NMC Campus Observer

NMC Launches Open Virtual Worlds Project

Larry Pixel (aka Larry Johnson) : Feb 26, 2008 08:57pm

Today the New Media Consortium (NMC) announced a $250,000 two-year collaboration with Sun Microsystems to launch the Open Virtual Worlds Project, an effort that is aimed at making it easier to learn, work, and exchange ideas in virtual space. The project will develop a range of standards-based, portable open-source educational spaces, content, and objects, and use them to extend Sun Microsystems’s open source Project Darkstar and Project Wonderland virtual world platforms.

Open Virtual Worlds video announcement

In launching the Open Virtual Worlds project, the NMC will build on its extensive presence in Second Life and add to the services it offers educational institutions with a suite of services aimed at those who need a secure extensible platform or simply prefer an open solution. Open Virtual Worlds will be a new project housed within NMC Virtual Worlds, along with its extensive Second Life project.

The NMC remains deeply committed to the Second Life platform, and plans to continue to offer comprehensive services for it for the long term. At the same time, we believe that Sun’s open-source platforms will meet the needs that many institutions have for higher levels of security, clear ownership of intellectual property, and portability. Adding a suite of open-content, open-source services will add an important dimension to NMC Virtual Worlds that we hope will help members continue to explore the evolving range of options unfolding in the virtual world arena.

As part of the Open Virtual Worlds effort, the NMC will also join the Sun Immersion Special Interest Group , which is a Sun Microsystems Inc. sponsored community dedicated to advancing the state of open source technology and content for virtual worlds and gaming in education. At the same time, Sun Microsystems will become the NMC’s newest Platinum partner, which is the highest level of corporate participation in the NMC, and reflects a strong commitment on the part of a company to the work of the NMC and its members.

"Sun is delighted to participate with the New Media Consortium and their outstanding community of creative individuals and organizations in expanding the opportunity and use of open source virtual worlds and game-based learning to enhance student achievement and academic scholarship around the world with Sun's Project Wonderland and Darkstar technologies," said Kevin Roebuck, Community Manager, Immersive Education, Sun Microsystems, Inc.

The project’s business plan includes scalable hosted solutions that will make it very easy for any institution to experiment with the educational spaces and content that is planned for development, as well as very high quality custom development services. Over the long term, revenues from custom development will support a range of off-the-shelf products, activities, and events that will be open to all.

See the official press release for more information. As the Open Virtual Worlds project unfolds over the next few months, we will add a major new component to the NMC Virtual Worlds website that will be the repository for news, information, downloads, and more.

Learn more about Project Darkstar
Learn more about Project Wonderland
Learn more about the Sun Immersion Special Interest Group