Reference Architecture PresentationFor Virtual WorldsBy Abraham Lopez

What is Open Cobalt?

• A virtual world that is a based on a peer-to-peer structure

• No central server, every user’s world is their own

• Built on virtual machine technology so it is operating system independent (runs on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux)

• Utilizes 3D Hyperlinking to get from Space to Space

What is Open Cobalt? (cont.)• Written in and uses Squeak an object-oriented

programming language treats everything as an object

• All objects are aware of and keep track of run-time

• This allows for Open Cobalt to have a Synchronization Architecture

• Objects can work seamlessly together because they are synchronized

• Objects can be updated even while the object is running (on-the-fly programming)

3D Hyperlinks to a 2nd Space

Can Create as many 3D Hyperlinks as Needed

Open Cobalt Characteristics

• Drag and Drop applications from Desktop to the user’s space– 2D Graphic Compatible with: .jpg,.gif,.png

and .bmp files among others– 3D Graphic Compatible with: COLLADA, Google

Warehouse, Adobe Swatch files among others– Video Compatible with: mpeg and iMovie files– Audio Compatible with: .wav files

3D graphical file inserted by drag-and-drop from desktop to Open Cobalt space

Imported COLLADA

File

Program Generated Landscape

Audio, Video and Graphical files by drag-and-drop

Open Cobalt Panes

Open Cobalt Characteristics (cont.)

• Custom Avatars• In-World Web browsing through Internet

Explorer or Firefox• In-World Word Processing (by Open Office)• In-World Spreadsheet (by Open Office)• 3D View

Custom Avatars

In-World Web Browsing, Word Processing and Spreadsheets

3D View

Open Cobalt Alpha Issues

• Unresponsive Dialog Boxes• Slow Speed/Resource Intensive• Inconsistent Basic Functionality• No Physics Engine• Choppy Video• Inconsistent Drag-and-Drop Function• Overall Inconsistent Performance

Final Evaluation of Open Cobalt• In its present condition, Open Cobalt has many

nice features, but it is too unreliable.• What may be needed is further research into

whether running Open Cobalt on a different OS, or on higher-end machines may solve some of the issues encountered.

• If some of the issues are resolved with later versions of Open Cobalt, and other features added or expanded (i.e. Physics Engine) it could be a Virtual World worth using for research and experimentations for future projects.