EcoMUVE is an exciting new curriculum research project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education that uses immersive virtual environments to teach middle school students about ecosystems and causal patterns. EcoMUVE includes two one‐week computer‐based modules within a four week inquiry‐based ecosystems curriculum. The goal of the EcoMUVE project is to help students develop a deeper understanding of ecosystems and causal patterns with a curriculum that uses Multi‐User Virtual Environments (MUVEs). MUVEs are 3‐D virtual worlds that have a look and feel similar to videogames. They are accessed via computers and, in our case, recreate authentic ecological settings within which students explore and collect information. Students work individually at their computers and collaborate in teams within the virtual world. The immersive interface allows students to learn science by exploring and solving problems in realistic environments. The EcoMUVE project is supported by the Institute of Educational Sciences (IES), U.S. Department of Education.

Tons of virtual goods.

Sketchlife is a system which allows you to build for Second Life (and OpenSim) using SketchUp.

OpensimWorlds is a place to share and find Opensim archive files for loading and hosting on your own server. OpenSim archives can save all the necessary asset data to fully restore the terrain, the textures of objects and their inventories when loaded onto a completely different system using a different asset database.

Writing server-side scripts to perform OpenSim server commands.

This video shows an architect using Visibuild to import Autodesk Revit content into RealXtend (an OpenSim world).

Exploring business applications of virtual worlds by Peter Quirk