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Networked virtual environments (Net-VEs) are a class of applications which allow for cooperation between multiple users within a 3D representation of an environment. We have developed a general platform-webtalk-i-which allows the creation of any of these environments with easy accessibility via the Web, and fully provides for third-party authoring. After several experiments with different applications deployed using this technique (among these, the Italian National Science Museum), we analyzed user response and usage data, in order to design a new architecture-WebTalk-II-for an improved class of Net-VEs. WebTalk-II is able to generate 3D worlds dynamically based on a database with all major 3D formats, defines different sets of cooperation metaphors within users, and is entirely written in Java. We describe both architectures, assessing their flaws and advantages.
Thimoty Barbieri (2002) studied this question.