Developing a Web 3.0 E-learning Portal with X3D Technologies

Abstract

The paper describes our experience in the development of the DIEL learning management system, and especially its 3D interface, which has been developed using X3D. DIEL allows to structure learning activities along a virtual learning path, composed by a set of virtual rooms. Each room can be represented as a 2D or 3D virtual environment. A first implementation of DIEL s 3D interface had been developed using Flash, recently such an interface was refactored using the new and innovative technologies X3D and X3DOM, with a substantial increase in terms of virtual environment personalization and in the possibility of supporting new features in the future.