon University. Providing low level scripting with Python, an interpretive, object-oriented programming language often compared to Perl, Tcl, or Java. Some of the strengths of Alice include the fact that Python does not need compiling, allowing for rapid testing and input. The interface is clear and non-threatening, there is an email list for support and the software is free of charge. Alice allows multiple animations to occur at a relatively quick speed. Alice provides flexibility regarding world building, in that one can easily start from scratch, using prebuilt models or bring in one’s own models, in theory.

Several weaknesses of Alice became obvious as I built the 3D Diskoteque. Alice did not accept .dxf files as it was supposed to; therefore, I did not use my own models. Alice has no built-in file converter and primarily uses a proprietary format called a3d. The use of a proprietary format might be commended in file shrinkage, however, there is no easy way to convert files to this proprietary format. Also see Appendix B which is a technical report of my experience with Alice.

Alice has a feature to test scripts; however, every script that you test in this feature is not saved in the program. Using this test script feature is the suggested method of bringing models in, placing them, situating them, and resizing them because the results are automatic. Unfortunately, this feature causes significant problems because the program will crash without known cause, corrupting the world. Since it did not save the test scripts, the models and their placements would disappear and the world would have to be rebuilt.

There is no clear description of the way Alice uses file paths (one Alice 1.0 version has all the necessary models in the same directory, another version separates them out into folders). If the user doesn’t know how to save his or her models correctly, Alice doesn’t find the models.

Alice does not have a built-in texture mapping feature for painting on models. The models CMU provides have been painted using a program called Amazon Paint[54]. This is not available for free and it is not included in the current Alice. I was able to open the current texture maps in Photoshop as they were bmp files, and then I could alter them, changing the colors, and adding new photos for faces.

The final problem with Alicet is here are no prebuilt human models other than Alice in Wonderland. This made it diffcult to design for a multiuser space in which everyone looks the same. I attempted to change the bitmaps for the drag queen and the bartender, but they are still wearing a little Alice in Wonderland dress.

Alice opens up several opportunities for freedom within the environment of an existing software. Working with a scripting language gives the user freedom to be creative without only having to relay on preexisting codes for interactivity. The menu-driven interface of Alice opens up room for more menus that can later be added, including click and drag programming for novices.

Threats that can hinder the usefulness of Alice are first and foremost prominently the hidden coding in the test script that disappears. Too much information is hidden from the user in this case. Also, a proprietary 3D file format is a serious downfall without a built in converter as it really holds back the user/designer regarding creativity. Corrupted worlds codes cannot be accessed at all which is a serious problem. Alice should save out code to a separate text based file, which can always be accessed through a basic text editor. Not having a texture painter built in also hinders the user’s ability to create a desired look and goals.

The “Killer” Virtual Environment Builder

After discussing the issues of identity, the specs of Alice and other current softwares, and the combining of the real and the virtual, the “killer” virtual environment builder specifications and requirements emerge.

Several underlying technologies are necessary to understand when discussing virtual environments. Some of the topology concerns include: ; 1. Direct3D vs. OpenGL systems vs 2D modeling vs. text 2. Collision detection 3.. Client side vs. server side rendering which speeds up the process of animations and movement in the virtual environment; 5. Loading distribution across multiple servers for speed and access.

Moreover, several issues[55] affect the experience the user sees: the transmission of the basic packet (including x,y,z coordinates, velocity, and communications, server and network latency, streaming and caching of world objects, dynamic frame rate delivery, scene description languages (such as VRML, custom, Python, webpage or gif backdrops), collision detection, and 3D stereo sound processing (as in Oz Interactive).

User’s avatars can be created in several ways. 3D models can be full polygon models, simple box structures or avatars can be simple 2D images: fixed avatars (Comic Chat) versus avatar shapers (Oz Interactive) versus avatar importers (Active Worlds) versus avatar builders (Avatar Maker). Avatars need to be allowed animation in gesture, motion, facial expressions, and morphing capabilities. Regarding texture mapping, there can be an implementation to allow photorealistic avatars (WorldsChat) or texture painting (AmazonPaint).

Communication in virtual environment via chatting systems range from text-based to full voice support considerations. Allowing external chatting rather than a built in chat would open up possibilities for more people to access the system. There needs to be a way to search for others in the Diskoteque through paging and also allow private chats or private rooms. There also needs to be a way to ignore other users that the user is not interested in paying attention to as per Pavel Curtis’ MOOs and MUDS discussion[56] and most graphical chat environments allow this feature also. Other communication such as gesture and animations are important. Public posting of notes, billboards and other signage would be important in supporting the building of a community and allowing ongoing interaction.

Robustness and flexibility of the system allows the user freedom and an opportunity to express themselves. The 3D Diskoteque should allow building opportunities for the user for people to show off their talents and ideas. Opportunity to play MIDI and WAV files for music and effects, built in animations such as spinning discoballs in the Diskoteque or escalators in WorldsAway, will assist in the immersion the user feels and the sense of presence the user attests to. Allowing links to websites will be effective as WorldsAway uses to direct users to other avatar’s pages that will assist them in getting around. The habitation of the virtual should allow bots, which have worked well with text based communities in providing entertainment and illusion of people in the space even when there aren’t. Java applet and plugin support will allow the environment to expand and mix with the gaming genre and allow people to create and add on new games in rooms.

Representing qualities of a place, such as the passage of time, needs to be considered for reasons of emulating RL. If the virtual time is considered the same as in the real world, virtual clocks displaying actual time would be very helpful in assisting the user to immerse themselves in the space and not have to leave it to check the time. Representation of movement through space would consist of coordinates in space and naming certain rooms or places in the nightclub so users can navigate themselves. Using the day/night dynamics and allowing plants or objects to grow throughout time will assist in believability that time has passed since the last visit of the user.

Based on the case study of building the 3D Diskoteque and the analysis of the above software environs, leads me to suggest features of a “killer” VE builder. These would include:

1. Access to lower level coding

2. Built-in multiplayer possibilities (automatic internet connection to server)

3. Built-in scripting language

4. Keyframing animation interface and inverse kinematics. For example, a Dance Builder element could include prebuilt animations such bounce, step, and clap. A person could use these to start building an animation and then move avatar body parts to different positions slightly to create a dance move. This would be recorded in the animaition recorder, that is discussed in the next section, Animation.

5. Built-in modeller with texture map creator. The texture map creator would work like Amazon paint, allowing the user to paint directly on the model and the save the output as a bmp that would then wrap around the model, saving the coordinates.

6. Built-in file converter providing flexibility for outside modelling software programs [SoL9]

7. Standalone maker

8. Built in avatar builder that can be customizable with plugins and addons

9. Prebuilt code that novice users can chain together to create worlds easily (with access to the code)

10. Avatar point of view change with camera (not only 3rd person) The camera would be able to recognize position and orientation of the viewer. I would suggest three camera views be built into the system: 1. Avatar 2. Over the shoulder and 3. God-view These are the most common view in 3d virtual communities.

11. Ability to query avatar locations

12. Overview map of space for spatial model

Animation

After looking at several VRML World builders as a basis for building VE worlds, I compiled a list of guidelines for building a VE builder with regard to animation focusing on ease of use through animations without programming.

1. "WYSIWYG" Editing of animations and model building

2. Menu button and tool bars

Animation templates: Users save time by choosing one of the ready-made templates to instantly add animation. Or give the pre-built templates a personal touch by inserting custom images or objects.

2-D and 3-D Shapes: Choose from several shapes, including 3-D cubes and cones.

Undo/Redo: User should not be able to make a mistake that cannot be restored.

3. Built-in Motions

Quick and simple automatic motions that allow users to add actions such as Fall, Shrink, Dance, and Spin at the click of a button.. As in the Dance Builder example, there can be parameters for motion such as degree angle of movement of of joints of the avatar and parameters regarding the types of motion: for example: foot weight (light to heavy), parallel movement to the ground (sliding to jumping), head movement, arm adjustment, and hip swagger might be 5 parameters the user could control in the creation of their avatar’s animations and create their own dance moves and types of walking.

4. Animation Recorder

In addition, users can create unique movements and give objects life and motion just by moving the object around the page. If this animation is programmed and can be recorded, it will easily be played back for use on other figures. Users can then trade animations.

5. Built in JavaScript-like Triggers: Mousedown/mouseup, mouseenter/mouseexit, mousedrag, URL linking – Send people to other locations in the Web site or on the World Wide, Color Cycle Behavior

The above stipulations of the “killer” VE builder is based on the need for a highly interactive 3D space in which people/users/players/participants are experimenting with their identity, telepresent/virtual/real space, and a desire for creative input and individuality, yet, commonality and unity. Several challenges await the developer. Allowing a user to create highly (subtle and overt) interactive virtual environments, yet emphasizing ease and freedom in the development of this software will be a formidable task. Robustly supporting the novice and experienced users in the development and creation of a virtual environment will decidedly require reflection on the type of low level language and scripting language to be used as well as what plugins and addons will be allowable. .In summary, these conditions, if they can be met, will only be a beginning regarding virtual 3D interactive spaces. I’ve touched upon several issues in this paper with regard to the 3D Diskoteque, and the amount of interactive spaces and research that have come about in the last year, guarantee that more issues will come to the forefront.

references

Books, Essays, Lectures

Critical Art Ensemble. The Electronic Disturbance. New York: Autonomedia. Ch. 6: Fragments on the Problem of Time. 1994. http://mailer.fsu.edu/~sbarnes/ted/ch06.html

Critical Art Ensemble. “Utopian Promises- New Realities.” Lecture, 1994. http://mailer.fsu.edu/~sbarnes/lectures/interface.html

Damer, Bruce. Avatars! California: Peachpit Press. 1998.

Hayles, N. Katherine. “Embodied Virtuality.” In Banff Center for the Arts (Eds), Immersed in Technology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 1996.

Holzman, Steven. Digital Mosaics, New York: Simon and Schuster. 1997.

Kruger, Myron. Artificial Reality II. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. 1991.

Lovejoy, Margot. Postmodern Currents. New York: Prentice Hall. 1996.

Leonardo magazine. Online. http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-journals/Leonardo/

McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media. http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~xinwei/pub/img/media/McLuhan/UnderstandingMedia.html

Popper, Frank. Art of the Electronic Age. New York: Harry N. Abrams. 1993.

Reingold, Howard. Virtual Communities. California: Touchstone Books Ch. 3-6. 1992.

Ronell, Avita. “A Disappearance of Community.” In Banff Center for the Arts (Eds), Immersed in Technology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996.

Rushkoff, Douglas. The Ecstasy Club. San Francisco: Harper Edge, 1997.

Rushkoff, Douglas. Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Cyberspace. San Francisco: Harper Collins. 1994.

Stone, Allucquère Rosanne. The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age. Cambridge: MIT Press. Ch 3, 4, 5. 1995.

Tenhaaf, Nell. “Mysteries of the Bioapparatus.” In Banff Center for the Arts (Eds), Immersed in Technology. Cambridge: MIT Press. 1996.

Turkle, Sherry. Life on the Screen. New York: Simon & Schuster. Ch.7 Aspects of the Self , Ch.9 Virtuality and its Discontents, Ch.10 Identity Crisis. 1995.

Turner, Victor. “The Ritual Process: Structure and Antistructure.” 1969. http://www.coas.drexel.edu/humanities/faculty/thury/Turner2.html

Wark, McKenzie (date), “Suck on this, Planet of Noise.” In Simon, Perry (Ed) Critical Issues in Electronic Media. New York: SUNY. 1995.

Articles

Bennett, Ed, “Emerging Software for Telepresence Art.” Ylem Newsletter. September 1997. http://www.ylem.org/newsletters/SeptOct97/article6.html

Bruckman, Amy. “Moose Crossings.” ACM interactions. Sept/Oct 1996. p 47.

Curtis, Pavel. “Social Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual Communities.” 1992.

ftp://ftp.lambda.moo.mud.org/pub/MOO/papers/DIAC92.txt

Dinkla, Soke. “The History of Interface in Interactive Art.” ISEA 1994 Proceedings. http://www.uiah.fi/bookshop/isea_proc/nextgen/08.html

Druckery, Tim. “Cheap, Fast, and Out of Control..” 1997. Online. http://www.adaweb.com/context/reflex/

Druckery, Tim. “Netopos: Notopos: Bodies of Knowlege.” Online. http://www.t0.or.at/~krcf/nlonline/nonTimothy.html

Goldberg, Ken. “Telepistemology on the World Wide Web.” Ylem Newsletter. Sept/Oct 1997. http://www.ylem.org/newsletters/SeptOct97/article2.html

Kac, Eduardo, “New Directions in Telepresence Art.” Ylem Newsletter. Sept/Oct 1997. http://www.ylem.org/newsletters/SeptOct97/article1.html

Lazon-Hammer, Rafael. “The Trace: Remote Insinuated Presence.” Ylem Newsletter. Sept/Oct. 1997. http://www.ylem.org/newsletters/SeptOct97/article8.html

Lunenfeld, Peter. “Questions of the Scale: Telepistemology and the Missing Referent.” Ylem Newsletter. Sept/Oct 1997. http://www.ylem.org/newsletters/SeptOct97/article7.html

Neal, Lisa. “Virtual Classrooms and Communities.” Proceedings of GROUP 97. Phoenix, AZ. Nov 16-19, 1997.

Sobell, Nina and Hartzell, Emily. “VirtuAlice.” Ylem Newsletter. Sept/Oct 1997. http://www.ylem.org/newsletters/SeptOct97/article4.html

Stone, Valerie E. “Social Interaction and Social Development in Virtual Environments.” Presence. Vol 2:No. 2. Spring 1993. p 153.

Turkle, Sherry. “Who Am We?” Wired. Jan. 1996. p 14.

Websites and bookmark list

*these can all be found at: http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/~rnelson/thesisbib.html

New Media references and indexes

critical art ensemble work

http://mailer.fsu.edu/~sbarnes/lectures/interface.html

Utopian Promises- Net Realities- Critical ARt Ensemble

http://mailer.fsu.edu/~sbarnes/lectures/interface.html

Utopian Promises- Net Realities

http://www.factory.org/nettime/archive/1046.html

CAE interview

http://mailer.fsu.edu/~sbarnes/ted/ch06.html

Fragments on the Problem of Time- from CAE

http://www.zkm.de/

New Media Museum in Germany

http://www.inm.de

INM - Institut für Neue Medien

http://www.aec.at

ARS ELECTRONICA CENTER

http://www.salon-digital.de/ui/6RBj5.7b/index.html

http://www.rhizome.org/fresh

RHIZOME: THE NEW MEDIA ART RESOURCE

http://www.v2.nl

V2 homepage- WILD SITE

http://www.v2.nl/cgi-bin/w3-msql/FreeZone/freezone.html

V2_Freezone

http://www.nunc.com/search.phtml

Idea online : Search of Electronic Artists

http://www.ylem.org/newsletters/SeptOct97/article1.html

NEWSLETTER / Ylem/ Artists Using Science & Technology

http://www.nunc.com/index.phtml

Idea online : english home page

http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-journals/Leonardo

Leonardo On-Line

http://www.artcom.de/contacts/city-and-architecture/berlin.de

ART+COM Projects: Berlin

http://www.artcom.de/about/welcome.en.shtml

About ART+COM- based in Berlin, english page

http://www.salon-digital.de/particles/paradocs/index.html

Supreme Particles- Frankfurt, Germany- a group of new media artists

VIRTUAL/REAL ART & TELEPRESENCE ART

http://www.adaweb.com/context/reflex/index.html

REFLEX | Tim Druckrey

http://www.creativetime.org/dwa/dwa97/wishmachine.html

The Wish Machine- online and real space

http://www.t0.or.at/~krcf/nlonline/nonTimothy.html

Druckery- Netopos virtual

http://www.zkm.de/english/departments/medienmuseum/sammlung/beschreibung/04.html

Jill Scott- Salon Digital - virtual/real

http://www.lynnhershman.com/doll2/about.html

telerobotic doll

Clubs and music online

http://www.shoevegas.com/visible/index.html

"Visible Darkness"- Vibe Club

http://www.metamute.com/docs/mute/issue9/plug.htm

mute online - issue 9 - SHORT/CUTS - The Plug 'n' Play Club

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/4702/ambinfo.html

The Ambient Paths 98.2 - The [AMBIENTS] Mailing List INFOPAGE

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/4702

The Ambient Paths 98.2 - New MP3's In Archive

http://www.nirvanet.com/fr/cybertheatre/agenda

NIRVANET: cybertheatre-- this is my favorite site

Alice/Python

http://www.alice.org

Alice: Interactive 3D Graphics for Windows 95 and NT 4.0

http://www.python.org

Python Language Website

Interactive Art

http://www.mrl.nyu.edu/perlin

Ken Perlin's homepage

http://www.adaweb.com/influx/hardway/home/home.html

Matthew Ritchie | The Hard Way: online interactivity

http://www.interlog.com/~drokeby/vns.html

David Rokeby : Very Nervous System interactive, sound

http://taylor.ieor.berkeley.edu/shadowserver/index.html

ShadowServer- interactive online project

http://www.nunc.com/showrecord.phtml

?table=personnes&langage=english&search=SHAW_Jeffrey

Jeffrey Shaw

http://telegarden.aec.at

The Telegarden- intractive and online

http://www2.sva.edu/cgi-bin/kcgi/rekd.cgi?cell-1=bigotry&cell-2=endemic

REKD- Ken Feingold's interactive art NYC

http://www.tech90s.net/kf/transcript/kf_01.html

Ken Feingold: Interactive art gambit

http://prixars.orf.at/press/english/iawin.htm

ARS- Winners of interactive art competittion

http://www.aec.at/prix/einstieg/einste.html

ARS Electronica archives of interactive artists

http://www-nmr.banffcentre.ab.ca/WPG/DarkPool/index.html

Dark Pools: Janet Cardiff

http://www.abbeymedia.com/Janweb/index.html

Janet Cardiff/George Bures Miller

http://www.uiah.fi/bookshop/isea_proc/nextgen/08.html

the next generation - The History of the Interface in Interactive Art

http://www.235media.com/installations.html

Installations- LIST OF INTERactive Installation artists

Virtual Graphical Worlds and Communities

Non VRML technical sites

http://www.digitalspace.com/avatars/index.html

DigitalSpace: Avatars Book Home Page and Teleport

http://www.digitalspace.com/avatars/book/appendix/netiq.htm

Netiquette guide- Digitalspace.com

http://www.ccon.org

Contact Consortium HomePage

http://www2.magmacom.com/~gerryp/howtoav.html

How to build your own avatar

http://www2.magmacom.com/~gerryp/howtowrl.html

World Building- How to build

2d Communities

http://www.microsoft.com/ie/chat

Microsoft Chat Home- Comic CHAT

http://www.chaco.com/pueblo

Chaco Communications, Inc- PUEBLO

http://www.thepalace.com

Welcome to The Palace - Multimedia Communications and I.P.- Based Communities

http://www.extempo.com/Tours/TourHomeBase.html

Extempo -- 2d world community

3D Communities and Software

http://www.oz.com

OZ Interactive

http://www.activeworlds.com

Active Worlds

http://www.onlive.com

OnLive, Inc.

http://www.worlds.net

WorldsChat

http://www.caligari.com

Welcome to Caligari

http://vs.spiw.com

Sony- Community Place-The Virtual Society on the Web

http://www.3dplanet.com

3D Planet: The Future of Social Expression

free 3d characters

VRML

http://www.intervista.com

Intervista:: World VIEW for VRML interactive 3D Viewing Component

http://www.paragraph.com/press_releases/150000VHSB.html

ParaGraph's VRML Sales Surpass 150,000 Units in 1996: Press Release Jan28/97

http://cosmosoftware.com/main.html

Cosmo Software

http://cosmosoftware.com/products/designer

Cosmo Software- Home Space Designer

http://www.platinum.com/products/appdev/vream/vrc_ps.htm

PLATINUM VRCreator (product & support information)

http://www.digitalspace.com/avatars/book/chtu/chtu1.htm#webworlds

Steve DiPaola- drawings of spatialized sound

http://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~h-anim

VRML Humanoid Animation Working Group

http://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~broehl/current.html

Current Bernie-related Information

http://www.avatarzoo.com/vermelgen

VermelGen VRML 2.0 Editor

http://www.sdsc.edu/vrml

The VRML Repository

http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?VAR19970701S0042

TechWeb- VRML technology article

http://www.europa.com/~keithr/free.htm

free vrml file conversion software

http://www.europa.com/~keithr/crossroads

Crossroads- freeware 3d file conversion

Online Communities: Identity and nongraphical /

http://www.diaspora.co.uk/diaspora

Digital Diaspora- would have info on Habitat

http://www.freshcity.com

FRESHCITY- from Netherlands

http://www4.jazzcentralstation.com/newjcs/main/splome.asp

JCS: Jazz Central Station online community

http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~xinwei/pub/img/media/McLuhan/UnderstandingMedia.html

McLuhan_UnderstandingMedia

http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book

The Virtual Community: Table of Contents

http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/sturkle/Life_Screen_contents.HTML

Life on the Screen - Sherry Turkle

http://www.naima.com/CS377B/template.html

Amy Jo Kim

Other

http://www.sirius.com/~ovid/coolonharaway.html

Jenny Cool's essay on Donna Haraway

http://bbs.thing.net/@897597538XR4C5PPz9Cmbs8m@/reviews/display.forum?61

Aesthetics of Connectivity- the THING- you need a login

http://www.coas.drexel.edu/humanities/faculty/thury/Turner2.html

Victor Turner on Ritual

http://www.loveparade.de

The Official Love Parade Server '98

[1] Turkle, Life, p 267. Victor Turner. “The Ritual Process: Structure and Antistructure”, 1969.

[2] Telepresence art merges the virtual telematic space with the hardscape of physical space. Kac, “New Directions”.

[3] http://www.alice.org, Carnegie Mellon University, version1.2beta

[4] Avatars are graphical representations of a user or participant. Avatars can be 2D or 3D. More information on avatars can be found in Bruce Damer’s Avatars!.

[7] “Real Life” is a standard term for discussing life in cyber terms and distinquishing it from cyber or virtual life. Also called “RL”. Gets a little mucky when people consider the virtual “real” in postmodern terms, but that is another discussion.

[9] In reference to the Other, see Sue Golding’s (Ed) introduction in The Eight Technologies of Otherness, p xiii, Routledge: London. 1997: “At its most basic understanding, otherness is simply and only a cosmetic wound…a cut on the surface…it is the IS between either and or….”

[22] “The Trace” produced by the Art and Technology Foundation, Madrid. ARCO art fair 1995, http://www.ylem.org/newsletters/SeptOct97/article8.html

[24] Epistemology is the study of what we know and how we know it. Telepistemology considers the influence of robotics and telerobotics over the web. See Goldberg’s upcoming book description: http://queue.ieor.berkeley.edu/~goldberg/art/mitpress.html

[25] Lunenfeld, Peter. “Questions of Scale.”

[26] Ibid. “A group at the University of Tennessee measured perceived passage of time in relation to changes in scale. Researchers had subjects investigate 1*6, 1*12 and 1*24 scale models complete with representations of furniture and inhabitants. They were asked to move scale figures through the environment, and to picture both them and themselves doing things appropriate to do within that space. They were asked to indicate when they had been in this scaled down "lounge" for a half an hour. Researchers found that "the experience of temporal duration is compressed relative to the clock in the same proportion as scale-model environments being observed are compressed relative to the full-sized environments. " 1*12 scale of 30 minutes is therefore 5 minutes, 1*24 is 2. 5 minutes, etc. This kind of empirical data speaks to both the opportunities and challenges of creating electronic spaces without a referent. These kinds of experiments both support and invert the postmodern "space-time compression" that David Harvey notes in The Condition of Postmodernity.”

[39] http://www.realnetworks.com Primarily using SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integrated Language) http://www.realnetworks.com/technology/smil/index.html