Active Worlds

Categories: Virtual reality communities | Internet culture

Active Worlds (AW) is an 3D web browser for Microsoft Windows. It allows users to assign themselves a unique name, log into the Active Worlds universe, and explore worlds and places that other people have built.

The program's original goal was to be the 3D equivalent to a 2D browser such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla, where instead of websites, the user could construct an office and display their products in 3D, or build an art gallery and hang the pictures on the wall. However in recent years the program has shifted its attention to more of an art oriented program, in adding features for building.

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History

Active Worlds was inspired by the book Snow Crash written by Neal Stephenson. In 1994, Ron Britvich (Protagonist) created WebWorld which was the first 2.5D world where tens of thousands could chat, build and travel. WebWorld operated on the Peregrine Systems, owned by Knowledge Adventure Worlds (KAW). KAW, along with Kinetic Effects Research Inc (later Credo Interactive), began development on AW. On February 1995, KAW renamed to Worlds Inc.

On June 28, 1995, AW was officially launched. A couple of months later, Circle of Fire (CoF) was formed by Richard F. Noll. CoF was a small group of friends and family who worked on large projects in AW, such as games.

On January, 1997, Worlds Inc laid off the Active Worlds staff and placed the software for sale. CoF reorganized and purchased the software, and rehired the staff. The new President, CEO and Director was Richard F. Noll. The original director, Ron Britvich, was also rehired. However, due to controversy about the direction of the software, he left AW on July, 1997.

On September, 1997, AW introduced a year fee of $19.95 USD (prior to this, it was free). Before being required to pay a user must log in as a tourist, and builds may be deleted or changed. Other software features were limited. Upon payment, builds from then on are permanent and users gain access to the rest of the software's features.

On January 21, 1999, CoF was bought by Vanguard Enterprises, Inc., which changed the company's name to Activeworlds.com, Inc (AWC, OTCBB: AWLD). Then on July 6, 2001, Activeworlds.com, Inc. filed a name change to become Activeworlds, Corp.

Afterward, the program experienced gradual development and growth. On January 3, 2002, the registration changed to $9.50 USD per month, then a month later down to $6.95 USD per month. Later that year, in July, Rick Noll and JP McCormick (the VP) sold shares and resigned from AWC. AW is now owned by a private company under the name Active Worlds Inc. (AWI), which is owned by Noll and McCormick.

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Main features

Image:Awb.jpg
Screenshot of the Active Worlds browser

Building allows users to create their own environment. For example a user may search, or request an open plot of land and then construct the walls of the build with 4x4 meter wall pieces, and then may add windows, doors, furniture, landscaping, etc. Active Worlds supports objects stored as RenderWare script RWX and TrueSpace objects COB.

Communications in AW involve being within 200 meters from other people in the area and chatting. Users will quickly learn the common areas to chat, such as the starting location when you first log in. You may also communicate with Telegrams, which contact the user in any location.

Traveling is endless as AW has over a thousand worlds to look at. On top of that the few public worlds are enormous and support tens of thousands of builds. The largest world, Alphaworld, is larger than the state of California.

Bots assist users in many tasks such as automatic greetings and information for visitors, helping with building or build relocation, or games. Bots are developed to function within the Active Worlds virtual environment using the Active Worlds SDK. There are many other potential applications that can be developed using the SDK. For example, the SDK could be used to develop a program that automatically explores a world and creates a map.

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External links