A new IETF working group has been formed in the Applications Area. For additional information, please contact the Area Directors or the WG Chairs. Virtual World Region Agent Protocol (vwrap) --------------------------------------------------- Current Status: Active Working Group Chairs: Joshua Bell (josh@lindenlab.com) Barry Leiba (barryleiba@computer.org) Applications Area Directors: Lisa Dusseault (lisa.dusseault@gmail.com) Alexey Melnikov (alexey.melnikov@isode.com) Applications Area Advisor: Alexey Melnikov (alexey.melnikov@isode.com) Mailing Lists: General Discussion: ogpx@ietf.org To Subscribe: ogpx-request@ietf.org In Body: subscribe Archive: http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/ogpx/current/maillist.html Description of Working Group: The working group will define the Virtual World Region Agent Protocol (VWRAP) for a collaborative 3-dimensional virtual environment. The protocol permits users to interact as digital representations called "avatars". An avatar exists in at most one location within a shared virtual space. Conforming client applications use the protocol to manipulate and move the user's avatar, create virtual objects, interact with other users and their surroundings, consume and create media and information from sources inside and outside their simulated environment. A virtual space can be partitioned into "regions" to facilitate the computational and communication load balancing required to simulate the virtual environment. A region provides the service environment in which inhabitants and objects can interact. A region uniquely represents a partition of the virtual space; they are not a mechanism for load balancing by having multiple instances of the same space. Different regions may be administered by different organizations. The state of a virtual world is independent of the client applications that access it and may persist between user sessions. Within a VWRAP virtual environment, services may be deployed by multiple organizations having varying policies and trust domains. The VWRAP protocol will provide the mechanisms for these services to interoperate, when permitted by policy. The working group may document examples of policies applicable to a VWRAP environment. Foundational components of the protocol include the publication of: * an abstract type system, suitable for describing the application protocol in an implementation neutral manner, * a security model describing trust relationships between participating entities, * guidelines for the use of existing authentication and confidentiality mechanisms, * an application-layer protocol for establishing the user's avatar in a region, * an application-layer protocol for changing an avatar's position, including moving between regions, * format descriptions for objects and avatars, and * an application-layer protocol for identifying entities, and requesting information about them. The protocol defined by this group will carry information about the virtual environment, its contents and its inhabitants. It is an application layer protocol, independent of transport, based partially on these previously published internet drafts: * http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-hamrick-ogp-intro * http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-hamrick-llsd * http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-hamrick-ogp-auth * http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-hamrick-ogp-launch * http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-lentczner-ogp-base * http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-levine-ogp-clientcap * http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-levine-ogp-layering The protocol should describe interaction semantics independent of transport, leveraging existing standards where practical. It should define interoperability expectations for server to server interactions as well as client-server interactions. Though the protocol is independent of transport, early interoperability trials used HTTP(S) for non-real-time messages. The working group will define specific features that must be replicated in other transports and will define the use of HTTP(S) as a transport of protocol messages. Goals and Milestones: Feb 2010 "Introduction and Goals" to the IESG as an Informational RFC Feb 2010 "Abstract Type System for the Transmission of Dynamic Structured Data" to the IESG as Proposed Standard Jun 2010 "Foundational Concepts and Transport Expectations" to the IESG as Proposed Standard Jun 2010 "Client Application Launch Message" to the IESG as an Informational RFC Oct 2010 "Trust Model and User Authentication" to the IESG as Proposed Standard Oct 2010 "Voice and Text Communication Channel Establishment" to the IESG as Proposed Standard Feb 2011 "Agent Presence Establishment" to the IESG as Proposed Standard Feb 2011 "Region Description Format" to the IESG as Proposed Standard Jun 2011 "Digital Asset Access" to the IESG as Proposed Standard Jun 2011 "Primitive Object Format" to the IESG as Proposed Standard Oct 2011 "Avatar Format" to the IESG as Proposed Standard Oct 2011 "Entity Identifiers" to the IESG as Proposed Standard Feb 2012 "Time Sensitive Messages" to the IESG as Proposed Standard _______________________________________________ IETF-Announce@ietf.org https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf-announce
