Massive Multiplayer Online Games with their virtual gaming worlds grow in user numbers as well as in the size of the virtual worlds. With this growth comes a significant increase of the requirements for server hardware. Today an MMOG provider usually faces the problem of serving thousands of users with entire server clusters. Peer-to-Peer networks with their high scalability and flexibility meet the requirements of connecting hundreds of thousands of people all over the world without a central server. In doing so the network bandwidth requirements remain at a reasonable level.In this work we propose to combine MMOGs with a Peerto-Peer network. We introduce a game architecture capable of exploiting the flexibility and scalability of P2P networks. A P2P architecture based on an overlay network using distributed hash tables with support for persistent object storage and event distribution has been developed to meet MMOG requirements.
Learning is a socially embedded design process. But most of today's hypermedia systems fail to properly support the design-related and the social aspects of learning. Authoring and Web-publishing systems aim to support the authors' design processes. Consequently, the activities of learners are confined to selecting and reading. Based on some fundamental reflections on the role of technology in learning processes, we conclude that top priority must be given to the construction of infrastructures that support cooperative learning processes if we are to properly harness the technology's potential.We present a learner-centered, wholly Web-based approach for structuring information in teams (sTeam). In sTeam the key concept is virtual space. It draws cooperation and communication together, while at the same time embodying the common external memory of a (virtual) learning group. Hence, the focus is not on interactive systems for individual access of knowledge bases, but on the cooperative management and structuring of distributed knowledge bases.
This article introduces and discusses issues in the design of user interfaces for visually impaired people in the domain of virtual communities. We begin by pointing out that collaborative virtual environments provide additional means for visually impaired people which may help to accomplish a better integration into existing communities and social activities. We give a short introduction to the way visually impaired people usually work with a PC and show how their method of information access differs to sighted people. We then take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of existing adaptations to operating systems. Based on this analysis we describe some requirements for user interfaces of groupware and chat applications which enhance the usability for visually impaired people without losing the attractiveness and intuitiveness for the sighted. We finally describe a prototype of a special IRC-Client, called BIRC, and discuss its advantages and limitations.
In our modern society with its variety of learning and work processes, collaborative structuring of knowledge plays an important role. With new and wiki systems, this paper looks at the various ways of organizing collaboration in virtual knowledge spaces. As part of a novel teaching concept -embedded in a system for cooperative knowledge organizationspatial structuring of knowledge forms an essential part of teaching and learning. Based on the evaluation results of this concept, the paper focuses on collaborative writing methods and the requirements of tools used with special consideration of wikis. It then goes on to describe the concrete realization of a fusion of semantic-spatial structuring techniques and collaborative writing considering as example the integration of wiki techniques into virtual knowledge spaces.
Learning is a socially embedded design process. But most of today's hypermedia systems fail to properly support both the design-related and the social aspects of learning. Authoring and web-publishing systems aim to support the authors' design process. Consequently, learners' activities are confined to selecting and reading. Based on some fundamental reflections on the role of technology in learning processes, we conclude that top priority must be given to the construction of infrastructures that support cooperative learning processes if we are to properly harness technology's potential.We present a learner-centered -wholly web-based -approach for structuring information in teams (sTeam). The key concept in sTeam is virtual space. It draws together cooperation and communication, at the same time embodying the common external memory of a (virtual) learning group. The focus is not, then, on interactive systems for individual accessing of knowledge bases, but rather on the cooperative management and structuring of distributed knowledge bases.
Mobility in collaboration is one of the key challenges for CSCW/L research. This contribution first looks at the central dimensions of connectivity, context and consistency for mobile collaboration out of a media viewpoint and a technical viewpoint. As a second step our architecture for mobile knowledge spaces is presented alongside these dimensions.
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