[Opensim-dev] TSB Feasibility Study: Online Virtual Worlds for Urban Regeneration Consultation

[Justin Clark-Casey]

Ben Francis wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Firstly, thank you for all the responses, it gives me a good starting point.
> 
> On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 7:16 AM, Dr Scofield <DrScofield at xyzzyxyzzy.net 
> <mailto:DrScofield at xyzzyxyzzy.net>> wrote:
> 
> 
>     as we are looking at similar OpenSim applications, i'd be interested
>     in learning
>     more about this study. any links that we could follow up?
> 
> 
> Hi Dr S,
> 
> I'm afraid I don't really have anything much more related to OpenSim 
> than is posted on this thread. I have found some interesting work on 
> other projects though.
> 
> Some interesting proprietary examples for inspiration are an Israeli 
> company called GeoSim <http://www.geosim.co.il> and the new virtual 
> Berlin in Twinity <http://twinity.com>. Google Earth Enterprise 
> <http://earth.google.com/enterprise/earth_enterprise.html> & Earth API 
> <http://code.google.com/apis/earth/> provide practical solutions to some 
> GIS tasks, though not really a virtual world in the sense of OpenSim.
> 
> There's some very interesting standardisation work going on at the Web3D 
> Consortium <http://web3d.org> under the X3D-Earth 
> <http://www.web3d.org/x3d-earth/> working group, though they haven't 
> publically published anything since 2007, their work is ongoing and they 
> are collaborating with the Open Geospatial Consoritum 
> <http://www.opengeospatial.org>.
> 
> As for OpenSim, I'm still exploring (though I'm running out of time). 
> The Orcas island example  that Nebadon posted a link to is quite neat 
> (or at least the improved version 
> <http://blog.simgis.com/2008/09/11/usgs-terrain-in-opensim-a-gis-approach/> 
> linked to from the blog post) and the Berkeley simulation from lidar 
> images also provides a good example.
> 
> If anyone has time for a quick response, I do have some more general 
> questions about OpenSim.

I can have a quick go at some of these, no guarantees of accuracy.

> 
> *GIS Import*
> 
> As far as I can tell the examples given so far are all essentially 
> creating terrains from raster data. What I'm more interested in is 
> creating accurate models based on vector map data, particularly in the 
> UK from Ordnance Survey MasterMap data. I've not yet seen any examples 
> of this kind of thing.
> 
> *Asset Import*
> 
> A basic question, how does OpenSim natively represent geometry? What 
> data format or data structure does it use? Presumably people have 
> experience importing assets from a variety of formats? COLLADA? 3DS? X3D?

At the moment, data is effectively represented in a primitive undocumented XML format that is very tightly bound to that 
of Second Life.  I'm not aware of any experiments importing data from other formats such as COLLADA, 3DS or X3D though 
it is something that I would hope to see in the future.

> 
> *Asset Library & Manipulation*
> 
> Does OpenSim have the same kind of experience as Second Life for being 
> able to pick 3d assets from an asset library and manipulate them in real 
> time in the scene? Can multiple avatars manipulate the same object?

Yes.

> 
> *Map Size Constraints*
> 
> How does this work? Is it one 256x256m region per machine, with them 
> linked together?

Region servers can run multiple 256 x 256 regions.  These can run 'standalone' where an environment serving the 
simulations and services such as inventory is entirely contained on a single server.  Or OpenSim can be run in 'grid' 
mode where multiple region servers can be linked together.  There is also a more experimental decentralized OpenSim mode 
called 'hypergrid'.

> 
> *In-world Communication*
> 
> Presumably OpenSim has the same kind of IM as Second Life? I've been 
> reading on the mailing list about VoIP support today, it seems it's coming?

OpenSim has the same kind of IM, though I'm not sure how sophisticated support is in grid mode across multiple region 
servers.

Consider the mailing list as a big melting pot of ideas.  Some of these may get implemented, many will not.  Some will 
be implemented soon, some a lot later.  The only way to really be sure is to see real code being openly developed (and 
then one really needs to be a programmer to assess progress :).

> 
> *Running Costs*
> 
> Does anyone have any figures for how much it costs to host OpenSim 
> regions in terms of hardware etc.? I remember the story about a Second 
> Life sim alledgedly using more power than a typical Brazilian! What are 
> the typical hardware system requirements?

This is a perennial question which doesn't yet have a good answer.  I do remember seeing a short page on the wiki 
somewhere on this but I can't remember the link.

> 
> *Skillset*
> 
> What kind of skillset would be required for a developer embarking on a 
> project using OpenSim? C#? What else?

C# and good code reading skills, since our documentation in many areas is poor to non-existent.  Also, the ability to 
work with open source and open source communities is essential.  You also want them to have basic database skills too.

-- 
justincc
Justin Clark-Casey
http://justincc.wordpress.com