Date post: | 25-May-2015 |
Category: |
Education |
Upload: | centre-for-distance-education |
View: | 1,750 times |
Download: | 1 times |
OpenSim: an educator’s perspective
Peter MillerUniversity of Liverpool
Graham MillsBioZoneNWG
OpenSim is...
• Not a virtual world but a platform supporting– standalone regions (“sims”)– multi-region grids – optionally connected by Hypergrid (HG)
• Both familiar (Second Life®-like) & novel, e.g. extensible
• Open source: more affordable, more control
But...
• Less content, fewer sims and users than SL• Issues with– Voice– Physics– Lag– Client and server stability– IPR
OpenSim(ulator): a selective history• 2007
– SL Viewer open-sourced– OpenSim project starts; OSGrid founded
• 2008– New World Grid & ReactionGrid established– First avatar “jump” between OSGrid and SL
• 2009– Hypergrid, Diva Distro
• 2010– End of SL education discount; interoperability work stops– Aurora fork of OpenSim
• 2011– Kitely (OpenSim-on-demand)– Mesh and interactive web pages– Overte Foundation established
How it works
• Client/viewer, e.g. Imprudence (Kokua)• Server running OpenSim (OS) simulator + database
http:
//w
ww
.mul
tiurl.
com
/l/5
O8
Clie
ntSe
rver
Regi
on/s
imD
atab
ase
Regions can be organised as grids
OS 0.6.9 OS 0.7.0.2 OS 0.7.1
73 listed grids (34 shown, 56 HG-enabled)
14K regions (SL: 31K)21K users/month* (SL: 1M Oct’10)
*inc non-HG grids Hypergrid Business: March 2011
Hyp
ergr
id: L
ower
Mid
dle
Upp
er
i6
http://www.multiurl.com/l/5O5
Dec 2010
Edu
Map: Pam Broviak, GovGrid
KitelyVWER Grid
Clients include...
• Based on SL version 1.23– Imprudence– Astra* (OS import/export)– [Stored Inventory]
• SL Viewer 2 (web, mesh)– Kirsten’s
• Web (Unity3D on-the-fly)– BuiltBuyMe*
• NB IP issues, esp moving content from SL
* Not on SL approved TPV list, [ ] no personal experience
BuiltBuyMe web viewer
http://www.multiurl.com/l/5Ob
Low-end clients• Radegast (not Mac) – 3D object viewer,
accessibility• Mobile – No scene graphics– Future: streaming,
Unity3D, etc ?
MobileGridClient*(Android)
* commercial
OpenSim Mobile(Windows J2ME)
Pocket Metaverse*(iPhone, iPad)
OpenSim comes in many flavours• Platforms– Self-hosted (Diva Distro; HD or USB)– Hosted on public or private grid– Self-hosted, grid-attached, e.g. OSGrid
• Hosting services include– SimHost, Dreamland Metaverse, etc– Kitely (on-demand/cloud-based, Fb-
registration)• Educational grids/federations include– Immersive Education Initiative– NZVWgrid– ScienceSim
OSgrid
Ener Hax
http://www.multiurl.com/l/5RJ
The Hypergrid:Where do you want to go today?
HyperGate: walk through to access other regions/gridsCore1, ReactionGridsecondlife://71.6.165.170:9000:Core1/
NBInventory & avatar appearance
maintained
How to Hypergrid
http://www.multiurl.com/l/5RH
Sim on hgurl.com?
Chat search term & touch
Find address, e.g. Hyperica
Within 4096 regions? Chat address
Find way-station
Click link in chat history
Yes
Yes
No
No
Success?
No
Success?Sim closed?tp issues?
No
Sims HG-enabled?
Also: Map search if within 4096 regions Direct registration, e.g. if different HG versions
Yes
Try other services
No
Yes
secondlife://
Exemplar builds: History
Mount Grace PrioryNWG (shared core; suits 3-4 avatars)mainland.newworldgrid.com:60400:Mount%20Grace%20SE
Christi Maeterlinck
et al.
1939 New York World’s Fair
Trylon and Perisphere, ReactionGrid216.75.32.156:9030:TrylonandPerisphere/
Ruud LathropJoey Chernov
Science on a mountain top
Pic du Midi de Bigorre observatoryLab, NWG94.23.236.55:26000:Lab/
Aime SocratesCendres Magic
Lolly iFrogJeff Kelley
Mathematics
E8 PolytopeWizzy, ReactionGrid71.6.165.147:9000:Wizzy/
Wizard Gynoid
Population Biology
Aaron DuffyScienceSimhttp://fernseed.usu.edu/
Landscape
Green and WildjokaydiaGRID66.240.233.81:9000:Green%20and%20Wild Marmottina Taurog
Cityscape
RomennaPMgrid
Nick LassardImage CC-BY John”Pathfinder” Lester
Conclude: Prims are abundant... so use them!
Mycobacterium tuberculosisGene Regulatory NetworkBioZone, NWG
But: Lag can be an issue
Interactivity via marker overlay prims rather than scripting original prims
Intel stress test: Scaling is possible
655 avatars on ScienceSim cloud-based megaregionDistributed services (Intel Distributed Scene Graph)
Each map dot is an avatar(most are bots)
Personal small group use
• 4 GB hosted quad-core standalone, 10 Mbit/s bandwidth– Groups of 20, 10 and 1; large textures, heavily scripted– Configured to 4 regions
• Outcome– Class functional, no server crashes– A few avatars slow to rez but still operable– Lag varied; due to scripts or time of day (local bandwidth)– Future: optimise, e.g. opensim.ini to reduce rate of updating
• NWG – Events on dedicated cores with 20-25 avatars, light scripting– Shared core sim supported 3 students building, light scripting– Next version will support >100 avatars per sim
Zephyr, NWG Lolly iFrog et al.
Bonus: Native megaprims
ProteinsBioZone NWG
Alsofree texture uploads
large linksetsscript delays switchable
Hooray: Region modules in C#
Multi-body gravity simulationNew World Innovation, NWG Olish Newman
And: OSSL writes on prims and notes
PubMed searchBioZone, NWG
Version 0.7.1: Mesh format molecules
• COLLADA format• Free content: TurboSquid, etc
Kirsten’s viewer(supports mesh)
Imprudence viewer(no mesh support)
Interactive Web Pages (of course)
Shared media on prims in OpenSim 0.7.1http://join.me/ for screen sharingAlso provides voice option via Scribblar, etc
Hey, where can we get content?
• IP issues closed commercial grids, e.g. Inworldz
• Many inworld freebie stores
EmporiumScooter, jokaydiaGRID
Freebie shopsCrackou Island, NWG
NewVCENWG Austin Tate
Free web content
for import
• IAR imports to Inventory e.g. Diva Distro IAR
• Search via http://metaverseink.com/– http://bit.ly/hyperfind
OSavatarsIna Centaur
Fleep Tuque
KatijackStudio http:
//w
ww
.mul
tiurl.
com
/l/5
RE
OARs• Sim + terrain• Backup/restore
CommercialElement 4Keystone Bouchard
The Far Away, AM Radiovia OpenSim Creations (some NSFW)htt
p://
ww
w.m
ultiu
rl.co
m/l
/5RF
Server access (remote desktop application)
The console: load/save/merge inventory and sim content; register avatars
save oar myregion
Avatar management
• Via console• Via grid if
hosted• Via Wifi on
Diva Distro
http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Wifi_Module
OpenSim: ready for the big time?
In my opinion, yes but would be helped by...
• Guidance on platform choice/transition• Simplified hosting plus info on scaling/stress testing• Better sim/class management tools• Mobile client with inworld graphics• Scene and object rendering options for mobile clients• Edu/subject-specific OARs, IARs, HG directory/search• Sharing/experiences
– VWER, JISCMAIL VW listserv...