Virtual Worlds Case Study:

NMC Campus

The objective of the initial design for NMC Campus was to create an immersive 3-D virtual environment for higher education and museum professionals to interact, collaborate, and experiment that provided a low entry threshold for newcomers, while simultaneously exploring the boundaries of what is possible.

An advisory board of campus professionals were engaged early in the design process to identify the critical components of a virtual campus. In addition, given that this was to be the first comprehensive attempt to build an entire campus in a virtual world, great care was taken to ensure that the effort would be seen as serious in scope and tone, and that concern ultimately influenced the choices made for structures. Ultimately, it was decided that the terrain would be symmetrically composed, with the center of the campus being the functional center of the community and gathering point, and that a functioning museum and library would anchor the effort. A stunning design was solicited for the Welcome Center, and the art of Second life was to be incorporated throughout the build.

The initial buildout of NMC Campus included more than 35 carefully designed gathering spaces, to allow exploration of how meetings and other more formal interactions might be most effectively conducted. These ranged from formal to playful, and accommodated groups from 2 to 75.