Digital heritage projects are an important tool in safeguarding cultural heritage and making it available to future generations. The work presented here synthesises 3D modelling techniques with the process of digitising artefacts. New digital reconstructions can be created based on authentic data. These are then implemented in various immersive learning opportunities, such as interactive activities and engaging virtual worlds. This is applied to the restoration of two Pictish symbol stones used in an online colour configurator tool and a virtual environment.

In the recent past 3D and immersive technologies were not supported by standard business and educational computers. Yet new generations of Intel and AMD processors and improved networking provide a basis for the spread of immersive technologies, into all aspects of education, business and leisure. Consequently, it is critical that computer science and IT degree programs facilitate the graduation of professionals with an understanding of and experience in working with immersive technologies. The work reported in this paper addresses the need to support learning about how to develop, engineer, use and evaluate 3D and immersive systems. The Apollo Virtual World GRID [1] provides a platform designed to support collaborative learning and exploratory project work with 3D technologies. Apollo provides an environment for the creation of 3D content, a framework for the development of 3D systems and a platform for the delivery of distributed immersive systems. It is built around the open source and freely available OpenSimulator project and extends it by providing educational content, a rapid application development environment and a measurement infrastructure. Using the Apollo GRID student projects have expanded the scope of experiential learning by creating interactive 3D environments that simulate specific learning contexts. For example a Virtual WiFi laboratory supports exploratory learning and experimentation with WiFi network protocols and the LAVA virtual fieldwork resource supports archaeologists in learning how to manage archaeological excavations. This paper reflects upon experience in using Apollo for 30 collaborative projects involving more than 100 students over a period of four years.

As the Internet continues to establish itself as a utility, like power, transport or water, it becomes increasingly important to provide an engaging educational experience about its operation for students in related STEM disciplines such as Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Routing is a core functionality of the global Internet. It can be used as an example of where theory meets practice, where algorithms meet protocols and where science meets engineering. Routing protocols can be included in the Computer Science curriculum in distributed systems, computer networking, algorithms, data structures, and graph theory. While there is a plethora of computer networking textbooks, and copious information of varying quality about the Internet spread across the Web, there is still an essential need for exploratory learning facilities of the type that support group work, experimentation and experiential learning. This paper reports on work using open virtual worlds to provide a multiuser interactive learning environment for Internet routing which exemplifies the capabilities of emerging immersive education technologies to augment conventional practice. The functionality of the learning environment is illustrated through examples and the underlying system which was built to support the routing simulations is explained.

We present the cross reality [Lifton 2007] system 'Mirrorshades', which enables a user to be present and aware of both a virtual reality environment and the real world at the same time. In so doing the challenge of the vacancy problem is addressed by lightening the cognitive load needed to switch between realities and to navigate the virtual environment. We present a case study in the context of a cultural heritage application wherein users are able to compare a reconstruction of an important 15th century chapel with its present day instantiation, whilst walking through them.

Continuing advances and reduced costs in computational power, graphics processors and network bandwidth have led to 3D immersive multi-user virtual worlds becoming increasingly accessible while offering an improved and engaging Quality of Experience. At the same time the functionality of the World Wide Web continues to expand alongside the computing infrastructure it runs on and pages can now routinely accommodate many forms of interactive multimedia components as standard features - streaming video for example. Inevitably there is an emerging expectation that the Web will expand further to incorporate immersive 3D environments. This is exciting because humans are well adapted to operating in 3D environments and it is challenging because existing software and skill sets are focused around competencies in 2D Web applications. Open Simulator (OpenSim) is a freely available open source tool-kit that empowers users to create and deploy their own 3D environments in the same way that anyone can create and deploy a Web site. Its characteristics can be seen as a set of references as to how the 3D Web could be instantiated. This paper describes experiments carried out with OpenSim to better understand network and system issues, and presents experience in using OpenSim to develop and deliver applications for education and cultural heritage. Evaluation is based upon observations of these applications in use and measurements of systems both in the lab and in the wild.

The Power & Reliability Aware Protocol (PoRAP) has been developed to provide efficient communication by means of energy conservation without sacrificing reliability. This has been achieved using direct communication, adaptive transmission power adaptation and intelligent scheduling. The key capabilities of PoRAP make it suitable for environmental and habitat monitoring systems. Several experiments were designed and implemented using TinyOS components located at base station and sources. A set of experimentation was set up to determine power adaptation, achieved reliability and energy conservation. From measuring the Received Signal Strength Indicator, the Packet Reception Rate was estimated. Timing relationships were established to predict delays and to determine the required slot size for a schedule based protocol. Statistical analysis of the derived measurements demonstrated significant communication ranges for both indoor and outdoor environments. Further, by adapting the power, the protocol was able to maintain network performance in an optimal region.

Metaverses provide a framework for developing distributed 3D Internet applications where users gain presence through the proxy of an avatar. They offer much of the engagement of online 3D games but support heterogeneous applications. From the network perspective metaverses are similar to games in that timeliness is important but differ in that their traffic is less regular and requires more bandwidth. The motivation for our study flows from using virtual worlds to support experiential learning and to promote cultural heritage; the applicability of the results is wider. The responsiveness of the system is effected by interactions between avatar activity, application traffic regulation and network conditions. Through measurement and analysis current Virtual World traffic regulation is evaluated and compared with Transmission Control Protocol fair rate. The measurement study motivates the design of Mongoose, which adds measurement based packet regulation to Open Virtual World clients and servers. Mongoose combines isolating distinct functional components with efficient use of network resources and fairness to other traffic.

Virtual worlds continue to attract considerable interest as an innovative means of engaging students through the use of immersive, collaborative environments. They allow for the dynamic creation of content and for that content to be programmed. They empower students to explore learning environments that would be inaccessible to them in the real world. Learners achieve presence through the proxies of avatars, and consequently are aware of and may interact with fellow learners within the virtual environment. Interactivity ranges from simple exhibits as might be found in a museum to configurable, complex simulations rendered in a 3D space. At the same time there are now numerous open learning initiatives which seek to encourage the sharing of independently produced educational resources through the Internet, but these are mostly web-based, so the challenge of producing open learning materials based on virtual worlds remains. This paper identifies the challenges which need to be met to support the use of virtual world technologies in the emerging open learning context and presents two case studies of moving from 2D web-based learning environments to 3D virtual world versions of the same topic. These examples illustrate the type of innovative 3D learning environments that can be shared in the open learning context.

This paper evaluates metaverses as a platform for game based learning. Metaverses such as Second Life are a relatively new type of Internet application. Their functionality is similar to that offered by 3D multi-player online games, but differs in that users are able to construct the environment that avatars inhabit and are not constrained by predefined goals of the type found within a game environment. From a quality of service (QoS) perspective metaverses are similar to games in that the timeliness of network communication is important, but differ in that their demands upon host server systems and network traffic are more bandwidth intensive. This paper contributes to our understanding of metaverses by presenting a case study of the application of Game Based Learning (GBL) within a metaverse environment, by situating the case study within a survey of the state of the art in GBL in metaverses and by analysing the QoS delivered by the widely used Second Life metaverse under a range of evaluator-induced network conditions.

Metaverses such as Second Life (SL) are a relatively new type of Internet application. Their functionality is similar to online 3D games but differs in that users are able to construct the environment their avatars inhabit and are not constrained by predefined goals. From the network perspective metaverses are similar to games in that timeliness is important but differ in that their traffic is much less regular and requires more bandwidth

This paper describes the design and implementation of an 802.11 wireless laboratory within a Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE). The laboratory allows students and lecturers to create their own 802.11 scenarios by: i) selecting and placing components such as base stations and laptops within the immersive 3D landscape; ii) defining how traffic flows between these different network components; and iii) where appropriate specifying the movements of nodes. This information is sent outside of the MUVE and translated into a set of commands for the ns2 simulator, which then generates the simulation. The results of the simulation are sent back to the MUVE, where a 3D animation of the wireless communication is presented to learners interacting with the system. Learners are therefore able to set up and observe wireless phenomena such as the hidden and exposed node problems and to experiment by changing parameters such as packet loss and RTS/CTS threshold. The enabling framework behind the laboratory takes advantage of language independent, distributed resource management and stateful interaction through the use of web services.

The Grid vision promises the secure and dynamic sharing of heterogeneous resources across the Internet. To date the emphasis has been on supercomputing scenarios where a relatively long running job is submitted to the Grid, requiring little interaction with the end user. More recently, with the emerging aspirations of Grid aficionados to use it for a much wider range of purposes - e-commerce and inter-enterprise computing for example - the issue of using the Grid for distributed, highly interactive applications has been raised. In our case this has emerged within a project seeking to build a European Learning Grid Infrastructure (ELeGI). Distributed learning environments need to be engaging and responsive, and as such it is important that, in addition to the dynamic resource sharing, service-oriented model offered by the Grid, that it can also meet the responsiveness needs of end users. In this paper we extend earlier work on analysing delay in distributed interactive applications to investigate the performance of the foremost Grid toolkit, Globus, in the context of distributed learning.

Computer Networking is the subject that enables us to build and understand the Internet which in turn lies at the heart of many social and economic transformations that are central to modern society. At the subject's core are the protocols for sending and receiving packets and reporting errors. Although it is a dynamic and naturally engaging subject there are significant barriers which make it difficult for a student to engage realistically with network protocols. These can be categorised as barriers of time, space and access. From the perspective of time, many of the interactions occur at timescales that are outside of the range of human perception; from the perspective of space, a student will be situated in one location which will often define their view of the network; from the perspective of access, interaction with network protocols is mediated through libraries provided by operating systems which in turn require the use of programming languages to manipulate. This paper advocates the use of disruptive technology, based on the PlanetLab overlay network to support explorative approaches to learning about Computer Networking.