ANTi-History: This volume has a bold agenda, in which academics create immersive worlds where the avatar is the centre of the universe. As the virtual world grows, avatars move away from quasi-human interactions within virtual domiciles, gardens, and businesses to being blood cells in the blood stream, or to be firing neurons in the human brain, or creatures competing on the ocean floor or the surface of Mars or just about anything that can be imagined using the magic of photographic and artistic images, programming, narrative and avatars. What are the frameworks and strategies for building these environments? What are the things the avatar adapts and learns from in its environment? This book will examine such frameworks, strategies, examples and feedback systems to explore what it takes to create a global education environment for learning. This starts with engaging your avatar and is completed in a transformation in how you interact with the internet. Whether using the visual internet to learn or to interact with a customer about a product or service, this immersive interface can be a world that knows you and forms around your unique needs and interests.

This book is a practical guide on how to transform your ideas from virtual world course ware to virtual world learning experiences. This book argues that setting up learning in 3D virtual worlds requires a transformative approach. The advice given in this book comes from real world implementers of virtual world learning. The models presented here show how to transform your thinking in 3D spaces and achieving your organizational learning goals while motivating your learners. The practical articles and lesson plans come from those pioneers who have used virtual worlds to learn, teach and support their learners with in-world presence. Transforming starts with recognizing virtual worlds as a place, and then using the space to plan in 3D, design real-time and implement a 'virtual biodome effect' for continuous learning. It is our hope the book inspires current educational institutions to think about creating persistent, scalable communities that thrive on communication, global collaboration and sustainable interactivity. The results are the same for K-12, community college, university, industry and lifelong learners. It's not just about being in a virtual world, it's about doing something engaging there to educate and entertain the work force of the interconnected internet.

ANTi-History: This volume has a bold agenda, in which academics create immersive worlds where the avatar is the centre of the universe. As the virtual world grows, avatars move away from quasi-human interactions within virtual domiciles, gardens, and businesses to being blood cells in the blood stream, or to be firing neurons in the human brain, or creatures competing on the ocean floor or the surface of Mars or just about anything that can be imagined using the magic of photographic and artistic images, programming, narrative and avatars. What are the frameworks and strategies for building these environments? What are the things the avatar adapts and learns from in its environment? This book will examine such frameworks, strategies, examples and feedback systems to explore what it takes to create a global education environment for learning. This starts with engaging your avatar and is completed in a transformation in how you interact with the internet. Whether using the visual internet to learn or to interact with a customer about a product or service, this immersive interface can be a world that knows you and forms around your unique needs and interests.