Austin Tate's Blog

After checking out Roblox in July 2022, I returned to look at the “Rhythm City” experience created by Warner Brothers to accompany the 2023 NFL incorporating a motion captured virtual concert by Saweetie. More details here.

I joined the “Mole Day” celebration on 5th February 2023 to thank the Moles for all they do on behalf of Second Life residents. The Moles are the builders and maintainers of the shared spaces in Second Life, and provide the “Linden Homes” such as my houseboat.

Up to Firestorm 6.6.8 if you see errors like “missing vcruntime.dll”, “missing msvcp.dll” or the application is not starting at all, then please download and install Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio (link for 64-bit operating systems). This issue will be fixed for Firestorm 6.6.9 onwards.

Firestorm VR Mod is a version of the popular Firestorm Viewer for Second Life and OpenSimulator with modifications to provide VR capabilities for VR Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) via SteamVR. Firestorm VR Mod is now available from https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha/releases (Assets)

For Firestorm VR Mod community support use the Discord Discussion Channel:
P373R-WORKSHOP by p373r_kappler [Invite]

Firestorm 6.6.8 + P373R VR Mod: This build includes P373R’s VR Mod 6.3.3 changes merged into the Firestorm 6.6.8.68380 release branch. The VR Mod approach takes a minimalistic approach to inserting VR capabilities into the viewer in order that the maintenance overhead is decreased and the potential longevity of the approach is increased. VR Controller support is not included.

Download the release installer (for Windows only) from the “Assets” list at the bottom of the entry for the latest version available at https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha/releases/

Firestorm VR Mod is created using “GitHub Actions” (GHA) thanks to @humbletim and @thoys. Minor manual changes are made for the VR Mod 6.3.3 code for the merge, which otherwise continues to be suitable. Some of the code for performance metrics wants to be just ahead of rendering, which is where the VR Mod inject points also wanted to be. Since they are independent it’s just a matter of explaining to git they are unrelated and can exist in any order. The cmake scripts are also amended to auto-include openvr.dll.

The App name has been changed to “FirestormVR” and the Program Files and AppData directories changed so the installation can exist side-by-side with stock Firestorm if desired. Settings are stored in the different default user folder C:/Users/<name>/AppData/Roaming/FirestormVR_x64. Cache is also stored in a different default user folder C:/Users/<name>/AppData/Local/FirestormVROS_x64.

U S A G E

VR Mode instructions are available via prompts in the viewer or via information on https://gsgrid.de/firestorm-vr-mod/. In short…

• Press CTRL+TAB to load or unload the SteamVR driver. Do this each time you want to enter VR mode after starting up.
• Press TAB key to enable and disable VR mode.
• Press F5 to open the settings menu, you should see a text menu in the middle of the screen. The settings menu works only when VR mode is enabled.
• Press F6 to increase the selected value. Press F7 to decrease the selected value.
• Press F5 again to switch to the next menu entry.
• By pressing F5 on the last menu entry the menu will close and save the settings in a config file which is located in
  “C:\Users\your_user_name\AppData\Roaming\FirestormVR_x64\vrconfig.ini”
  and which can be edited directly. Pressing TAB for VR mode reloads the config file.
• Hold F3 to see some debug info (example here).
• Press F4 to disable and enable HMD’s direction changes. It may be better to disable the HMD’s direction interface when editing and flying with the camera. This may be subject to change in future versions.
• In the camera floater two buttons has been added to offset the HMD’s base rotation.
• Moving the mouse to the corners or the sides will shift the screen to this direction so menus can be accessed more easily.

For issues on some specific headsets you might wish to try the Firestorm VR Mod Discord Channel: P373R-WORKSHOP by p373r_kappler [Invite]. Peter Kappler also offers the following advice…

1. Firestorm VR Mod works best while sitting and using mouse and keyboard.
2. WindowsMixedReality users may need to press windows key + Y to unlock the mouse when the HMD is worn.
3. If your VR hardware cannot maintain constant 90 FPS you could try enabling motion reprojection in your HMD. In WindowsMixedReality it can be done by uncommenting “motionReprojectionMode” : “auto”, in the config file located at “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\MixedRealityVRDriver\resources\settings\default.vrsettings”. This will make the HMD interpolate between frames and create a smoother experience. Vive and Oculus should have similar functionalities which can be accessed from SteamVR settings. For Vive it is called Motion Smoothing.

S E T T I N G S

VR Mode Setup

Firestorm VR Mod installs into its own folder and uses its own user Settings directory so that the VR Mod viewer can be installed alongside the standard Firestorm viewer. Note that if you want to import existing Firestorm accounts/settings you have to manually copy them over between AppData/Roaming/Firestorm_x64 and AppData/Roaming/FirestormVR_x64 folders.

As usual, Ctrl+TAB initially sets up SteamVR (and HMD support as needed), TAB is used to toggle VR mode on or off, F5 lets you select and step through the various VR HMD or user specific settings for IPD, texture shift to register the left and right eye images, and focal distance to change depth perception, etc. F6/F7 are used to increment and decrement each setting selection.

Peter Kappler suggested the following process to establish suitable settings for your HMD:

1. Set IPD to 0 (zero)
2. Then adjust Texture Shift until image is sharp and focused
3. Then adjust IPD which separates your cameras to left and right to get a good 3D effect

Hovertips

If you see a lot of hover tips showing under the mouse it could be that the debug setting “ShowHoverTips” is set to TRUE (the default) which may show something constantly under the mouse even for inert unscripted objects. You can turn that off via Debug Settings or via Preferences > User Interface > 3D World > Show Hover Tips. Via that same preferences panel, you might alternatively prefer to lengthen the delay before hover tips are activated.

Chat Bubbles

In VR Mode it may be useful to show local nearby chat in “bubbles” over each avatar’s head. This can be done via Preferences > Chat.

T R O U B L E S H O O T I N G

Misaligned VR Cursor

Note from Gaffe on Discord: Firestorm VR Mod’s VR cursor will have a small-to-extreme offset on Windows in particular if you are using Windows UI Scaling with any settings OTHER than 100%. To fix the VR cursor offset, set the Windows UI Scaling for your primary display to 100%

Jumbled VR Initialisation Text:

I have noted that Ctrl+Tab to start the SteamVR/HMD device software sometimes shows jumbled letters for the VR driver initialisation message, and once that occurs using Tab to launch VR mode does not give a VR display in the HMD.

After some experimentation, I found that after starting Firestorm VR Mod, rather than going straight to Cltrl+Tab to set up for VR devices, I first dismiss the onscreen message with Tab, and THEN do a Ctrl+Tab after which the full message without missing letters immediately appears, and SteamVR/Oculus is launched and when the Tab is then used the VR mode works properly. This may be a temporary situation and could be related to driver updates or SteamVR changes, but if you see the same thing, try the Tab and then Ctrl+Tab sequence once or twice to see if that also works for you.

Missing Menus and Buttons in Centred VR View

If you notice that the top menu bar and bottom and side button areas do not show in your headset when you are in VR Mode and your view is centred (i.e. mouse is positioned centrally in the 2D view) it may be that the VR settings you chose for Texture Shift and Texture Zoom need to be adjusted, or set to zero.

All Black HMD Display or Black Edges or Strips in HMD Display

An all black display in the VR HMD was an issue in earlier versions and is mostly resolved now… but it can still occur with some headsets. In case you encounter issues with a black HMD display… Peter Kappler suggests the following:

• Create a program-specific profile for the viewer in your graphic card settings and enable FXAA.
• Second Life only supports FXAA. Other types of Anti-aliasing can be disabled.

Firestorm VR Mod shifts the display in VR mode to an edge if the mouse or pointer is placed towards an edge or corner of the viewer window. This is to allow easier access to menus, user interface buttons and HUDs. It can be confusing though if you enter VR mode and find that part of the view is black. It is usually because the mouse is placed towards a corner or edge. Just move the mouse back to the centre of the screen and the full VR view should appear.

SteamVR Reset/Quit Screen Shows in HMD

When you switch to VR mode (after activating VR with Ctrl+TAB and using TAB), you may see a “Next Up… Firestorm” message or a SteamVR popup screen to “Reset the View” and “Quit SteamVR”. This has been observed to occur on the first run of a newly installed viewer. It can usually be dismissed with your controller if that is active, but if not the screen may continue to show the popup in VR mode in the HMD. Try another round of ctrl+TAB and TAB or if that does not work try stopping and restarting the viewer to clear this. These glitches may be more to do with legacy OpenVR + the latest SteamVR updates rather than Firestorm or VR Mod code changes.

Function Keys and Gestures

If you have issues with some of the Function keys (F5 or other Firestorm VR Mod keys) not working… look to see if the F keys involved are mapped to active “Gestures”. You can find a list of the gestures you currently have active and the keys associated with them using the “Gestures” toolbar button… or the Comm -> Gestures menu item (Ctrl+G shortcut).

Reset Default View in Firestorm Viewer

If your camera viewpoint appears to be wrong… type ESC or Shift + ESC a few times. That should reset your camera view. You could also try CTRL + 9, which does the same thing.

A D V I C E    O N    F R A M E    R A T E

You do need to ensure you have a good frame rate to have a comfortable VR experience. The Firestorm VR Mod Viewer will not work well if the Second Life/OpenSim region you visit cannot normally be displayed in 2D with a decent frame rate. In VR mode you can assume you will get 50% or less of the frame rate that shows on the 2D normal screen. At low frame rates bad flickering or texture tearing will occur in VR mode. My suggestion is to look at the frame rate (in Firestorm it is displayed in the upper right hand corner of the viewer) and to adjust the graphics settings (especially draw distance, shadows and quality sliders) until you have around 100fps (and definitely more than 50fps) and then try VR.

You may need to disable “vsync” in Settings -> Graphics -> Hardware as if this is on (the default) the FPS is capped to the frame rate of your 2D monitor (often 60fps, meaning in VR you would get less than 30fps).

Firestorm includes an “Improve Graphics Speed” performance tool and facilities to autotune the FPS which may be helpful. See advice on FPS improvement and the new “Performance Floater” and “FPS Autotune” capabilities in <a href="http://“>Beq Janus’s Blog Post (21-Mar-2022).

To improve frame rate (FPS) you might opt to set shadows to “None”, Water reflections to “None: Opaque” and use a reasonably low draw distance appropriate to the scene. Also close viewer UI windows and tools and detach any HUDs you are not actively using. The rendering of Linden Water, the water surface and its effects, can significantly reduce frame rates. Setting water reflections to “None; opaque” which gives a big FPS boost whilst still leaving the water looking okay. In an extreme situation, and in an environment that makes sense such as a meeting room, disabling Linden Water entirely can boost frame rates. Do that via Advanced -> Rendering Types -> Water. If the Advanced menu is not shown use Settings -> Advanced -> Show Advanced Menu or World -> Show More -> Advanced menu.

Peter Kappler also suggests: Particles… a fireplace is going to eat 20 to 30 fps! So turn them off for VR.

Tips from David Rowe for using the CtrlAltStudio VR Viewer (which is no longer maintained) may also be relevant:

1. To improve your frame rate, reduce your draw distance and/or tweak other display settings such as advanced lighting model, shadows, FOV, pixel density, etc.
2. Make sure you don’t have Preferences > Graphics > Rendering > Limit Framerate enabled.
3. To display avatar chat above avatars use Preferences > Chat > Visuals > Show chat in bubbles above avatars.
4. With floating text you may want to adjust the distance the floating text fades at so that distant text is not so annoying in VR mode: Preferences > User Interface > 3D World > Floating text fade distance.

C O N T R O L L E R S

Currently, specialised VR Controllers are not supported, but a range of game controllers and 3D navigation devices do work where supported by the normal viewer code.

Xbox One Controller

An Xbox One controller as used with the Oculus Rift (or an Xbox 360 controller) can be enabled, as usual, in Firestorm via Preferences -> Move & View -> Movement -> Joystick Configuration -> Enable Joystick.

You will probably find the controls are under or over sensitive, or some buttons and triggers don’t do what you expect. See this blog post and the image here (click for a larger version) for some suggestions as to how to amend the settings…
https://hugsalot.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/joystick-settings-for-firestorm-with-xbox-360-controller/

You might want to enter “-1” rather than axis “5” as an indication that axis is not mapped. With the setup suggested the “A” button toggles between the normal avatar view and “FlyCam” mode allowing you to move the camera separately to the avatar.

3D SpaceNavigator or SpaceMouse

As with all versions of Firestorm, the viewer supports other forms of “joystick”. One is the 3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator (aka SpaceMouse) which is a “3D mouse” supporting both avatar motion and by clicking the left hand button the separate “FlyCam” camera control.

My recommendation is to install the SpaceNavigator just by plugging it into Windows and receiving default Windows drivers for the device. I do not install any special SpaceNavigator drivers as suggested on the Second Life Wiki, some of which are incompatible with Second Life viewers.

S O U R C E

This version of Firestorm VR Mod 6.4.12.62831 is based on the Firestorm source code at Commit r63477:5b44308aee43 (Wed, 02 Dec 2020 21:32:05). Firestorm source is available at https://vcs.firestormviewer.org/phoenix-firestorm. Look under “Commits” and select the branch for Firestorm_6.4.12 (link here).

With Firestorm VR Mod Peter Kappler uses a coding approach which injects VR capabilities into the Firestorm Viewer to make the mod easier to maintain in future and for others to repeat or adapt. The source is available from his web page at https://gsgrid.de/firestorm-vr-mod/ [Local Copy].

Impressively, the source is written in a way that it requires only some editing in the llviewerdisplay.cpp and adding 2 files to the project. All changes are marked with #####P373R##### comments. Peter also included the openvr header and lib files you will need in the rar. For information about the rest of the files you will need, read how to compile Firestorm at https://wiki.firestormviewer.org/fs_compiling_firestorm.

Note that the VR Mod source remains stable since version 6.3.3 and that no changes are needed for insertion into later versions of Firestorm to date.

The GitHub Actions (GHA) source by @HumbleTim used to combine Firestorm source and Peter Kappler’s P373R VR Mod addons and build it using Visual Studio 2019 is available via https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha.

V R L A N D – T E S T   A R E A

VRLand on OSGrid is a metrics area for performance testing and to establish virtual field of view in your VR headset.

More detail at: https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2016/07/20/vrland-a-community-and-test-region-for-virtual-reality-in-virtual-worlds/

You can also pick up a VR Headset attachment for your avatar in OpenSim on the OSGrid on both the RuthAndRoth and (if available) the VRLand regions. Or in Second Life pick up the VR HMD on the Second Life Marketplace. The 3D models of the Oculus Rift were provided for free use by William Burke (MannyLectro) and imported to OpenSim by Michael Cerquoni (Nebadon Izumi) and Second Life by Ai Austin.

Fantasy Cove is a Second Life region moody build by digitalbleh.

• https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fantasy%20Cove/49/151/1001
• Second Life Destinations – Fantasy Cove
• Flickr Photos

I was prompted by a tweet by @nanami_Fray to explore a scuba diving location in Second Life at https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Crystal%20Coast/189/68/37″>Crystal Coast.

• https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Crystal%20Coast/189/68/37
• Video by @nanami_Fray
• Scuba Dive Equipment: @nanami_Fray wears “Steelhead Sport Scuba V1.8

The Magical Kingdom is a region in Second Life built by The Muggles group involving Dain Voxel and Suzie Anderton.

• http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/THE%20MAGICAL%20KINGDOM/
• Second Life Destination Guide – The Magical Kingdom
• Second Life – The Magical Kingdom Flickr Group

Video by InWorld Films

Click to view 360° image on Flickr

I was prompted to make this blog post by Simon Atkinson’s own blog post detailing the history of Master Models and Space Models (see this 2023 blog post). Here are some of the links related to Master Models and Space Models association with Gerry Anderson productions such as Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray and Thunderbirds and Joe 90. In 1960 Master Models produced the puppet-scale model of Supercar used in filming the series.

• http://www.mastermodels.co.uk/
• http://www.mastermodels.co.uk/gallery/thunderbirds/
• https://satkinsoncreativearts.com/the-space-models-story

1960 – Supercar – Puppet-scale Model – Just out of the Master Models Workshop.
Note the girder style front canopy support, which was replaced before filming the series.
Original Image – Master Models.

Panel on “A New Reality: Building the Metaverse” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, 18th January 2023.
Speakers: Nicholas Thompson, Chris Cox, Enrique Lores, Paula Ingabire, Neal Stephenson and Cathy Li.

https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023/sessions/a-new-reality-building-the-metaverse

Other Metaverse Related Content at the World Economic Forum

• https://www.weforum.org/topics/the-metaverse
• https://www.weforum.org/search?query=metaverse
• https://www.weforum.org/global-collaboration-village
• https://initiatives.weforum.org/defining-and-building-the-metaverse/home
• https://www.weforum.org/reports/interoperability-in-the-metaverse
  (PDF Report 18-Jan-2023)
• https://www.weforum.org/reports/demystifying-the-consumer-metaverse
  (PDF Report 18-Jan-2023)

WEF Global Cooperation Village

Press Conference on the “Global Collaboration Village” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, 17th January 2023.
Speakers: Adrian Monck (WEF), Klaus Schwab (WEF), Julie Sweet (Accenture) and Brad Smith (Microsoft)

https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023/sessions/press-conference-global-collaboration-village

Wireshark is a network protocol analyzer. I have found it useful for debugging UDP packet exchange issues between OpenSimulator and the Firestorm Virtual World Viewer.
This blog posts provides links and resources in case its useful in future or for others.

• https://www.wireshark.org/
• Wireshark for Windows should already include support for the Lua scripting language which enables Lua plugins to allow for dissection of logs. And Lua should already be enabled. See https://wiki.wireshark.org/Lua
• Wireshark LLUDP Plugin:
  • http://opensimulator.org/wiki/LLUDP_Dissector
  • https://github.com/Neopallium/lludp_dissector

Wireshark Usage

1. You can start and stop (or reset to empty) the logs via the “Capture” menu.
2. You can save a log via the “File” menu.
3. The logs can be opened in Wireshark for analysis.
4. You can limit the elements of the log you explore via the “Analyze” -> “Follow” menu. E.g. for “UDP Steam”.
5. More detailed analysis can be performed by installing specialised “Dissector” plugins, e.g. for the Linden Lab UDP virtual world protocols.

Installing and Using the LLUDP Dissector

This section is still under development as I try to use the plugin.

Wireshark Help -> About Wireshark – Plugin tab should indicate which plugins are active.

I am trying to work out where to put the plugin .lua code. Wireshark Help -> About Wireshark – Folders tab indicates Global Lua Plugins are placed in C:\Program Files\Wireshark\plugins. They should (I think) be able to be placed in a sub-directory (e.g. lludp”). But I seem to need it in BOTH C:\Program Files\Wireshark\plugins\lludp and C:\Program Files\Wireshark\lludp to avoid startup problems. maybe some hard paths are wired into the .lua scripts.

Edit -> Preferences -> Protocols -> LLUDP allows for the configuration of the LLUDP Plugin.

message_temlate.msg file for Firestorm is usually at C:\Program Files\FirestormOS-Releasex64\app_settings\message_template.msg

Tools -> LLUDP Stats Tap may start to watch LLUDP messages?

Its been quite some time (2014) since I checked on how Aithun the Dwarf and his companion bear, Morro, were getting on in World of Warcraft. Nearly 9 years! But Aithun and his companion are still staying at their Hearthstone Inn – the Lion’s Pride Inn in Goldshire – and I hope having a relaxing time in that protected environment.

Other characters reside in the Thunderhorn and Azuremyst realms in World of Warcraft and are also taking a rest from their adventures.

So, once again for now, I will leave Aithun the Dwarf and Morro the Bear in the Lion’s Pride Inn. and the other characters scattered across Azeroth. Say hi to them if you pass by. Mind y’er back!

Virgin Orbit’s “Start Me Up” Mission is the first launch of an orbital vehicle from a UK spaceport.

LiveStream and Replay

Cloud Edge on the Echo Mountain region in Second Life is a wonderful atmospheric walk in the mountains above the cloud. It is created by Funky Banana.

• https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Echo%20Mountain/144/207/75
• Blog Post by Inara Pey 5-Jan-2023
• Blog Post by Caitlin Tobias 5-Jan-2023 – Blog Post by Caitlin Tobias 5-Jan-2023

Click to view 360° image on Flickr

View in VR with Firestorm VR Mod

The Hypergrid Safari Group met on 4th January 2023 to visit the 3rd Rock Grid’s “HAL 9000” 2001: A Space Odyssey themed region and audio-visual experience by Alia Soulstar who created all of the visual aspects of this build and Lorin Tone who created the sound effects and music used in the movie along with some music that was NOT used in the movie with Han BoShi executing some of the more challenging scripting aspects of the build.

Alia has created all of the visual aspects of this build, my job has been to implement the sound effects and music used in the movie along with some music that was NOT used in the movie.

hop://grid.3rdrockgrid.com:8002/HAL%209000/658/642/22

Behind the Scenes Build Video

Blog post under development. Ideas and thoughts.

There has been a frequent criticism of knowledge-based approaches to planning, including Hierarchical network task (HTN) style planning, as to where the encoded processes, descriptions of tasks and agent capabilities, domain constraints, etc come from. I.e. where does the knowledge come from? Its sometimes called the “Knowledge Bottleneck”.

While much of the knowledge encoded in the operators or activity descriptions in early hierarchical task network planners was hand encoded, there has been a lot of work on knowledge capture and domain description methods and tools over the years. Some involved taking authenticated manuals for a domain (such as search and rescue) and extracting the often carefully documented processes involved.

There has been a recent rise in popularity, scope and power of Large Language Models – essentially data extracted from a large corpus (often from internet and web sources) and used to train systems which can generate a range of outputs based on that data. Moe attention is rightly being paid now to the veracity of the results they produce, their biases, their provenance, and their maintenance. There is far to go. But an intriguing possibility emerges… one that needs thought and care ahead of time to ensure its truly useful. And it could be part of the solution to the knowledge bottleneck for knowledge-based planning.

Extract and represent in a shared, reusable form the process knowledge from published manuals, guides, recipes, repair instructions accessible o the internet or world Wide Web.

Metadata and Annotations

It is essential that the knowledge represented can be used with permission, reliably and expandability.

Data Sources

There are very many sources of the data that could be obtained. Some initial rules might help guide reliable and maintainable knowledge bases.

1. Only use sources that are permitted by their licence. The source must have a creditable citation as well as what might be a temporary physical or digital location (library sources, web URL, etc). The original material, the citation, the licence and any current location must be maintained alongside the data itself for any future checking, repeatability , etc.
2. The date of use, version and any update checks must be maintained in the meta data.
3. Consider the frequency of update, checks, ways to have community feedback, corrections, etc.
4. A lot more to come…

Possible Target Representations

While any good representation of the knowledge gained should be easily transformed into future emerging representations and use standards as they emerge, there are some potential initial targets using what is already available on known. Here are some thoughts from our own decades of research on plan representation, shared planning representations which computer systems, people and robots can share, rationale capture in plans, underlying core ontologies for describing activity and agent capability, semantic web representations of processes, etc.

• OWL/OWL-S – W3C Ontology Web language – Services.
• SPAR – (DARPA) Shared Planning and Activity Representation.
• ISO 18629/NIST PSL – Process Specification Language.
• <I-N-C-A> – Issues, Noes, Constraints and Annotations Ontology.

Domain and Plan Knowledge Capture Work

TBA

References

NIST PSL – https://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/nist/

ISO 18629 – https://www.iso.org/standard/35431.html

SPAR – https://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/spar/

Tate, A. (2003) : a Shared Model for Mixed-initiative Synthesis Tasks, Proceedings of the Workshop on Mixed-Initiative Intelligent Systems (MIIS) at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-03), pp. 125-130, Acapulco, Mexico, August 2003.
https://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/ix/documents/2003/2003-ijcai-miis-tate-inca.pdf

Tate, A., Dalton. J. and Levine, J. Multi-Perspective Planning – Using Domain Constraints to Support the Coordinated Development of Plans, O-Plan Final Technical Report AFRL-IF-RS-TR-1999-60 April 1999.
https://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/oplan/documents/1999/1999-afrl-oplan-tr-99-60.pdf

Polyak, S. and Tate, A. (1998) Rationale in Planning: Causality, Dependencies and Decisions, The Knowledge Engineering Review, Vol 13(3), September, pp. 247-262, 1998.
https://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/oplan/documents/1998/98-ker-rationale.pdf

Tate, A., Wickler, G., McCluskey, T.L. and Chrpa, L. (2012) Machine Learning and Adaptation of Domain Models to Support Real Time Planning in Autonomous Systems – Month 6 Report, HedLAMP Project Report, University of Edinburgh and University of Huddersfield, 31st August 2012.
https://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/ix/documents/2012/2012-hedlamp-report-tate-month-6-report.pdf

Paper on extracting processes from Search and Rescue Manuals…

Tate, A. (2002) Personal Help Device (PHD) and the Safety Net – a personal agent and its associated local, regional, national and international infrastructure for Aid and Rescue, Papers for the UK Computing Research Committee Workshop on Grand Challenges for Computer Science, National e-Science Centre (NeSC), Edinburgh, Scotland, 25/26 November 2002.
https://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/ix/documents/2002/2002-grand-challenge-help-grid.pdf

Try the timed ski runs on Coeur Lac d’Annecy Ski Resort… https://secondlife.com/destination/coeur-lac-dannecy-ski-resort

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Coeur%20Lac%20Annecy/51/21/2179/

I was inspired by one of Inara Pey’s excellent Second Life destinations reviews to visit another nice replica of Fallingwater in Second Life. Fallingwater the home designed by Frank Llody Wright for Edgar J. Kaufmann and his family in the mid-1930s.

The Fallingwater build is by Miltone Marquette at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fivepenny/112/40/45. Contact Miltone directly in-world and to arrange a time when you might visit his reproduction of Fallingwater. A video tour is shown below…

“Shoji Falling Water – 1/4 Sim” by Namuri

“Shoji Falling Water – 1/4 Sim” is a nice Second Life marketplace item by Namuri. It requires a large plot of Second Life land to rez and should be placed along with its included landscaping to work correctly.
https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Shoji-Falling-Water-14-Sim/7944058

Esprit Christmas Village and Skating Lake by Camila Runo

There is a well developed winter themed region on Esprit by Camila Runo. Walk the winter woodland trails and skate the surrounding lake. Then visit the Christmas village for a glass of Gluhwein and some friendly chat. Don’t forget to get your Christmas tree before you leave.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Esprit/204/57/2026

Winter Wonderland by Linden Lab

Also, there is the Winter Wonderland created by Linden Lab themselves, where the annual snow ball flights take place between Second Life residents and the Lindens and Moles.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Winter%20Wonderland%205/113/7/31

Flyte Ice Skating Lake by Jenna Dirval
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/FlyGearZ/7/215/26

Stanlee Ice Skating Lake by Logan Marcus (quvie)
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Stanlee/33/138/2601

The OpenSimulator Community Conference (OSCC) is one of the longest running virtual conference series, having started in 2013 and run annually since. This is OSCC’s 10th year and the event celebrates 16 years of OpenSimulator as the first commit was January 31, 2007. The OpenSimulator community and Avacon Inc. come together to run the event on the OpenSimulator Community Conference (OpenSimCC – http://cc.opensimulator.org:8005) grid.

The main keynote presentations area uses the adjacent corners of 4 sims to provide capacity for up to around 400 attendees.

There are many other regions for avatars, shopping, exhibition booths for presenters, OpenSim community hub, music and dance venues, etc.

Links to my blog posts on earlier OpenSimulator Community Conferences.. https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/?s=oscc

Sponsors and Crowdfunders

Day One

The event opened with a visualisation of the commits to OpenSim over a period of 17 years…

Then continued with a panel of the OpenSim Core Developers…

Maria Korolov of Hypergrid Business then gave an overview of the status of PpenSim and OpenSim grids…

https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/12092-second-life-destinations-le-chateau/

https://secondlife.com/destination/le-chateau-motel

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Swing%20Island/50/109/34/

Creator Victoire Sire says that the inspiration behind Le Chateau is a typical 80’s style American motel. I was interested to see that (from the poolside) it looks VERY similar to a Miami Beach hotel we stayed at in the mid 1980s called “Chateau by the Sea” on Collins Avenue, North Miami Beach.