NewsBriefs
A New Network for the Virtual Reality and Gaming World
By KA Staff
Dec 29, 2006, 11:58

A virtual-reality industry organization is setting up the “Neuronet,” a new network for real-time virtual reality and gaming data. The Neuronet will eventually evolve into a public network for emerging cinematic and immersive VR technologies. It will be separate from the Internet, which was not designed to support the data transmission requirements of real-time VR data, and it will use a different set of domain names.

Applications that will be able to reach their full potential on the Neuronet include virtual worlds like Second Life, The Sims, Everquest and World of Warcraft, which are attracting millions of followers; new game systems from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft that are offering near-lifelike character renditions; and virtual-business applications that are being developed by companies like IBM and Sun Microsystems. The Neuronet's bandwidth and its real-time VR and gaming data transfer protocols will support the needs of these VR trailblazers.

Though much of the infrastructure and programming for the Neuronet will be outsourced to companies in the telecommunications and virtual-reality industries, the network will be governed by an international not-for-profit organization, the International Association of Virtual Reality Technologies, whose members are involved in virtual-reality research or business development.

The first-generation Neuronet is slated to go live in 2007, and consumer-accessible applications will follow as early as 2009.