Skip to content

TechRepublic

  • Top Products Lists
  • Developer
  • 5G
  • Security
  • Cloud
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Tech & Work
  • Mobility
  • Big Data
  • Innovation
  • Cheat Sheets
  • TechRepublic Academy
  • CES
  • TechRepublic Premium
  • Top Products Lists
  • Developer
  • 5G
  • Security
  • Cloud
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Tech & Work
  • Mobility
  • Big Data
  • Innovation
  • Cheat Sheets
  • TechRepublic Academy
  • CES
  • See All Topics
  • Sponsored
  • Newsletters
  • Forums
  • Resource Library
TechRepublic Premium
Join / Sign In
After Hours

Gallery: Five virtual worlds you need to know about

By Nick Heath October 22, 2008, 1:56 AM PDT

Image
1
of 5

Gallery: Five virtual worlds you need to know about

Qwaq

Qwaq

Qwaq is essentially a virtual office where teams within organisations can work together even if they aren’t in the same physical office.rn

rnOne of its most interesting tools is Qwaq Forums, a virtual project management environment which allows people to place different document formats on a notice board and share and discuss ideas through instant messaging and voice communication.rn

rnQwaq can also be used for businesses to communicate with their clients and customers to give them updates on projects they’re working on, as well as deliver training to staff.rnrnPicture credit: Qwaq

Gallery: Five virtual worlds you need to know about

Twinity

Twinity

Twinity is all about recreating real world cities in 3D, with Berlin being the first metropolis to be reborn virtually.rn

rnAlthough Twinity is still relatively young – it was only launched at the beginning of September and is currently in beta form – the virtual world looks to appeal to cities looking for a new way to promote themselves.rn

rnCreated by German company Metaversum, Twinity allows users to explore virtual Berlin, checking out sites such as the Brandenburg Gate (above) and Alexanderplatz.rn

rnPeople can even buy and furnish their own apartments in the city and the platform is already getting commercial interest with German cinema operator, CineStar, opening the first virtual cinema.rn

rnOther cities in the pipeline include London and Singapore.rn

rnPicture credit: Metaversum

Gallery: Five virtual worlds you need to know about

OpenSimulator project

OpenSimulator project

The OpenSimulator project (OpenSim) is an open source virtual world which organisations can run on their own servers to experiment with and develop new virtual world applications.rn

rnOpenSim has been created by a group of developers from various companies – including IBM – as well as independents.rn

rnEmerging technology specialist at IBM, Robert Smart, told silicon.com: “The community around OpenSim is quite vibrant and there are a lot of new people coming to it all the time.”rn

rnIBM’s work has spawned a new feature in the site, with Big Blue developing a way of teleporting avatars between OpenSim and Second Life.rn

rnThe image above is from the Virtual University of Edinburgh (Vue) which has been using OpenSim to experiment with virtual worlds for teaching and research.rn

rnPicture credit: OpenSimulator

Gallery: Five virtual worlds you need to know about

Kaneva

Kaneva

Kaneva pitches itself as a “more human way” to connect with friends online, taking the success of a social networking site and placing it in a virtual world context.rn

rnOnce users have created their avatar they get their own Kaneva city loft that they can decorate in whatever style they want and use to store and access games, music, photos and videos.rn

rnPicture credit: Kaneva

Gallery: Five virtual worlds you need to know about

Google Lively

Google Lively

It was only a matter of time before Google got involved in the virtual world scene and sure enough it introduced Lively in July.rn

rnLike Kaneva, Lively is a more socially focused virtual world and users can bring content from other parts of the internet – such as photos and videos – as well as embed their Lively area into a blog or social networking site.rn

rnAt Lively’s launch, Niniane Wang, Google’s engineering manager for the project, said: “It’s integrated with the internet. It’s not an alternate destination. Our intention is to add to your existing life.”rn

rnPicture credit: Google

  • After Hours
  • Account Information

    Share with Your Friends

    Gallery: Five virtual worlds you need to know about

    Your email has been sent

Share: Gallery: Five virtual worlds you need to know about
Image of Nick Heath
By Nick Heath
Nick Heath is a computer science student and was formerly a journalist at TechRepublic and ZDNet.
  • Account Information

    Contact Nick Heath

    Your message has been sent

  • |
  • See all of Nick's content

TechRepublic Premium

  • TechRepublic Premium

    Media disposal policy

    PURPOSE This Media disposal policy from TechRepublic Premium provides specific instructions for ensuring organization data is properly protected when disposing of old storage media. From the policy: POLICY DETAILS When disposing of damaged, unusable, obsolete, off-lease, decommissioned, old, or end-of-service-life equipment and media, the organization requires that the guidelines outlined herein be followed: Hard drives, ...

    Published:  March 30, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT Modified:  March 31, 2023, 11:06 AM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium
  • TechRepublic Premium

    IT email templates: Upcoming software release

    PURPOSE To take some of the effort out of writing (and rewriting) emails to share with company staff and executives, TechRepublic Premium has assembled basic templates to handle the most common types of communications. Simply copy the text into your favorite word processor and customize it to fit your needs. Then, paste it into an ...

    Published:  March 30, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT Modified:  March 31, 2023, 11:29 AM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium
  • TechRepublic Premium

    Mobile app development policy

    PURPOSE The purpose of this policy from TechRepublic Premium is to provide guidelines for developing mobile applications from a security, procedural and best practices standpoint. While it contains technical guidelines, it is not intended to serve as a programming guide but as a framework for operations. This policy can be customized as needed to fit ...

    Published:  March 29, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT Modified:  March 30, 2023, 4:43 PM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium
  • TechRepublic Premium

    New client audit checklist

    PURPOSE This checklist from TechRepublic Premium provides a method for auditing and documenting a client site and assembling an inventory of systems and software, as well as giving you a framework for developing recommendations, applying costs to them, and storing all that information in one file. Tracking client contact details, circuit information, network equipment, cloud ...

    Published:  March 29, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT Modified:  March 30, 2023, 4:54 PM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium

Services

  • About Us
  • Newsletters
  • RSS Feeds
  • Site Map
  • Site Help & Feedback
  • FAQ
  • Advertise
  • Do Not Sell My Information

Explore

  • Downloads
  • TechRepublic Forums
  • Meet the Team
  • TechRepublic Academy
  • TechRepublic Premium
  • Resource Library
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • TechRepublic
  • TechRepublic on Twitter
  • TechRepublic on Facebook
  • TechRepublic on LinkedIn
  • TechRepublic on Flipboard
© 2023 TechnologyAdvice. All rights reserved.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Property of TechnologyAdvice