From: Justin Couch Subject: Re: SOC: Virtual Communities Date: Mon, 15 Apr 1996 04:04:59 GMT Organization: ADI Systems - Electronics From: Justin Couch Stinet wrote: > I'm doing research for a Ph.D. degree in "Cybersociology"; sociology > about community-.making and community-feeling in a particular > newsgroup on Usenet. Do you have any ideas, comments or theories about > this, that you want to discuss with me? Not a lot of researchers are > doing work like this, and I have a need to participate in some > exchangement of ideas. Mail me, if you're interested and want to share > your experiences - professional or personal, it doesn't matter. Well it is time that we let the cat out of the bag. If you have been following the computer press lately you will probably know something of the Virtual Reality Modelling Language - or just VRML. A few weeks ago on the VRML development mailing list a group seperated out to build a free, universal cyberspace (the mailing list is devoted to th technical developemtn of VRML - we are just an application so are not a rouge group). The ultimate goal is to produce a Gibsonian (Matrix) or Stephenson (MettaVerse) type cyberspace where everyone can come and join together creating their own cyberspace homestead. At the moment we have a prototype up and running which is distributed (across 3 web servers) but we have not made the URL generally avialable (it is also passwd protected at the moment) since it is still very much in alpha stage but is about 5Km square in size. If you wish to know more either contact me directly or take a look at the community web page (the URL is being distributed to the world at large tomorrow so you get a sneek preview) at http://www.messiah.edu/hpages/student/sr930922/commune.htm Or the newsletter which is documenting things as they happen week by week at http://eelab.usyd.edu.au/~couch-jt/vr/index.shtml Please contact me if you want to join in the discussion (or just listen) by joining the mailing list. -- Justin Couch --------------------------------------------------------------------- Software Engineer - ADI Ltd Systems Group email mailto:jtc@hq.adied.oz.au WWW http://eelab.usyd.edu.au/~couch-jt History is Philosphy teaching by example - Dionysuis ---------------------------------------------------------------------