I will try to use an outline form to describe how (I personally) see the
questions relating to each other. You may disagree with my organization,
and if so please say so. I think an outline that we all agree on will
help us flesh out the issues and start a more-informed, less-confused
discussion.
* Will the VRML2.0 spec have the inherent ability to allow multi-user
interaction over the Internet, or will a more complicated client-server
system need to be established?
* if the answer is "inherent", then how?
* if the answer is "client-server", then do we:
* adopt a method using MIME types ala Netscape Server Push?
* How can this be made flexible enough?
* make our own new client-server specification?
* How many levels of servers will we need?
* How will registration and broadcast work?
DEFINITION of "registration": when client A
connects to a server, will client A have to
inform the server that it wants to be sent
world updates?
* How will real-estate work? Will we need
someone to allot real-estate? (more on this later)
* adapt the MUD/MOO/MUSH/etc methodolgy to a larger scale?
* Do traditional assumptions for these systems
break down with 10,000+ users at a time?
* adapt a system similar to that found in InPerson?
* How are latency problems to be resolved?
* other?
* if the answer is otherwise, then what is the answer? 42? :-)
* Do we want a metaverse which, as a whole, has a universal coordinate
system, or do we allow "zones" to control and define their own coordinate
systems? DEFINITION of "zone": Any area within the metaverse which can be
logically separated, in terms of Cyberspace (not computer or internet space,)
from other areas within the metaverse. DEFINITION of "metaverse": the
everything for cyberspace; just as much as the "World Wide Web" refers to
the collection of pages and data serviced in a particular format over the
internet. This question assumes the client-server approach.
* if we want a universal coordinate system:
* How can it be arbitrarily large? (since universal coordinate
system implies that all objects must have 3D coordinates
attached to them, and since we may have a huge number of
objects in the overall metaverse, we must have a method for
making arbitrarily many coordinate assignments. Or is there
a better way?
* How is real-estate handled? Can anybody "claim" a section
of the metaverse and attach it to their own server?
* How can the juxtaposition of two objects in coordinate space
but located on distinct servers be resolved? Or is this
question simply a subset of the real-estate question?
* How can a server which handles a region of Cyberspace find
out what is going on at any other specific region of
Cyberspace? Do we need a protocol similar to the
name-serving protocol currently available on the Internet,
that would act as a look-up table for locations in
Cyberspace and the servers that serve them?
* How can the "relative beacon" system be achieved, and
should it be? DEFINITION of "relative beacon" system:
A coordinate system where one beacon object is considered
(0,0,0) and all other cyberspace objects are referenced
relative to each other. A grid of 'beacon objects,' which
are guaranteed not to move and to have a specified and
constant relative distance to each other, can then be
created to allow all objects to reference their positions
relative to the beacon grid; new beacons can be positioned
easily when necessary.
* if we want each "zone" to maintain its own internal system:
* Will a "zone" correspond to exactly one server, one
set of files (i.e. a directory) on a server, or a
cluster of servers? Can it correspond to all of these?
Does it matter?
* How will links between servers be maintained?
DEFINITION of "link": in the general sense, any way for an
avatar to get from point A to point B in Cyberspace?
* How will servers maintain communication between
eachother? Is this necessary? (See below)
* How will Cyberspace maintain logical spatial connection
consistency; i.e. if I go to Zone A from Zone B, and leave
Zone A, will I be back in zone B? What happens if I later
enter zone A again, except this time from zone C - will
I return to B or C? Or can we insure both?
* The portal proposal discussion fits nicely here.
DEFINITION of "portal" - a link between two Zones
which specifies where to go to, and can also
optionally specify where you came from.
* Will a catalogging service similar to Yahoo be necessary?
* Do we want the Cyberspace to be one gigantic world (note that this does
not imply any particular coordinate system as in above), or seperate
worlds with possible connections to each other? I.E. do we have something
like the WWW, where almost all pages are interconnected, or do we have
somthing similar to the current spread of individual MUDs/MOOs/etc? What
does this decision imply for the client-server, real-estate, and
synchronization aspects of Cyberspace?
...
This message seems quite long to me, but something tells me I barely
scratched the surface. Please make additions; if there is interest, I can
create a "questions about Cyberspace outline" WWW page and keep it
updated when new questions arise.
>> David Peck http://www.mbhs.edu/~dpeck/ Music, Photography, Macintosh <<