Avination donates physics code to OpenSim

Avination, a commercial grid running on the OpenSim software, announced the donation of 800 lines of physics code today, which will help OpenSim users simulate bouncing balls, reindeer pulling sleds, and feathers lightly floating down through the air.

The code was pushed to the OpenSimulator core repository on Friday, the company said. It includes support for such physics parameters as Shape Type, Density, Friction, Bounce and Gravity.

The code can also be used with the new Bullet physics engine, currently being developed by Intel.

“Avination will continue its policy of donating code to the open source project so stay tuned for more,” the company said in a press release.

Physics is one area in which OpenSim has been lagging behind Second Life, which uses the proprietary Havok physics engine. By default, OpenSim uses the free, open source ODE physics engine until Bullet is complete.

A better physics engine will allow for more realistic behavior by in-world objects, as well as better vehicles.

Avination’s major commercial competitor, InWorldz, has recently rolled out its own physics alternative, PhysX.

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Maria Korolov

Hypergrid Business editor and publisher Maria Korolov is a science fiction novelist. During the day, Maria Korolov is an award-winning freelance technology journalist who covers artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and enterprise virtual reality. See her Amazon author page here and follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, and check out her latest videos on the Maria Korolov YouTube channel. Email her at maria@hypergridbusiness.com. Her first virtual world novella, Krim Times, made the Amazon best-seller list in its category. Her second novella, The Lost King of Krim, is out now. She is also the publisher of MetaStellar, a new online magazine of speculative fiction.