A Platform for Sharing Educational Virtual Environments

In recent years, a lot of work has been done on multi-user virtual environments. This
work led to platforms that aim to support 3D virtual communities. However, little research has
been done on specific services and functionality, which affect significantly the design of a system.
The growing need for communication, visualisation and organisation technologies in the field of
e-learning environments, has led to the application of virtual reality and the use of multi-user
real-time communication platforms to support these needs. In this paper we present the design
and implementation of a platform, suitable for educational virtual environments. Apart from the
platform itself, we present the technological choices, a new method for sharing virtual
environments and a new protocol for educational virtual environments.