Scale and the construction of real-world models in Second Life

Virtual environments are often used for training. In particular, virtual worlds can be used for situation-awareness. Such models allow users to gain an understanding of a real-world location or walk-through scenarios that may incorporate many participants and achieve training to develop skills and competencies. One of the main challenges for the developer is to create virtual models that are appropriately sized in comparison with the avatars. In-world measurements are different to those in the real-world. In-world models have exaggerated avatar heights and often use third-person viewing projections. This article describes our experience with developing a scale model. We have used Second Life to provide a case study for understanding virtual design issues and challenges of scale in development. We discuss these challenges and describe our experiences of developing real-world models in virtual environments.