> I was not saying that VR worlds should follow the real world 100%, but
> I was saying that if I go to the city VRBayArea I should see all of
> the VR worlds that are physically in the Bay Area - and I shouldn't
> expect the see the UofMn there, for that I would go to VRMpls.
>
> By doing this you:
>
> 1) lay out a foundation for the VR world which makes it easy to
> find things in it
>
> 2) lay a foundation that will allow places like your space castle to
> exist in that still enables me to find your space castle when
> I am looking for it
>
> 3) Keeps people from fighting about what a "good" spot in the VR world is
I like this, and I could live within it. There would have to be a few
conventions.
1. Don't create things in the "Real" representation of the world that
aren't really there, i.e. Don't put a big neon sign in front of your
house to make it easier to find, unless you really have one there. (This
brings up the problem of maintenance (addition and removal of new and
demolished man-made objects), and who is going to do it. I won't get into
that here.)
2. There must be some way to jump from the physical to the logical (or
illogical, depending on your point of view) world. I thought of a good
rule of thumb. Consider that a VRLogical (VRL) world cannot exist in the
VRPhysical (VRP) world, because of space constraints. It only exists
inside a computer somewhere. Map the real world position in the VRP of
the computer so it is a portal into the logical world. You go find the
machine (or portal) that serves a VRL world, and jump into it to transfer.
Using the above for an example, I would expect Apple Computer to maintain
their presence in the VRP world. I would be able to go to their corporate
location in Cupertino, California, USA (maybe using LAT-LONG, or GPS
coordinates, and the Xerox World View Map to get there). Once there I jump
through their portal into whatever VRL worlds they have open to the public
on their servers. In the VRL world, any coordinate system, and any
physical laws are up to the server operator.
One of the compelling reasons for haing a VRP world is for users who are a
little less "imaginative" to appreciate a VRL world. Businesses would
appreciate a few strict rules that they can count on and plan for. Once
you are (by choice) within someone's domain (realm) you agree to play by
their rules, and put up with their idea of what the world looks like. You
are then in their VRL.
This is getting kind of complex, and Agreement Intensive (tm), but it
works for me. Just an idea.
Acutally I think the rules that apply to HTML and URLs work just fine. Every
page or resource is on a server, and the servers are registered. Links
depend on the registered server name. What you put on your server is your
choice.
---
Andrew C. Esh mailto:[email protected]
Computer Network Technology [email protected] (finger for PGP key)
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Maple Grove MN 55311 612.550.8229 (direct)
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