CITYCLUSTER - "From the Renaissance to the Megabyte Networking Age" - A Virtual Reality & High Speed Networking Project

CITYCLUSTER is a Virtual-reality high networking matrix with original technological features, navigation, interactivity and graphic style. The framework, was developed according to a creative method of tracing diverse concepts and systems of collection of cities, urban ambiences and virtual spaces interconnected by a high-speed network which enables participants in remote locations to interact in shared environments. The framework can be expanded and modified in accordance with the nature of the environment to be incorporated. Meta-Net-Page, a virtualreality networking interface display, with special features, was designed and implemented ad hoc for City Cluster. Visitors, with their virtual bodies become active protagonists in City Cluster’s virtual terrain. The first CITYCLUSTER virtual-reality networked application:” From the Renaissance to the Megabyte Networking Age. For this application two virtual reality environments were created: Florence metaphorically represents the "Renaissance Age", the other related to Chicago representing the "Gigabits Age". Each virtual city is inhabited by a group of avatars: David, Venus, and Machiavelli in Florence, and Mega, Giga, and Picasso in Chicago. The application is primarily designed to run in the CAVETM and on the AGAVETM (Access Grid Augmented Virtual Environment). It can run either locally or through remote networking in both SGI’s and Linux platform. The implementation of City Cluster has given rise to a range of technological challenges. Ygdrasil, the software utilized for developing the project, has been upgraded and enhanced in order to develop and accomplish the vision of the project, satisfy content and quality levels of interactivity.