Overview

From Croquet Consortium

Croquet is a powerful new open source software development environment for creating and deploying deeply collaborative multi-user online applications on multiple operating systems and devices. Derived from Squeak, it features a peer-based network architecture that supports communication, collaboration, resource sharing, and synchronous computation between multiple users on multiple devices. Using Croquet, software developers can create and link powerful and highly collaborative cross-platform multi-user 2D and 3D applications and simulations - making possible the distributed deployment of very large scale, richly featured and interlinked virtual environments.

Quotes

"We've seen very few large-scale information environments recently that stretch our thinking beyond the model of the worldwide web. Croquet, however, is one such development; it integrates high end three dimensional sound and graphics, collaboration technologies, simulations and other tools to create a powerful shared space for the creation, use, and re-use of digital content. I believe that this project is important for three reasons: for what it offers directly; for the way it can expand our thinking about new information, collaboration and learning environments; and for what it can teach us about how to design new and innovative software environments that build upon, rather than directly compete with, the existing information infrastructure."- Clifford Lynch, Director of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI).

"Croquet is a first in many ways. It represents a major step in our vision of computation as a communications platform and service, available anytime, anywhere, from any device. Soon, Croquet will run on everything, from a PDA through a set-top box; persistent Croquet worlds will be ubiquitous on the Internet, routed intelligently to each user through computational services overlays like PlanetLab. This will change the way people think about software and computation, from today’s device-oriented perspective to a perspective of computation as a persistent, pervasive, service." - Patrick Scaglia, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Imaging and Printing Group at HP.

"Croquet's computing model is considerably more simple, safe and powerful than current day practice. This means that bigger projects can be safely done by fewer computerists at much lower cost for both development and life-cycle maintenance."- Alan Kay, President of Viewpoints Research Institute, Inc., winner, 2004 Draper Prize, Turing Award, and Kyoto Prize.

"Once you see this you realize a new kind of computing experience is coming." - Robert Scoble, Scobleizer - Tech Geek Blog.

"Croquet packs a lot of power for a little piece of software." - Quentin Hardy, Forbes.com.

"It's exciting to get an early glimpse of an emerging technology from another branch of the evolutionary tree."- Marshall Breeding, Director for Innovative Technologies and Research for the Heard Library at Vanderbilt University.

Selected Papers/Publications

Click on titles to view the entire resource.

• 2006. Extending Croquet Spaces with Virtual Presence, Vehicles, and Vector Fields - a paper by Mark P. McCahill, Peter Moore, Liz Wendland, Anthony Zampogna

• 2006. Simplified Distributed Authoring Via Component-based Object Construction and Deconstruction in Collaborative Croquet Spaces - a paper by Howard Stearns, Joshua Gargus, Martin Schuetze and Julian Lombardi

• 2006. A Language Supporting Direct Manipulation of Component-based Object Construction and Deconstruction in Collaborative Croquet Spaces - a paper by Howard Stearns, Joshua Gargus, Martin Schuetze and Julian Lombardi

• 2006. 3D Model Annotation from Multiple Viewpoints for Croquet - a paper by Rieko Kadobayashi, Julian Lombardi, Mark P. McCahill, Howard Stearns, Katsumi Tanaka, and Alan Kay

• 2005. Filters and Tasks in Croquet - a paper by David A. Smith, Andreas Raab, Yoshiki Ohshima, David P. Reed, and Alan Kay

• 2005. Annotation Authoring in Collaborative 3D Virtual Environments - a paper by Rieko Kadobayashi, Julian Lombardi, Mark P. McCahill, Howard Stearns, Katsumi Tanakaa, and Alan Kay

• 2005. Hedgehog Architecture' - a PowerPoint presentation by David A. Smith, Andreas Raab, David P. Reed, and Alan Kay

• 2005. TeaTime: Designing the Architectural Framework for Croquet - a PowerPoint presentation by David P. Reed

• 2005. Standing on the Plateau Looking Forward: The Croquet Project - a paper by Marilyn M. Lombardi

• 2005. Croquet Learning Environments: Extending the Value of Campus Life into the Online Experience - a paper by Marilyn M. Lombardi and Julian Lombardi

• 2004. In All Possible Worlds: A radical new technology has arrived and the world will never be the same - a posting by Max Borders

• 2004. Enabling Social Dimensions of Learning Through a Persistent, Unified, Massively Multi-User, and Self-Organizing Virtual Environment - a paper by Julian Lombardi and Mark P. McCahill

• 2004. Design for an Extensible Croquet-Based Framework to Deliver a Persistent, Unified, Massively Multi-User, and Self-Organizing Virtual Environment - a paper by Mark P. McCahill and Julian Lombardi

• 2004. Croquet: A Menagerie of New User Interfaces - a paper by David A. Smith, Andreas Raab, David P. Reed, and Alan Kay

• 2004. Croquet, Anyone? Designing a more Responsive Online Learning Environment - paper by Marilyn M. Lombardi

• 2004. Application of 3D GUI based Object Modeling Environment for Embedded System Design Process a paper by M. Sakai, Y. Ishizaki, A. Togawa, and T. Yamamoto

• 2003. Croquet – A Collaboration System Architecture - a paper by David A. Smith, Alan Kay, Andreas Raab, and David P. Reed