"nux project - the first impulse"

8/14/2019 "nux project - the first impulse"

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Thisfilepresentsaconceptionofa3-dimetionalnetworkedenvironm

ent,calledNUX.

Itisafirstimpulase...

by`tonuxformation`2008


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3/12

NUX Project what do we have

NUX Project what do we want

NUX Project overview

Links & thanks

Intro

NUXProjectt

hefirstimpulase...

by`

tonuxformation`2008CO

NTENTS

pg. 03

tonux formation about us

Near future plans

3d account and data storage

NUX-99

Main priciples of NUX

A few words about open source

What about the engine (software platform)?
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0


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Purpose of this publication is to somehow initiatethe development process of a free, open-sourcebased,decentralizednetworkofvirtualworlds,whichcould be a model of a new, multi-user networkedthree-dimentional operating environment. We, thetonux formation, publish here our vision of such anetwork, calledNUX,inwhichwetrytoverbalizeandvisualize the key things about such project, and wehope that our publication will be useful to someonewhowant'stoparticipateinthedevelopmentofsuchproject.Hereareplacedthemost fundamental conceptionsofNUXaswell aswhatisdonealready onthewaytofirstNUXworld.

MainideaofNUXisto alloweveryone freelyexploreand participate inNUXworlds and,whenneeded, tocreate their own virtual worlds using NUX'scomponents and to independently maintain theseworlds.It is planned that first launched NUX world will betheNUX-99world.Itwillbeasmallartificialplanetorbig spaceshipwithcylindrical shape, its visual spiritwill be similar to our common physical world and itwill have afixedvirtual space. Eachnextworld withinNUXProject thenwill be reverse numbered (NUX-98,NUX-97, etc.)However, this won't be a gaming platform orchatting zone in particular, it will bejust a placewhere one can "breath the virtual air" and do whatone wants - to play gam

es, communicate, developcomputer programs, create music, or do any otherthingoneusuallydoeswithcomputerstodaybutinadifferent,morenaturalway.Ofcourse,"morenatural"will require new 3d-oriented manipulating andvisualizing deviceswhich, it seems,will arrive in thenearfuture.We want that the development of such systemshappen inapublicand openmanneras ithappenedwith the 2d computer interfaces and that the open-source community will be one of the participants ofsuch development.

NUXProjectt

hefirstimpulase...by

`tonuxformation`2008O

VERVIEW

pg. 04

Tonuxformationconsistsof5to10ind

ividuals(atthis

moment no artifical inteligence;))We

,the members

oftonuxformation,fill themselves as

artists (rather

than businessmans:). Naturally, we think of NUX

Project mainlyas of an inter

active artistic

phenomenon.

Of course, we understand that N

UX needs a

multiplatform, flexible, reliable soft

ware platform

(engine).We believethat open-sourc

e development

model isthe bestfor such engine, b

ecause it had

proven its efficiency in projects

with similar

characteristics.

However, we decidedtofirstly outline

the general

conception of NUXto have a more o

r less concrete

image of what runtime engine and

possibly other

softwarecomponentsNUXneeds.

Atfirst, we have been united bythe

dreamto be

present in3dvirtualworlds.But later

weunderstood

thatwewanttoinitiatesomethingnew. Forthelast2

yearswearemodelling3dscenesand

discussingthe

theory.Today,notcountingtheperson

swho inspired

usandhelpedusa lot,theactivemem

bersoftonux

formationareTorus,Zigel,YourBandD

an.

Whentonuxformationwillfinishour

currentwork -

describe, visualizeand publish the N

UX idea and

maybe a part of scenery ofthefirst

NUX world, we

willconsiderourtaskwithinNUXasfinis

hed.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0


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NUXProjectt

hefirstimpulase...

by`tonuxformation`2008T

ONUXFOR

MATION

pg. 05

At this moment we have a general conception ofNUX,amoreconcreteconceptionofthe firstplannednux-world(NUX-99)includingasketchof itsmapandapartof its scenery in3d,andademoscenewhichdoesn't`geographically' belongtoNUX.Mainpurposeofthe demo sceneis to giveanoverviewofwhatNUX(and generally a 3d virtual world) should consist ofandshowing thevisual andconceptual spirit ofNUX-99.Youcanget thescene from thedownloadspage.The 3d scenery of NUX-99 world is currently notavailablefordownloadbutitsreleaseis planned.BesidesofwhatisdirectlyrelatedtoNUX, therearemany things which form the context in which NUXcan be developed, including the Internet, the factthat almost any computer has a powerful 3d video-card running the open-gl standard, huge amount offree (open source) software from operating systemsto 3d-modelling tools and useful finished technicalresearches relatedtovirtual worlds.And finally,wehavealotofideason howtheabovecan be used in the future development of computerinterfaces.

I n t r o

When we say 3d virtual world we mean that a single3d virtual space is in real-time observed and modifiedby many participants over network. They can see

each other and interact with objects and participantsin the virtual space. While the space is maintained bymore than one computer, all events in the virtualspace must be controlled by single laws for all of theparticipants. A 3d virtual world should consist of atleast the following components:

virtual material. This includes 3d mesh, textures,animation, lighting, sounds, physical forces andphysical properties of objects in the virtualenvironment.

program. A software platform which letsparticipants explore the 3d virtual world and interactwith it, programs which help organize thedevelopment process of virtual world, programswhich are associated with objects in the virtual world

and define their behavior, etc.law system. Global and local rules of interaction of

objects and participants in a virtual environment.Global laws are something like a constitution - it isaccepted by every participant of the virtual world andrelates to every object and action in the virtual world.Local laws are associated with a certain region ofvirtual environment and operate only in that region.

community. Participants of a virtual world whocollectively create the above components and usethe virtual world for their needs.
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NUXProjectt

he

firstimpulase...

by`tonuxformation`2008W

HATDOWEWANT

pg. 06

A few words about open source

In short, when we say that a software project is

open-source, we mean the following:

* it can be freely used and redistributed both inexecutable and in source code formats;* it can be freely modified and improved by anyonewho wants to do so;* the changes one have made can be then mergedinto the original project or distributed separately buton the same terms that the original project.* and that the software may freely be usedcommercially, but the software itself must remainopen-source. Example of this is using a free 3d-modelling software to make commercial (even closed-source) computer games, etc.

These principles provide very interesting

characteristics to the open-source developmentmodel. Firstly, open-source software and opentechnical standards (such as Internet protocols) areserving for the public interest like, for example, thehuman language or the maps of Earth:)

Secondly, such software projects are developedcontignously with no finish-line (when the sourcecode is available, enyone can take it and continuedeveloping it even when the original developerssuspended the project).

And thirdly, the initative to work on the source codecomes (in most cases) from the person who actuallyworks with the code and is caused rather bycreativity of the person, not by the corporate duty. Ofcourse, commercial sturctures can participate in thedevelopment of such projects too. The open-source development model is very close

to our vision of NUX's development spirit andphilosophy. However, software isn't the onlycomponent of NUX on which we want to apply suchspirit (of cource, only when that will have sense).

While open-source doesn't mean non-commercialbut it means that the commercial stuctures will besame "players" on "the virtual worlds board" as non-commercial ones and individuals.

Virtual worlds can be filled by various objects, but

we can split them into a couple of categories:

static (eg. roads, buildings, etc.)dynamic (including participants)programs (eg. a music player being a box which

emits music in the 3d space or a tennis table, all in anetworked manner);

filesystem (files, directories, etc.); databases;imported 2d computer programs (eg. a usual text

editor or an image viewer represented as 3d windowsin the 3d space, contents of which can be, whenneeded, observed and changed by many users in thesame time.)

We can use such abilities of 3d virtual worlds totransform today's 2d desktop environments into 3d

networked ones, where users will be able to combinework with communication and even recreation inmore natural manner.


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NUXProjectt

hefirstimpulase...


HATDOW

EWANT

pg. 07

M a i n p r i c i p l e s o f N U X

Generally we want to initiate the development of adecentralized network of 3d virtual environtments(worlds). Decentralized because NUX worlds will notbe a service provided by some company, instead itwill be a linked system of many virtual environmentscreated and controlled by their participants.

Main ideas of these worlds will be the following:

* freedom in creation, sharing, usage andmodification of elements of these world(s).

For software components of NUX this means openstandards on all the technical details of how thevirtual world system operates and free (open-source)implementation of these standarts. This way NUXworlds will be compatible with each other and withany virtual world using same technical standard asNUX.

For law system this means that everyone canparticipate in creation/modification of laws in a virtualworld but this process must be coordinated by allparticipants of a virtual world (or corresponding areaof a virtual world). We need to keep in mind,however, that the global part of laws (common to allworlds) should be developed with not only one virtualworld in mind, so that it can be used in many virtualworlds in the same time.

For virtual 3d-material and other content thismeans abilities for well-organized collective (bothrealtime and non-realtime) creation/modification of3d and related data and, when desired, use of open-content-licenses.

While we are all time talking about open-sourcesoftware, we mean that NUX's platform won't be just

an open-source reimplementation of some closed-source virtual world engine, instead this should be anindependent software project, developed to fulfilconcrete tasks.

* development strategy without the fear to think offuture. This means that NUX worlds (especially the

software) must not become obsolete at any point andmust be flexible enough to easily answer all theneeds that NUX community will have, both intechnical and social aspects. Example of this can beusage of multi-point 3d manipulating devices, newways to visualize 3d data, and so on...* good system of collaboration of people with

different talents and occupation fields (firstly trough2d web-interfaces, then directly in 3d).For exapmle, programmers with 3d-modellers andbiologists create algorithms of virtual plants;musicians, story-writers, 3d-modellers, andprogrammers build massive fun zones, etc.

While NUX is a non-commertial initiative,commercial activities will be allowed in NUX worlds. Ifsomeone wants to make money within some of NUXworlds, he is welcomed to do so if he doesn't breakNUX's philosophy.

W h a t a b o u t t h e e n g i n e( s o f t w a r e p l a t f o r m ) ?

Currently we have focused our work on thetheoretical and 3d material for NUX presentation anddidn't experiment with the engines which have beenrecently arrived due to the fact that we aren'tprogrammers and that our hardware and internetconnection are for now a bit limited.

However, even with the relatively small amount ofexperience we can outline which engine, from our

point of view, NUX needs:

* as has been said before, open-source software andopen technical standards;* multiplatform - all software components of NUXmust be designed to run on different operatingsystems and CPU architures and to be easily portedto new ones including non-standard platforms such asmobile devices (when possible);* flexibile and modular - the engine should be easilycustomized and extended to get use of all the neededtechnical invetions while maintaining the bestpossible compatibility with the existent standards;* decentralized - place the major part ofcomputations on client machines and minimize the

server load and bandwidth while maintaining singlelaws and rules of the computations. Large number ofparticipants in a virtual environment must not be aproblem even for 3d worlds without a strong financialbase.

We can't be sure that the engine for NUX must becreated from scratch because it's possible that thereis some open-source project which could be used asthe software platform for NUX. However, we don'twant to enforce use of some concrete softwareplatform at this moment, so feel free to mail us if Youhave some ideas/questions on that subject.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0


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NUXProjectt

he

firstimpulase...

by`tonuxf

ormation`2008W

HATDOWEWANT

pg. 083 d a c c o u n t a n d d a t a s t o r a g e

Another interesting aspect of virtual worlds is the new ways of datastorage, sharing and manipulation which virtual worlds, especially NUXcan give to their participants. For example, user can have an account asa 3d-home in the virtual world. It can play the role of users' workplaceand data storage place. This home can be hosted on users' machinebeing just a representation of his/her computer and data for himself andfor other users who are allowed to access the virtual home, but onlywhen the user is online.

However, the virtual home (or some part of it) can be also hosted on

the Internet just like mailboxes are hosted now, giving the user slightlymore abilities. Such setup will turn the virtual home into something like a3d webpage. Access to all users' data then should be regulated not bythe storage place, but by the user identifier with which it is associated.

In such case, users who want to do so will be able to store their data onthe virtual world's servers and access their data from anycomputer/device, connected to correspoding virtual world. Just imagine -

You take your stereo glasses-monitors with sensor-mittens connected toYour cell-phone, and enter a virtual world to visit your friend and try outhis virtual reconstruction of da Vinci`s flying vehicle.


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NUXProjectt

hefirstimpulase...


HATDOW

EWANT

pg. 09

Nea r f ut u r e pl a n s .

Atthispointweprepare3dmeshesofapartofNUX-

99'ssceneryandalsowearestartingt

oworkonNUX-

98 - aterritorially unlimited and un

constrained by

physical laws of Earth 3d virtual wo

rld with more

freedomandavantgardethan inNUX-

99,butNUX-99

remainsourmain targetforthenearfu

ture.

Later, when at least a beta runt

ime platform

(engine)forNUXwillbereadyfortes

ting,weplanto

buildavirtualNUXresearchcentrefo

rprogrammers,

lawyers, artists, people who liketo

experiment with

artificial inteligenceandanyonewhow

antsto create

something new ina new way (eg.ju

rispundence of

virtual environments, interactive spa

tially-integrated

musicandotherresearchesontheedge

sofscience:)

However,atthismomentitishardto

saywhenthe

firstNUXvirtualworld (infull senseo

fthisterm)will

belaunched.

N U X - 9 9

We think that it will be natural to develop differentcomponents of NUX in parallel with a concrete 3dvirtual environment which will be an area indicatingwhat needs to be changed, what is missing, etc.

We suggest NUX-99 to play the role of a first NUXworld. It will be a big virtual space ship or a smallplanet of cylindrical shape with its "populated"surface inverted inside so that the radial inertia forcewill form the gravity on the ship/mini-planet. Overallsurface of NUX-99 will be 6048 km2. Most of it'sterritory will have visual spirit of our current Earthreality with sea, rivers, hilly surface, roads, cities andnice nature.

We have created a part of 3d scenery for NUX-99,

but it is in a pre-release state at this moment (Youcan take a look at screenshots and a videosillustrating NUX-99 in 3d.)

Because NUX-99 will be a bit "traditional" andlimited in some aspects, we hope that NUXcommunity will not stop on NUX-99 and will createother virtual worlds with different characteristics:)
http://www.youtube.com/NUX1Ihttp://www.nux1impulse.co.cc/mailto:[email protected]://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0


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Specialtha

nks:

Weareverythankfultodevelopersofmany

open-sourcesoftware

thatwehaveusedduring

processofcreating

thisproject,including

but

not

limited

to

GN

U/Linux,

Blender,

Bullet

physicslibrary,

Scribus,

Inkscape,

Gimp,

Kate,

Cinelerraetc.

Andalsowearever

ygratefultoDanaFrolyak,

Natalia

Kozhushko,L

aura

Kallas,

Marta

Bulka,

andtootherourinspir

ers.

L i n k s

Here are pointers to useful related info:

OpenGL

Wikipedia's article about the open-source movement

OpenSimulator - an open-source server for virtualenvironments

Croquet - platform for creating networked applica-tions in a 3d networked space

Blender - free 3d modelling software with it's ownengine for creating interactive 3d scenes with real-time physics simulation

Bzoo - a toolkit for developing interactive net-worked 3d applications using Blender game engine

A Serverless 3d World - a very interesting researchon the subject of P2P 3d virtual world system

Real time ambient occlusion

NUX on YouTube

NUX (the 1st impulse) downloads

Main NUX (the 1st impulse) site

http://opengl.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source

http://opensimulator.org

http://croquetconsortium.org

http://www.blender.org

http://www.bzooworld.org

http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~egemen/gis04.pdf

http://www.projectoffset.com/blog.php

http://www.youtube.com/nux1i

http://nux1i.webng.com/downloads/

http://www.nux1impulse.co.cc

NUXProject

thefirstimpulase...

by`ton

uxformation`2008L

INKS

&THANX

pg. 10

Conceptio

n,

ideas,artisticalcontentbytonuxf

ormation

TextbyYo

urB,visualrealisationbyZigel.
http://nux1i.webng.com/downloads/mailto:[email protected]://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0http://www.nux1impulse.co.cc/http://www.youtube.com/NUX1Ihttp://www.projectoffset.com/blog.php?id=83http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~egemen/gis04.pdfhttp://www.bzooworld.org/http://www.blender.org/http://croquetconsortium.org/http://opensimulator.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_sourcehttp://opengl.org/mailto:[email protected]://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0


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"nux project - the first impulse"