Dream or Nightmare:
Metaverse Now or Web 3.D v2 in a Decade?
Ferdinand Francino
Glasgow Caledonian University, United Kingdom
Neal Stephenson's “Snow Crash” features the Metaverse where a road connects virtual estates; a concept that inspired Linden Lab to create Second Life. But Second Life in it's current state is a single town. No roads lead into it, no roads lead out so the Metaverse isn't a Metaverse yet.Interfaces, appliances, user attitude or adaptability evolved the Internet as we know it today into something called Web 2.0 while underlying technology, protocols hardly changed. Web 2.0 is an artificial distinction; the internet didn't change that much, we did in the way we look at it, and use it.Virtual Worlds on the internet are on the rise, Linden Lab's Second Life currently being the foremost used in Education but the Open Simulator Virtual World Server is rapidly gaining ground. Hypergrid technology allows for a Metaverse of interconnected virtual worlds, like the protocols of the internet allowed for Web 2.0 from the beginning.Open Simulator is related to Second Life, not something completely different and will be connected to it. Content can already be exchanged, avatars have teleported between the services. But Open Simulator allows for completely isolated, individual Virtual Worlds as well or hybrid solutions where parts are open to the public, and other parts are not.Hosting a Virtual World within your institution has many advantages like connection speed, maintenance schedule, security and even costs.People are working on other towns, and roads between them. A Metaverse is about to be established, as the internet was two decades back. Now we have the opportunity to embrace the technology, understand it in an early stage so we can incorporate it in teaching and learning and distribute the knowledge far and wide.This demonstration will show how to download and install Open Simulator, which is remarkably easy. It will show you some general commands and how to connect to it with the standard Second Life viewer. This will enable you to host your own Virtual World Server or your desktop, laptop or even on a USB memory stick so every student can get one.no references included