A framework for experimenting distributed connectivity strategies in DVEs

A key challenge in Distributed Virtual Environments´ (DVE) research has always been the possibility to compare new connectivity strategies with state of the art solutions without having to re-implement it. Indeed, when considering distributed connectivity strategies that allow multiple processes (eventually the end-user processes) to distribute the computation of a specific DVE task (i.e., objects discovery, neighbors discovery, positions updates, etc.), it has always been very difficult to efficiently compare the already proposed solutions with the new ones on the same exact implementation and assumption bases. Our Open Virtual Environment (OVE) project aims at being among the first very easy to use open source C++ GPL v3 frameworks that answer this need by providing all the necessary tools for an easy implementation of new propositions. Three spatially organized peer-to-peer network overlays are given as an example, thus laying down the bases for other connectivity strategies to be implemented and compared.