While virtual worlds share common technologies and audiences with games, they possess many unique characteristics. Particularly when compared to massively multiplayer online role-playing games, virtual worlds create very different learning and teaching opportunities through markets, creation,...

Once the domain of science fiction, advances in computer performance, connectivity, and 3-dimensional rendering now make physically-simulated, multiplayer, online virtual worlds available to a broad audience for nearly limitless applications. The virtual world Second Life has proven particularly...

For many digital world creators and thinkers, a core belief is that digital worlds benefit from isolation from the real world. In particular, real-world economies and legal structures should be excluded from digital worlds. As attractive as these positions can be, they do not act in the best...

Second Life is a digital world that relies on a unique combination of grid computing and streaming technology [Rosedale03] to enable virtually all of its content to be created by its residents. To maximize the quality and quantity of user-created content, Second Life has embraced strong economic...

Ever since science fiction awoke imaginations to the promise of real, shared virtual spaces, technology has been chasing this dream. However, despite the enormous technical advances of the last decade, the concept of a broadly appealing online world has not yet been realized. At the same time,...