A Java applet-based virtual environment as a usable interface to distributed services and collaborative applications on the Internet

In this paper we tackle the problem of implementing a user graphical interface that plays the role of an Internet distributed applications container. A Java applet-based DVE (Distributed Virtual Environment), named VERSA (Virtual Environment for Remote Services Access) has been conceived as a common users' platform for acceding to services and applications by means of virtual reality and multimedia communication. The user, that inhabits the "palace" in the semblance of an avatar, may move across rooms and corridors, interact with other avatars, communicate with them and join collaborative sessions of Internet applications by the simple action of entering special rooms. An inter-server communication protocol has been introduced for locating and acceding to such distributed services on the Internet. A widely distributed multi-server structure is implemented to ensure multi-user access and differentiated kinds of services.