Report on the future of Virtual Worlds and NASA’s Role

I’ve finally compiled a report on the open discussion we held a couple of weeks ago in Second Life to begin brainstorming where virtual worlds are going, and how NASA can and should shape its contributions to this important emerging technology. From the draft report:

The strongest messages that came out of the discussions was the absolute requirement for an underlying architecture for virtual environments and immersive 3D experiences that is independent of the content or browser technology used. This would underpin all 3D content on the web, and allow it to seamlessly integrate with online technologies that exist today.

This is an ongoing collaborative process. You can find the rest of the report, in both PDF format for easy reading, and wiki format for easy contributing, online here.

We are also in the early stages of organizing a weekend workshop at NASA Ames for December on virtual worlds and virtual environments. If you have ideas for speakers or topics, suggestions are most welcome. Please contact me.