This document provides a timeline and overview of the origins and evolution of virtual worlds from the 1960s to the present. It discusses some of the earliest virtual worlds like Spacewar! in 1962 and Maze War in 1974. It outlines the development of text-based virtual worlds in the 1970s-1980s and the introduction of graphical user interfaces and networked personal computers in the 1980s which enabled virtual worlds like Lucasfilm's Habitat. The document then focuses on the growth of social virtual worlds in the mid-1990s and discusses specific platforms and worlds from that era. It also describes virtual world conferences held from 1996-2004 and the emergence of next generation social virtual worlds from 2003 onward.
3. Bruce Damer - 1980s Built one of first GUIs for PCs (Elixir-Xerox)
4. So where did (digital) virtual worlds come from? We first learned to play together in a digital world in Spacewar! in 1962 (on a PDP-1)
5. … and in 1974, the first 3D virtual worlds in Maze War
6. And then we learned how to imagine and describe worlds, players and objects in text-based worlds: MUDs, Adventure, Plato, LambdaMOO & etc (70s-80s)
7. … then in 1986 affordable personal computers are connected to dial-up networks And Lucasfilm’s Habitat (and avatars) were born
8. And then… Worlds Chat, 1995: where Avatars first teleported into the Internet Also in that year Steven Spielberg created the marriage of virtual worlds and Hollywood with Starbright World
17. Working out how to meet (talking circle) and working together to build-Sherwood Forest Towne (Jan ‘96). Roles, Robin Hood, Town Crier, old towne layout, new town, vandalism, first informal ethnographic practice
18.
19. The Avatars IRL Conferences Earth to Avatars 96 (San Francisco)
28. Learning case study: Virtual Walk on the Moon with Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart Rusty Schweickart in Cyber Space - 1999 Rusty Schweickart in Outer Space - 1969
29. Rusty became our historical actor and narrator to commemorate the 30 th anniversary of the Apollo XI moon landing