Virtual reality to get its own network?

A nonprofit group says it plans to build a network called Neuronet purely to support virtual-reality game and business applications.

Neuronet, which is planned to be separate from the Internet, “will evolve into the world’s first public network capable of meeting the data transmission requirements of emerging cinematic and immersive virtual-reality technologies,” according to a Thursday announcement from the Vancouver-based International Association of Virtual Reality Technologies.

The first-generation Neuronet is scheduled to go live in 2007, the group said. Consumer applications are expected as early as 2009.

“The first-generation network is strictly an R&D network and will function as a sort of sandbox for virtual reality and gaming innovators around the world to develop new applications for a second generation network,” IAVRT co-founder Chistopher Scully said in an e-mail. No services yet are signed up to use the network, he added.

Virtual reality generally refers to environments with visual and audio information that makes a person feel immersed in a computer-generated realm. The growth of environments such as Second Life has spotlighted such efforts, and IBM believes that virtual worlds will open new doors to e-commerce as well.

Full article: CNET News.com