Unlike with competing products, users of learn eXact need no technical knowledge of XML, VRML or any other programming language. Coding in XML and VRML and contents packaging are performed internally and thus are completely shielded from users.

"Experts in some of the most important museums in Europe have already used the technology to create a number of virtual exhibitions containing 2D images and 3D models to enhance users' learning opportunities", pointed out Fabrizio Cardinali, Giunti Labs' CEO.

"3D objects are not the only objects that can be imported and positioned in the 3D environment,- he added. -œ2D images, videos, text, and any media that can be interpreted by an internet browser can be used to create SCO virtual worlds, too."

The SCO virtual world and the SCORM run-time environment - used for launching, communicating with and tracking contents in the web-based environment - are packaged according to the IMS Content Package specification and published to a learning management system (LMS), such as learn eXact. The LMS's run-time engine uses a collaborative server to manage the interactions between users and objects.

Using PCs or Palm computers that support 3D rendering, learners access the virtual world via the internet or an intranet - where they are able to share the same virtual worlds and talk to each other in their shared environment. The LMS tracks and stores each learner's action, allowing the tutor or supervisor to track the learning status of all users and allowing the LMS to lock and unlock alternative learning paths.

"In particular, the learn eXact virtual learning solution should appeal, for example, to organisations in the -˜culture' sector throughout the world," commented Cardinali. "Museums, galleries, and other cultural institutions hold vast numbers of digital multimedia representations of their collections and metadata that can be exploited to create rich and rewarding learning experiences."

"The use of cultural learning objects promises to increase the effectiveness of learning by making cultural contents more readily available; reducing the cost and effort involved in producing quality content; allowing virtual artifacts to be shared more easily; addressing the need for significantly greater adaptability of learning objects to fit the unique needs of individuals or groups, and to enable greater flexibility for mass customisation and personalisation of learning."

"Virtual worlds-related learning offers researchers and technologists a growing series of challenges, particularly as the range of multimedia representations is expanding to include, for example, a wider variety of imaging modalities, 3D models, and digital videos. Moreover, the technologies available for exploiting these images - such as Giunti Labs' technology - are evolving rapidly, notably in the area of 3D digitalisation and virtual representation", Cardinali said.