Using Second Life to create video footage is an easy and relatively fast way to incorporate 3D into your eLearning. This topic was very well received at conferences I spoke at but adoption was challenging because of the cost of Second Life and access through corporate firewalls.
With the advances in OpenSim, we now have a fully viable alternative to Second Life at a fraction of the cost. Currently we use an OpenSim hosting provider, SimHost, which I can’t say enough good about. SimHost and James Stallings II deliver outstanding service and performance that exceeds what I experienced with Second Life.
That is all fine and well if you are able to budget a hosted solution, but what if you are interested in pitching this idea to your decision makers? Or would like to learn this on your own before taking the leap.
Many companies and IT departments won’t just say “Great, we’d love to install OpenSim for you” without some sort of proof-of-concept about it’s value. The solution for you might be to install OpenSim on a USB drive! This is easier than it sounds and you end up with a very good performing set of four sims! You can import any OAR files you may have or those that are free and include buildings and landscaping.
Our virtual world guru and tireless builder, Ener Hax, tried this out and loved the results.
The possibilities for OpenSim on a USB drive are great. From standalone grids to be used at workshops, to demonstrations for presentations, to client-facing solutions – all without the need of an internet connection.
For full instructions, visit Roger Stack’s wiki entry on this, including video tutorials. To see the results of this, look at Ener’s post showing one of our SimHost regions being loaded onto a USB drive grid.
yah, if i can install it on a stick, holy cow, anyone can!
it’s pretty cool to fire it up too!
Ener Hax
27 Sep 10 at 9:17 pm