[x3d-public] [Semantics] X3D Semantic Web Working Group 14 MAR2019: structural and conceptual semantics, semantic mapping MINUTES

[GL]

I can only speak of my own experience but, using that, I'll try offering answers to Christoph and John. As you may know, the OfficeTowers.com world was born in 1997, and became its own MU world in 2007, thanks to the X3Daemon MU Server (prior MU sessions were made possible using the Blaxxun Community Server). Up until 2013, the 3D world was the primary way we would communicate with each other (in the 3DNPVEI group). At a minimum, we had weekly sessions lasting about 1:30-2:00hrs. Since X3Daemon allows separate chat groups, it was possible to have our private sessions, even though the server was and still is open to the public. 

At this point, I haven't really said anything new, but prepared for what is to come. Keeping in mind that this is a public list, and that the archives are searchable via Google, etc., there are facets of this "enterprise" about which going into depth can be a little delicate. In the past weeks, I have discussed several of X3Daemon's capabilities, so I probably don't need to go over it again, though you may get a refresher here in case you missed it or would like to revisit.

http://x3daemon.com/

What I have seldom talked about however, is how all of this work together. Any multiuser system with a potentially large number of users, will most likely use some form of SQL database to store UserIDs and  Passwords at a minimum. This is not to say that MU works off of SQL, it doesn't for the most part (that would be way too inefficient and almost completely unnecessary). But there is however, other things that SQL databases can be used for. Example of this can be "who owns what?" in a virtual world, privileges, ranking, general contact and account information, various statuses and world states, groups, and calendars for projects and tasks, etc., that must be kept and survive a complete system shutdown/restart (and preferably reside on different machines with redundant backups).

Thus, it becomes evident that there is a need for a "back-end" for managing everything independently of the world itself, but also in conjunction with it. The backend and the world becoming two sides of the same coin so to speak. John has spoken of collaboration, and that is a perfect example of why a 3D world can become the public interface to a database based project management utility. And because of the XML encoding, X3D is particularly well suited for this, something the Office Towers world is very well on its way to accomplish.   

However, due to the fact that NPAPI plugins can no longer be used for all practical purposes, Office Towers is at a crossroad. I am looking diligently at the possibilies offered based on WebGL such as X3DOM and X-ITE, while also keeping in mind that dedicated apps outside of web browsers have a lot of advantages too.

One last topic I'd like to touch before I go, is about voice chat. OT is not setup with its own voice chat (it only has text chat in a web browser frame, and inworld balloon or bubble chat), though some of our users have been using their own voice chat on top of it. I do not know exactly what they used, but I can imagine it to be relatively easy to add voice chat using several offerings currently available. This would most likely resemble the regular Web3D telephone sessions that are taking place. But doing so within a virtual world can certainly add a sense of presence that is simply not available with phone or chat alone. I have fond memories of our virtual meetings, as they truly felt like actually going online to meet others via their avatars, providing a visual focal point and avenues for exploration and demonstration; what virtual reality is all about for some of us. Cheerz 

Gina-Lauren


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