In addition to educational entities, corporations such as IBM and organizations such as NASA and NOAA have an active presence in Second Life. Many organizations use Second Life for online meetings and collaboration, presentations and conferences, training, distance education, and fund-raising and social awareness. Typically, there are between 60,000 to 80,000 people online at any given time in Second Life and there are over a million registered users. Currently, there are many universities (estimated at over 300) with a presence in Second Life. Since that time, the number of universities, organizations, and corporations exploring Second Life has steadily grown. Introduction Second Life is an online, virtual world platform which was first released in 2003. Virtual worlds, such as Second Life, have been demonstrated to be a useful educational and research tool, and will play an important role in the future. As a result of the internet-based, persistent and collaborative nature, Second Life may offer advantages over traditional modeling tools. Users from the international community can access and interact with 3D designs, as well as communicate and share experiences. Within the Second Life virtual environment, engineering designs, physical models, and prototypes can be constructed, tested and evaluated in a collaborative fashion. A physics engine is also supported which provides the effects of gravity and collision detection. 1 3D Modeling and Animation in a Virtual World Robert Avanzato Penn State Abington Abington, PA Abstract The Second Life virtual world provides 3D building tools and scripting capabilities which facilitate the prototyping and presentation of engineering designs.
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