Networked Virtual Environments: Design and Implementation (ACM Press Books) [Hardcover]

Sandeep Singhal (Author), Michael Zyda (Author)

Book Description

Series: ACM Press Books | Publication Date: July 1999

Networked virtual environments (net-VEs) offer a three-dimensional, virtual "space" in which users around the world can interact in real-time. Net-VE applications--already in use by the military and aerospace and entertainment industries--are used to enhance engineering design, scientific research, and electronic commerce. This emerging, rapidly proliferating field is propelled by globalization and increasingly sophisticated networking capabilities. Written by two of the field's leading pioneers, this book represents seminal work on networked virtual environments. Offering a comprehensive examination of net-VEs, the text covers the underlying technologies and provides a step-by-step roadmap for designing and building interactive 3D virtual environments. In particular, the authors focus on strategies for overcoming limitations that can impede real-time interactive system development and describe numerous practical techniques for creating successful, real-world net-VE applications.You will find in-depth coverage of important topics, such as: *Basic challenges in net-VE design *Relevant networking principles and Internet communication protocols *How to organize the communications infrastructure *How to manage dynamic shared states *System design for real-time, multiuser interaction *How to ensure real-time response and scalability by managing limited bandwidth and computational resources *Emerging techniques and standards for deploying net-VEs over the Internet Moving beyond the state of the art, Networked Virtual Environments points to future developments that will make net-VEs a pervasive form of professional and personal telecommunications. Authoritative, technically detailed, and comprehensive, this book will help you understand and participate in this exciting field. 0201325578B04062001

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Enjoying a multiuser virtual environment is easy--after all, its realistic interface is designed to be. Building a networked virtual environment (net-VE), on the other hand, is quite a formidable task. Networked Virtual Environments: Design and Implementation is a technical introduction to this exciting software development field and lays out many of the challenges net-VE developers must face and the weapons they have in their arsenal.

This book doesn't take you through the process of building a net-VE. Instead, it focuses on the architecture and standards that come into play. The writing is a bit on the dry side, methodically presenting the technical issues; however, the text works well for systematically building knowledge of this complex topic.

Authors Sandeep Singhal and Michael Zyda introduce the concept of net-VEs in general, explaining what a net-VE is and all of the technical hurdles programmers must clear. They also delve into the relevant communication standards and topologies. The book looks at recent developments and offers some basic communication techniques in Java, C++, and C via TCP/IP, User Datagram Protocol/Internet Protocol (UDP/IP), and multicasting.

There is a lot of material here, and you'll likely need more to fully implement a net-VE. However, this book gives game developers, graphics programmers, and forward-looking Web site designers an excellent technical background. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: Prerequisites for a net-VE, relevant network architectures, common network protocols, resource management and optimization, VRML, and Internet gaming.

Review

"Networked Virtual Environments" is the most comprehensive and current text on the subject. Many recent advancements are reflected in the body of this text. It is refreshing to see an open and informed perspective on the subject, one that does the topic justice without leaning to heavily in one direction or another. This "soup to nuts" approach, from the lowly socket, to thread design, to hybrid multicast aggregation really provides the reader with the rational behind the requirements for reliable end-to-end, flow controlled data transfers.

I know from personal experience (and involvement with the Internet Engineering Task Force) that many network design engineers are unaware of this class of applications, and the implications and impacts they will have on existing systems and the commodity internet. Unlike their unicast brethren, Net-VEs occupy a very rich design space, and can embody large numbers of simultaneous users, but without some of the bottleneck limitations commonly associated with client/server models. Where else can you find applications that require support for multiple streams, varying start times, real-time operations, data consistency and ordering, as well as resilience and/or reliability? For this reason, I see Networked Virtual Environments as the application that will drive the Next Generation Internet. From this humble beginning, revolutionary new applications will evolve and will continue to build upon the principles outlined in this book. -- Michael Myjak, Chair, Large Scale Multicast Applications Working Group, IETF; & Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization, Standards Activity Committee Vice Chair

"This is an excellent resource for those with backgrounds in distributed systems and graphics who want to understand the intricacies of large scale virtual environments. It has both important concepts and a useful level of implementation detail." -- Andries van Dam, T.J. Watson, Jr. University Professor of Technology and Education and Professor of Computer Science, Brown University

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 331 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (July 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201325578
• ISBN-13: 978-0201325577
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,262,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST for people interested in Net VEs, October 29, 1999

By 

Helmuth Trefftz (Piscataway, New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Networked Virtual Environments: Design and Implementation (ACM Press Books) (Hardcover)

This is an EXCELLENT book. Appropriate for beginners and experts in the Network VE area. Has good coverage both of technical and non-technical issues. Easy to read, informative, and presents many of the original contributions of the authors.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cyberspace starts here!, September 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Networked Virtual Environments: Design and Implementation (ACM Press Books) (Hardcover)

Provides a good grounding in issues that must be addressed by anyone embarking upon the development of massive multiplayer games. It also represents the laying of one of the first foundations of knowledge necessary for the building of cyberspace.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book!, August 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Networked Virtual Environments: Design and Implementation (ACM Press Books) (Hardcover)

I love this book. It is technical, comprehensive, well-written, and deals with an area which is gaining popularity rapidly, both in academia and industry. Dr. Gurminder Singh, Director (Learning Lab), Kent Ridge Digital Labs, Singapore