Distributed Learning Environment Without Avatars

The experimental system DILEWA utilizing virtual reality for educational purposes will be described. The main difference from commonly used systems for distributed VR (like Blaxxun) is that DILEWA users can act in three different roles - tutor, dependent, and independent participant. Within one shared virtual world, a single user acts as a tutor and the others can either watch the world through his/her eyes or work independently. Such a system does not need visible avatars, but a distribution of all activities of a tutor to the audience. The pilot version of DILEWA has been implemented using VRML, EAI, and Java.