Scalability is an important research topic in the context of networked virtual environments (NVEs). This paper aims to describe the ALVIC (Architecture for Large‐scale Virtual Interactive Communities) approach to NVE scalability.
The setup and results from two case studies are shown: a 3‐D learning environment through which long‐term sick children can stay in close contact with their school environment; and a 3‐D mobile city guide, in which city inhabitants and visitors can form a virtual community in which they share information and communicate with each other.
These case studies clearly demonstrate the applicability of the ALVIC architecture. In order to be able to create even larger NVEs, a next‐generation client‐server NVE architecture is proposed: ALVIC‐NG, which employs proxy servers and logic servers in order to balance the server load.
Further scalability tests need to be performed to evaluate this new architecture. ALVIC‐NG will also be the basis for a new case study, in which large 3‐D city datasets will be used.
The results provide insight in scalability issues to those who need to deploy very large‐scale networked virtual environments.
