1. Comparative Study of Platforms for Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs)
Name: Arda Tezcan
ID:
Supervisor: Associate Professor Debbie Richards
Date:

2. Outline Introduction Literature Review Platform Comparisons
Background
Motivation
Aim of the Study
Literature Review
Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVEs)
Agents
Platform Comparisons
Active Worlds
Project Wonderland
The Open Cobalt
Torque Game Builder
Unity 3D
Recommended Platform
Conclusion
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3. Introduction Minimal interest in science in Australian High Schools
Barriers to science inquiry in high schools:
Physical
Safety
Cost
MUVE as an alternative
Platform issues:
Programming (technical specialist needed)
Time
A comprehensive review of MUVE platforms
Recommended platform with justifications
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4. Literature Review Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs)
Business goals
Military
Health and medical training
Simulation
Gaming (World of Warcraft)
Educational MUVEs
AppEduTech
MOOSE
LanguageLab
River City
Virtual Singapura
NASA Aerospace
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5. Literature Review Agents Simulations Web-solutions
Military applications
Gaming
Pedagogical aspects
e-Learning
Suggestion systems
Portfolio experts
Tutoring
Language learning
Science learning
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6. Platform Comparison Metrics
Category 1: Communication and Interaction
Text chat
Voice chat
Video conference
Shared whiteboard
Shared applications (text processor, web browser, etc)
Co-browsing
Simulations
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7. Platform Comparison Metrics
Category 2: Characters
Character creation
Avatar interaction with objects and other avatars
Avatar modification and manipulation
Avatar gestures and facial expressions
Interoperability with other agent structures
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology
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8. Platform Comparison Metrics
Category 3: Features
Graphics
Physics
Audio/Sound
Maintainable code
Architecture
Open source
Source code available
Cross-platform
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9. Platform Comparison Metrics
Category 4: Education
Self-regulated learning
Collaborative learning
Teacher assistance
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10. Platform Comparisons Active Worlds (AW) Avatar based 3D MUVE platform
Content building through in-built and importing mechanisms
Permission handling; tourists, citizens, and world owners
AW Software Development Kit: C Programming
No open source
No source-code available
Poor physics
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11. Platform Comparisons Project Wonderland Java-based open source toolkit
Drag and drop content creation
Audio as a core feature
Real-time application sharing
Audio/video recording
Still under development
Requires some technical skills
Serious Java coding
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12. Platform Comparisons The Open Cobalt
Open source construction toolkit on smartboard screen
3D hyperlinked virtual environments
Rich content creation
Drag and drop content creation
Peer-to-peer network architecture
Real-time application sharing
Still under development
Squeak programming
Avatar inabilities
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13. Platform Comparisons Torque Game Builder 3D game building platform
Well developed in-built content creation
High level physics
High level effects
Torque Software Development Kit
Costly
More game-oriented
Distractive
TorqueScripting
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14. Platform Comparisons Unity 3D 3D game building platform
Rich content creation with drag and drop feature
High level physics
High level effects
Developing with JavaScript, Boo, C#
Costly
More game-oriented
Distractive
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15. Recommended Platform Project Wonderland Technological affordances
Content creation and features
Interoperability with JADE and JACK
Open source, cross platform
Educational affordances
Collaborative learning
Self-regulated learning
Teacher assistance
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16. Conclusion
Comparative and comprehensive study of existing MUVE platforms
Project Wonderland as the recommended platform
Platform recommendations to ease educational MUVE development
Assistance to educational MUVE deployment in classrooms
Enhanced educational MUVEs, improved scientific inquiries in schools
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17. Questions?
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