We’ve started preparing ScienceSim for the coming land program in support of our work to develop a formal organization for the use of OpenSim for education, science, research and data visualization.
Here are some shots of our team in developing the regions – we’ve added a special mall of base content, including an array of prefab buildings, seamless tiling textures, landscaping, and other useful things. We show here the new mall space along with the bridge through the pace leading to the land program regions. Kansas North and South (aptly named), Alaska North and South, Dakota North and South, and Oregon North and South have emerged and merely wait urban planning before we can enable settlement.
We’ll announce the details of the land program later this week, but the over view in brief is we’ve been asked to administrate the land program through our research collaboration with Intel Labs. We’ve been provided with 18 regions, which have been divided into 1/4 region parcels. Each parcel can contain about 8,000 prims. The regions will be awarded for a six-month period to educators, scientists, and researchers who wish to explore using OpenSim for their work, but who have not yet managed to have a presence in OpenSim. These regions will be provided for six months, with the program scheduled to end June 30, 2010.
The best part – there’s no charge for the parcels. The ‘catch’? We provide the land and a range of premium, original content; settlers need to provide their own sweat equity.
If you represent an organization which you’d like to bring in to try OpenSim out, please watch this space for announcements for presentations about the particulars of the program.
Shenlei Winkler 