Before we even begin I feel obliged to offer up the following warning:
Warning: Depending on what you have and don't already have installed on your system setting up to learn content development for Wonderland may take anywhere from 1 to 8 or more hours.
I offer up this warning in fairness to folks who may be new to working with Java, or 3D modeling or both ~~ because the fact is that 3D graphics and animation are complex by nature and setting up your work environment to develop in this space is just not trivial. So if you are expecting easy point~and~click type solutions you won't find them here. Also recognize that 3D for the Internet is still relatively underdeveloped. Gaming enthusiasts have been experiencing Internet 3D for many years, but other than in gaming true Immersive 3D for the Internet has yet to mature.
That said, there is a certain satisfaction in the early adoption of developing technologies. Being in on the "ground floor" so-to-speak has a certain appeal, and early adoption has its benefits. So for those intrepid Immersive 3D enthusiasts out there, this module and the next are provided to walk you through the set up and installation of the Wonderland client server application, and introduce you to some of the tools that can be applied to develop content for this system.
One of the foremost reasons for the commitment of the Immersive Education Initiative to Wonderland is that it is an open technology. As such, Wonderland is open to the public and any individual or organization can develop around it. Beyond that Wonderland is open source. That means that wonderland sourcecode is freely accessible, and interested parties are free to use it, modify it and add to it under the constraints of Open Source Software Licensing. What that means for us right now is that we can check out the Wonderland source distribution, and use it to learn about content development within this Immersive 3D platform.
~26~