Using virtual world technology to construct immersive 3D virtual university

Rapid evolutions in Earth Information, network, visualization and virtual world technologies create opportunities for a new era of information systems and Internet applications. These technologies' advances enable new capabilities for creation of dynamic contents, visualization of multiple and higher dimensions, distributed collaboration and cognition, immersive participant and interaction, and high level understanding of situations, activities and events. The present paper explores these technology advances, describes the concept of immersive virtual university and community of virtual education, identifies research issues that need to be addressed to effectively utilize these new technologies and concepts, and develops an approach exploring these enhancements to multiuser immersive virtual environment applications and conducts experiments of constructing Second Campus of Peking University based on Open Simulator and Second Life Viewer.