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Distributed Virtual W orlds
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH
Stephan Diehl

Distributed
Virtual Worlds
Foundations and
Implementation Techniques
Using VRML, Java, and CORBA

With 58 Figures and 7 Tables

Springer
Dr. Stephan Diehl
Department of Computer Science
University of Saarland
66041 Saarbrücken
Germany
[email protected]

ACM Computing Classification (1998):

1.3.6-7, H.5.3, H.S.l, C.2.4, D.2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for

Die Deutsche Bibliothek- CIP-Einheitsaufnahme

Diehl, Stephan: Distributed virtual worlds: foundations and implementation techniques
using VRML, Java, and CORBA I Stephan Diehl.
ISBN 978-3-642-08713-4 ISBN 978-3-662-04519-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-04519-0

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of il-
lustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and
storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only
under the provisions oftheGerman copyright law of September 9, 1965, in its current
version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag Berlin
Heidelberg GmbH. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Law.

©Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2001

Originally published by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York in 2001
Softcoverreprint of the bardeover Ist edition 200 I

The use of general descriptive names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply,
even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

Cover design: Künkel + Lopka, Heidelberg

Typesetting: Camera-ready by author
Printedon acid-free paper SPIN: 10772031 45/3142 ud- 543210
To Luca and J ean-Luc
Preface

Recently, with the success of Java and the existence of different interfaces be-
tween VRML and Java, it became possible to implement three-dimensional
internet applications on standard VRML browsers (Plugins) using Java. With
the widespread use of VRML-Browsers, e.g., as part of the Netscape Com-
municator and Microsoft's Internet Explorerstandard distributions, everyone
connected to the internet via a PC (and some other platforms) can directly
enter a virtual world without installing a new kind of software. The VRML
technology offers the basis for new forms of customer services, e.g., interactive
three-dimensional product configuration, spare part ordering, or customer
training. Also this technology can be used for CSCW in intranets.
This book has a theoretical and a practical part. The theoretical part is
intended more for teachers and researchers, while the practical part is in-
tended for web designers, programmers and students, who want to have both
a hands-on approach to implementing Web 3D applications and a technically
detailed overview of existing solutions for specific problems in this area.
The reader should have a good knowledge of programming languages and
computers in generaland should know Java or at least an object-oriented pro-
gramming language. The book not only provides and explains source code,
which can be used as a starting point for own implementations, but it also
describes the fundamental problems and how currently known solutions work
and discusses a variety of different techniques and trade-offs. Many illustra-
tions help the reader to understand and memorize the underlying principles.
Acknowledgments. This book evolved from lectures at the University of
Saarland and courses taught in industry. I want to thank all participants for
discussions and feedback. Andreas Kerren carefully read a draft version of
the book and provided constructive comments. Above all, I have to thank my
wife Christine - she has been very patient with me. While I spent weekends
in front of the computer, she had to take care of our two sons Luca and
Jean-Luc. This book is dedicated to them.
Saarbrücken, January 2001 Stephan Diehl
Contents

Part I. Introduction

1. Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 Peloton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 A Virtual Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Electronic Commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2. Technical Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3 Technologies, Languages and Protocols.................... 9

3. User Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.1 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.2 Commercial and Experimental Virtual Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3 Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.4 Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.5 Multi-User Worlds- The Future?......................... 16

Part II. Fundamentals

4. Three-Dimensional Computer Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

4.1 Some Mathematical Preliminaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.2 The Graphics Pipeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

5. Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) ............. 27

5.1 History of VRML. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.2 What is VRML? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.3 Concepts of VRML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.4 VRML: An Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.5 Static Scenes... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.5.1 Geometrie Nodes................................. 31
5.5.2 Appearance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.5.3 Transformations.................................. 34
X Contents

5.5.4 Other Static Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

5.5.5 DEF/USE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.5.6 Extensibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.6 Dynamic VRML ....................................... 36
5.6.1 Events, Routes, Sensors and Interpolators . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.6.2 Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.6.3 Animations Using the External Authoring Interface... 44
5.6.4 Problems with the EAI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5. 7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

6. Protocols for Distributed Virtual Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

6.1 Internet Protocols- TCP/IP............................. 51
6.1.1 Network Layer: Internet Protocol (IP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
6.1.2 Transport Layer: Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) 53
6.1.3 Transport Layer: User Datagram Protocol (UDP) . . . . 53
6.1.4 Transport Layer: Multicast IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
6.2 A Layer Model for Distributed Virtual Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
6.3 Architectures for Virtual Worlds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
6.4 Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
6.5 Consistency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
6.6 Protocols for Distributed Virtual Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
6.6.1 Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
6.6.2 Distributed Worlds Transfer and Communication
Protocol (DWTP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
6.6.3 The Multi-User 3D Protocol (Mu3D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6.6.4 Virtual Reality Transfer Protocol (VRTP) . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6. 7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

7. VRML Extensions for Distributed Virtual Worlds . . . . . . . . 65

7.1 VSPLUS: Sharing Events Through Net Nodes.............. 65
7.2 VASE Multicast-VR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
7.3 Living Worlds.......................................... 70
7.3.1 Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
7.3.2 Living Worlds Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
7.3.3 Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
7.3.4 Shared Objects and Avatars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
7.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

8. Partitioning of Distributed Virtual Worlds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

8.1 Spatial Partitioning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
8.1.1 Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
8.1.2 Level of Detail (LOD).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
8.1.3 Bounding Boxes.................................. 79
8.1.4 Binary Space Partitioning Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
8.1.5 Cells and Portals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
 Contents XI

8.2 Spatial Partitioning of Multi-User Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

8.2.1 Filtering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
8.2.2 Locales and Beacons.............................. 83
8.2.3 Aura. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
8.3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

9. Streaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
9.1 Continuous Data Streams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
9.1.1 Compression..................................... 87
9.1.2 Streaming in Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
9.2 Continuous Data Streams in Distributed Virtual Worlds . . . . . 88
9.3 Relevant Internet Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
9.3.1 Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
9.3.2 Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
9.3.3 Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
9.4 Quality of Service for Streaming... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
9.4.1 Forward Error Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
9.4.2 Interarrival Jitter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
9.4.3 Combined Jitter and Error Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
9.5 Spatial Hierarchical Compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
9.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

10. 3D Technologies for the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

10.1 Quicktime VR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
10.2 MetaStream ........................................... 101
10.3 VRML ................................................ 102
10.4 MPEG-4 .............................................. 102
10.5 Pure Java 1.1 Applets ................................... 103
10.6 Java3D ................................................ 104
10.7 X3D .................................................. 105
10.8 Summary .............................................. 106

Part 111. lmplementation

11. lmplementing Multi-User Worlds with VRML ............ 109

11.1 Requirements .......................................... 109
11.2 Existing Systems ....................................... 109
11.3 Java- and EAI-Based Approaches ......................... 110
11.4 A CORBA-Based Approach ............................. 110

12. Java Network-Programming:

A Simple Distributed Virtual World ...................... 113
12.1 Java Network Programming ............................. 113
12.1.1 HTTP Connections (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) .... 113
XII Contents

12.1.2 TCP (Thansfer Control Protocol) ................... 114

12.1.3 UDP (User Datagram Protocol) .................... 115
12.1.4 Multicast UDP ................................... 116
12.1.5 Object Serialization ............................... 117
12.1.6 Remote Method Invocation (RMI) .................. 117
12.2 Miss Connectivity ...................................... 118
12.2.1 Architecture and Protocol of MissC ................. 119
12.2.2 Resources of the Dead ............................ 120
12.2.3 Some Implementation Details of the Protocol ........ 120
12.2.4 Alternative Implementations of the Protocol ......... 123
12.2.5 Some Implementation Details of the Scene ........... 125
12.2.6 Intra-Browser Communication ..................... 133
12.3 Conclusion ............................................ 135

13. lmplementing Multi-User Worlds with CORBA .......... 137

13.1 A Gentle Introduction to CORBA ........................ 137
13.1.1 Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA)137
13.1.2 Object Request Broker (ORB) ..................... 137
13.1.3 Object Adapter .................................. 141
13.1.4 Interface Definition Language (IDL) ................ 141
13.2 A CORBA-Based Multi-User World ...................... 144
13.2.1 The Protocol .................................... 145
13.2.2 The Client ....................................... 145
13.2.3 The Server ...................................... 147
13.2.4 An Alternative Protocol. .......................... 147
13.2.5 Intra-Browser Communication ..................... 149
13.3 Conclusion ............................................ 149

14. The Future ............................................... 151

List of Figures ................................................ 153

List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

References .................................................... 157

Index ......................................................... 163

 Part I

Introduction
1. Motivation

Before we dive into the technical aspects we present in this chapter three
very different examples of Distributed Virtual Worlds (DVW). The reader
will benefit throughout the book by thinking about how to use the described
techniques to implement one of the applications in this chapter.

1.1 Peloton

In February 1998 a system called Peloton [17] was presented at the Interna-
tional Conference on the Virtual Reality Modeling Language VRML'98. The
term "Peloton" stems from cycling and denotes the main group of cyclists
in a cycle race. Peloton was developed at Bell Laboratories, a research in-
stitute of Lucent Technologies. Peloton is a distributed cycling simulation, a

Fig. 1.1. Screenshot of Peloton

4 1. Motivation

computer-based system which generates virtual environments for simulated

cycle tours. Several persons connected to different computers in the internet
are able to cycle simultaneously through a virtuallandscape (Figure 1.1).
They might just enjoy the scenery, but they might also race. To participate
in the simulation the cyclist has to register with the Peloton server via the
World Wide Web (WWW). Each participant has a stationary bike which is
connected to a computer through sensors and force-feedback devices. The
latter enable the computer to control the resistance of the pedals. For the
cyclist, a new multimedia experience becomes true: he has to pedal harder
to drive up a hill. The sensors provide information which is used to position
the cyclist in the virtual environment. The virtual environment is based on
topological data of actual cycling tracks. It consists of computer-generated
graphics, as well as pictures and noises of the cycling track.
In this virtual environment the cyclist is represented as an animated,
graphical object. Such an object representing a user is called an avatar. In
the Peloton example the avatar moves as fast as the cyclist pedals. Every
cyclist has his personal view of the track and he can change his view during
the ride. Moreover, he can talk to other cyclist over a "webphone" or a con-
ventional telephone. Since Peloton was developed using established web tools
and data formats, it runs on many different platforms. Moreover it is able to
adapt the complexity of the scene to the capabilities of the computer it runs
on. To sum up, Peloton represents a new dass of applications which enable
users to interact in real time using unconventional input-output devices.
The developers of Peloton plan to extend their system such that joggers on
running belts and rowers in keep-fit devices are able to experience the same
environment.

1.2 A Virtual Theater

Peloton demonstrates just one of the possibilities opened up by distributed,
virtual worlds. In the following we discuss a fictitious virtual world. However,
parts of it are currently under development at the VRML Dream project
[57] (http: I /www. vrmldream. com) and the first distributed live performance
on the internet actually took place on 26 April 1998 (Figure 1.2).
Assurne that a stage play is performed by actors who control their avatars
from different computers in the net. The stage set was assembled from the
online catalogues of different suppliers. The actors select suitable avatars for
their roles in the play and get them dressed. There are several actors in the
wardrohe or on the stage. They talk about the choice of clothes, their roles
and the poor payment. In the performance there will be a living elephant. It
was bought in a virtual pet store and now has its own life. At the entrance
the audience has to present their tickets, which they got from one of the
advance booking offices and paid with electronic cash. The audience can talk
together without disturbing the performance, but they can also heckle the
 1.3 Electronic Commerce 5

Fig. 1.2. VRML Dream: Live Performance on the Internet

actors. Someone has brought a time bomb: disguised as a hat it is actually a

"Trojan Horse". Activated during the performance it rips the actors' clothes
off. Shortly after, it deletes all objects of the scene on the server.

Fig. 1.3. A 3D Personal Computer Gonfiguration Tool on the Web

1.3 Electronic Commerce

Online shopping, in particular online book stores, has become popular. Tech-
nically there is often not much difference to printed catalogues, but there are
goods for which web pages with t ext and 2D images are not sufficient. 3D
models enable the customer to look at a product from different viewpoints,
6 1. Motivation

moreover he can configure the product or build it from simpler parts in a

3D world and then order it online as a whole [23]. Customers and customer
services can look at and interact with the same model and they can talk using
internet telephony. The customer service can show in the model how to use
the product or how to replace a damaged part with a spare part.
The PC Gonfigurator [6] was designed as an interface of a built-to-order
e-commerce application (Figure 1.3). First the user can select a motherboard
and a computer case. Then he selects a graphics card, RAM expansions etc.
and drags and drops them into a slot. Instead of inserting them into slots
by hand, there is also an automatic mode. In a similar way the user can add
CD-ROMs, disks and the CPU.
For this new generation of e-commerce applications which combine inter-
active 3D-computer graphics with online services the term v-Commerce has
recently been suggested.
2. Technical Aspects

In this chapter we introduce some terminology which will be used throughout

the book. Then we infer basic requirements for distributed virtual worlds from
the examples of the previous chapter. Finally, we look at what technologies
are used to implement these on the web.

2.1 Terminology
Virtual worlds are computer-based models of three-dimensional spaces and
objects with restricted interaction. A user can move through a virtual world
and interact with those objects in various ways.
VRML [77, 14] is a file format for the specification of such spaces and
objects. A VRML file defines a scene gmph: by traversing the graph the
renderer (i.e. the algorithm which draws the scene onto the screen) computes
the appearance, geometry, position and orientation of each object in the
scene. VRML was designed to be platform independent and extensible, and it
should work with low-bandwidth connections. The major difference to other
3D-file formats is its use of URLs to include spaces and objects over the
www.
Behaviors are the dynamic changes of some properties of an object, as well
as the deletion and creation of objects and the modification of environmental
properties like gravity or light. Behaviors can be triggered by time, users or
programs.
A virtual world is distributed if active parts of it are spread throughout
different computers in a network. Developers of distributed virtual worlds
have to face both the problems of virtual reality and those of distributed
systems.
A multi-user world is a virtual world where several users can interact at
the same time. These users work at different computers which are intercon-
nected. In multi-user worlds the avatar plays a central role. An avatar is the
virtual representation of a user. It is put at the viewpoint of the user, i.e.,
the position in the virtual world from which the user looks at the scene. In a
single-user world the avatar is only used to detect collisions of the user and
those objects in the scene. In a multi-user world the avatar is also the visual
representation of the user, i.e. it determines how the user is seen by other
8 2. Technical Aspects

users. If a user moves his viewpoint, his avatar must also move in the views
of the others users. The term avatar comes from an Indian religion, where it
means god 's incarnation on earth.
The WWW has changed our way of perceiving the internet and its ser-
vices. They are brought to us as a cross-referenced book and we browse
through its pages. Multi-user worlds have the potential to change our view
again. They provide us with a new metaphor for the internet, its services and
its inhabitants- the users. They become objects in space, and for fast access
the user can tunnel from one point in space to another. One of the major
design goals of VRML was to allow for multiple users to act in a virtual world
at the same time. So far, this goal has not been achieved and there is not yet
a standard for the interaction of several users in a virtual world.
If interested, the reader might want to skip ahead and have a look at the
terminology introduced by Living Worlds in Beetion 7.3.2.

2.2 Requirements

From the examples in Chapter 1 one can deduce some technical requirements
for distributed, virtual worlds. Objects have a graphical representation, an
internal state and a behavior usually defined by program code. Such objects
have to be added or removed from a scene in real time, their behavior has
to be tracked in real time and their implementation has to be distributed
on different computers in the network. Some objects must be controlled by
other objects and objects must share information. If an imported object has
to become a permanent part of a scene, one must be able to store it including
its behavior on the scene server.
Further requirements result from security considerations, e.g., protecting
a scene from vandalism. An object can grant or deny access to its data and
behavior. For this purpose it could provide user rights. From this results
yet another requirement. The identity of users and their objects has to be
checked; this process is called authentification and cryptographic methods
play an important role here.
When several objects try to access a shared resource, a confiict arises.
Such confiicts can be avoided through transaction mechanisms or they can be
resolved by confiict solution strategies. Other requirements are those common
to distributed systems on the internet:
Low Bandwidth and Network Latency: On the internet the bandwidth
is in generallow and there is no guaranteed bandwidth. Network latency
is the amount of time it takes to deliver a message over the network.
To hide network latency a dient can, for example, perform speculative
computations or use buffering.
Heterogenity of Networks: Computers on the internetrundifferent oper-
ating systems. These operating systems often differ in the programming
 2.3 Technologies, Languages and Protocols 9

languages and libraries they provide. A solution to the problern is to use

platform-independent languages like Java and VRML , or architectures
like CORBA, which achieve platform-independence through standard-
ized protocols.
Distributed Interactions: Objects which interact can be controlled by
programs or users at different computers. The computations at the clients
involved must be synchronized, e.g., through locking.
Failure Handling: There is a trade-off between reliability and speed of
transmission of messages on the internet: lost messages must be resent .
Monitoring the quality of transmission can be used to adapt transmission
quality or properties of the application, e.g., frame rate.
Scalability: A distributed system scales up, if it works with large num-
bers of clients and objects. To achieve scalability, work must be equally
distributed to all clients and there must be no bottlenecks in the com-
munication structure. Most rendering techniques in virtual reality have
been developed on high-end graphics Workstations. On the internet a
scene must be rendered on computers with less computing power and
thus rendering algorithms are preferable which scale down, i.e. yield near-
photo-realistic results on high-end machines, but also acceptable results
on personal computers.

li(!'loton ( 'hent

.. ...... ......... _____ _. . . . .. . .

Fig. 2.1. Architecture of Peloton

2.3 Technologies, Languages and Protocols

A closer look at the architecture of Peloton in Figure 2.1 and those of other
multi-user worlds on the web reveals that they use similar implementation
techniques, languages and protocols:
10 2. Technical Aspects

JSAI EAI
Script Applet
~

Fig. 2.2. VRML, Java and Networking

3D Objects and Scenery: The scenery, as well as the three-dimensional

objects and some of their behaviors are coded in VRML.
Programming: Behaviors are programmed in Java and/or JavaScript. All
other programs running on the dient are written in Java. Device drivers
are written in C, C++ or assembly language and connected to the rest
of the application through the Java Native Programming Interface JNI
or, as in Peleton, through network communication on the same host.
Intra-Browser Communication: VRML and Java communicate through
programming interfaces: Java-applets communicate with the VRML-
Browser through the External Authoring Interface (EAI) . Java-Code en-
capsulated in the scene-graph uses the Java-Scripting Interface to access
the scene-graph.
Networking: For network communication, application-layer protocols like
the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the Realtime Transport
Protocol (RTP) are used . Application-specific protocols are implemented
on top of these, as well as the transport-layer protocols TCP and UDP
and/or CORBA. CORBA actually is an architecture for distributed ,
object-oriented systems and achieves platform-independence through a
standardized protocol called IIOP.

This is what this book is about , in particular Chapter 5 and Part III,
and is shown more clearly in Figure 2.2. In Part II we Iook at protocols,
spatial partitioning and streaming techniques, which are independent of a
particular implementation language and are designed to meet some of the
above requirements.
3. User Perspective

In this chapter we discuss the wide spectrum of applications of DVWs, give an

overview of existing virtual worlds and look at navigation and communication
in virtual worlds from a user's perspective. Finally, we address some aspects
which will be important for the future success of DVWs.

3.1 Applications

There is a wide spectrum of applications for distributed virtual worlds. Ac-

tually our fantasy is the only limit. Planners and investors can meet in the
virtual counterpart of a new building before even the foundation stone is
laid. Early on, the effects of building projects, e.g., new highways or railroad
tracks, can be visualized for decision makers. In virtuallecture rooms students
of different schools or universities gather for tele-learning courses. Collabora-
tive work processes, e.g., assembly and dismantling, can be exercised without
consumption of materials. In hospitals several experts can work together in
a complicated operation (tele-medicine, virtual scalpel). Devices, robots and
plants can be controlled by several persons. A robot could pick up nuclear
waste this way in areas where no living person can survive (tele-presence).
We witness the beginning of distributed virtual worlds in art, e.g., virtual
galleries, collaborative paintings and sculptures. The game industry has also
seen the writing on the wall. Until recently many action games provided a
multi-player mode by connecting computers via the serial port. Nowadays
such games use the internet for multi-user communication.

3.2 Commercial and Experimental Virtual Worlds

In the book A vatars! Bruce Damer looks from a user perspective at a variety
of multi-user worlds [22]. His book provides installation and usage informa-
tion, as well as anecdotes. Damer uses the term virtual worlds and delimits
it from virtual reality. Virtual reality is concerned with reproducing reality
true to life. Tothis end mostly expensive, specialized hardware is used, e.g.,
cyber-helmets and cyber-suits. In contrast, virtual worlds require less from
12 3. User Perspective

the user's hardware - a modern PC will work. Immersion is the subjective

impression or illusion of being in or a part of the virtual world. Damer claims
that immersion is achieved through communication with other people and
does not require sophisticated computer graphics. The effect is similar to
reading a novel and being drawn into the story.

Table 3.1. Virtual worlds and their graphical representations

Representation Representation
Name of World of Avatars
The Palace 2D 2D
http://www.thepalace.com
Microsoft's Comic Chat 2D 2D
http://www.microsoft.com/ie/chat
Worlds Away 2D 2D
http://www.worldsaway.com
Virtual Places 2D 2D
http://www.vplaces.com/vpnet
Worlds Chat 3D 2D
http://www.worlds.net
Microsoft's V-Chat 2D & 3D 2D
http://www.vchatl.microsoft.com
NTT's Interspace 3D 2D (Video)
http://www.ntts.com/interspace
Active Worlds 3D 3D
http://www.activeworlds.com
Onlive! Traveler 3D 3D
http://www.onlive.com
Oz Virtual 3D 3D
http://www.oz.com/zipvrml
VRML-based Virtual Worlds:
Blaxxun's Passport 3D 3D
http://www.blaxxun.com
Mitsubishi Electric's Schmoozer 3D 3D

http://www.schmoozer.net
Sony's Community Place 3D 3D
http://www.vs.spiw.com/vs
Geometrek's Deep Matrix 3D 3D
http://www.geometrek.com
Vnet 3D 3D
http://ariadne.iz.net/-jeffs/vnet
 3.2 Commercial and Experimental Virtual Worlds 13

To represent the world some systems use a constant background image,

and objects and avatars are placed on a layer in front of it (2D), or on
severallayers (2!D), suchthat objects can hide objects on lower layers and
can collide with objects on the same layer. An increasing number of systems
uses three-dimensional model-based representations. Allegedly, the first 3D
virtual world on the internetwas Worlds Chat in 1995. In some worlds users
can change the scenery and build complete cities from scratch.
There are also huge differences in the way avatars are represented. Ear-
lier systems use static images and some use sequences of images to display
animated movements. In some 3D worlds 2D avatars are used which are repre-
sented by a set of images, each image shows the avatar from a different angle,
e.g., front, side and back view. This technique is also known as 3D sprites and
is used in many computer games. In this way 3D effects are achieved with-
out computationally expensive model-based rendering. On the other hand,
model-based avatars can be animated by changing the modelovertime and
thus allow for more flexible animations.
In Interspace, avatars are small monitors showing a live video transmis-
sion of a camera installed at the user's computer. In addition to text chat,
Interspace also provides voice chat. As a result Interspace represents a new
kind of video conferencing.
Hundreds of thousands of users have visited the largest of the above men-
tioned virtual worlds and at times thousands of users are simultaneously
online.

Table 3.2. Multi-user games

The Realm 2 ~D
http://www.realmserver.com
Meridian59 3D
http://www.meridian.3do.com/meridian
Ultima Online 3D
http://www.owo.com
Diablo 3D
http://www.blizzard.com
War Birds 3D
http://www.icigames.com
Quake 3D
http://www.idsoftware.com
Xwing vs. Tie Fighter .3D
http://www.lucasarts.com
DukeNukem3D 3D
http://www.duke.gtinteractive.com
14 3. User Perspective

Also, the game industry offers multi-user games, which have many of
the features of multi-user worlds. Dedicated web pages like www. heat. net
and www. garnestarm. com provide servers for a diversity of multi-user games,
including some of those listed in Table 3.2.
Except for the games market the commercial success of multi-user worlds
is very low. There are two major reasons for this. First, the technical prereq-
uisites are still demanding; second, the worlds are not used in a goal-directed
way, i.e. to facilitate certain work flows. Currently most multi-user worlds are
inhabited by technical enthusiasts who meet there to discuss implementation
details of these worlds.

3.3 Navigation

For most commercial multi-user worlds the user has to buy the viewer of
the respective vendor and instaU it on her machine. Demo-versions of these
browsers can be downloaded for free on the internet. Some vendors distribute
the viewers for free and try to earn money by selling their virtual-world servers
and world-authoring tools.
After the installation the user has to start the viewer and to log into the
virtual-world server. Some systems allow guest logins, others require that the
user registers by providing at least his email address or that the user has
to pay membership fees. Unfortunately some users misuse their anonymity
and harass other users by vulgar language and other activities depending on
the kinds of actions provided by the system. As a result, some systems are
moderated. A moderator supervises the chat and activity in the world and
throws obtruders out.
After logging into the server the user gets a default avatar. In Worlds
Chat the default is a crash test dummy. If the user doesn't like this avatar
she can select one from a menu. In most systems registered users can create
or import their own avatars.
After the selection of the avatar the user can move through the virtual
world. He can look at the scenery from different perspectives:
• first person view: The user sees the world through the eyes of his avatar,
i.e. the camera is at the position of the avatar.
• bird's eye view: The user sees the world from top, i.e. the camera is
above the avatar.
• third person view: The user sees the world through the eyes of a third
invisible person which follows the user's avatar, i.e. the camera is behind
the avatar.
In 3D computer games the third person view is preferred because the user
can see both the position as well as the actions of her avatar.
 3.4 Communication 15

Worlds are usually made of several scenes which are connected in different
ways. The user can dick at objects or closed doors, which work in a simi-
lar way to hyperlinks in web pages. If the user clicks, the scene associated
with the object is loaded and the user is put into the new scene. Different
systems use different terms for this concept: anchor, hotspot, door, farcaster,
wormhole, tunnel or teleport.
A more sophisticated kind of these door, called a portal, allows the user
to see parts of the other scene through the open door without having to Ioad
the other scene completely.

3.4 Communication

An important aspect of virtual multi-user worlds is the communication among

users. Currently, text chat, i.e. the transfer of textual messages, is the state
of the art. Some experimental systems use audio or video transmission, e.g.,
NTT's Interspace. Voice chat is sometimes also transmitted over a traditional
phone connection, but transmission over the internet is more challenging and
in some parts of the internet web phones provide acceptable quality even
today. As web phones become more mature they will certainly replace text
chat.
We will now Iook closer at the features of text chat. The reader should
note that voice chat should provide similar features.
Usually all chat messages are sent to all users in a scene, but there arealso
means for private conversation. For this, the user has to switch to whisper
mode to send messages only to the closest user in the virtual space or to a
user whom she selects by name. Some systems also support user groups. In
this case a message can be sent to all members of the group. The members
of the group don't have to be in the same scene of the world.
The reader certainly will know emoticons from her electronic mail. Here
combinations of certain characters are used to represent emotions, e.g., wink-
ing ; -) or a shouting : -0 face. In addition to using emoticons in the text
chat, the user can use gestures to express emotions. For this, she can select
a gesture in a menu and her avatar will then perform this gesture, e.g., smile
or dance.
In Comic Chat the user's messages are displayed in a balloon next to his
avatar. The user can change the form of this balloon and the style of the font
(hold, italic, etc.).
In several systems the user can select the expression of his avatar's face
(smile, frown, laugh) or animations of the avatar (dance, jump, bow) from a
menu.
A bot is a programmed, active object, sometimes also called an agent
or angel. It can happen that a bot pretends to be an avatar and that users
don't realize that they are actually talking to a program. Such bots are based
16 3. User Perspective

on an artificial intelligence dassie called Eliza [86]. In 1996 Joseph Weizen-

baum developed this program, which imitates a therapist who uses the Rogers
method, which is a certain kind of conversation therapy.

3.5 Multi-User Worlds- The Future?

Recently, the term Post-Nintendo kids has been coined, referring to the fact
that today most children have been exposed to 3D computer games. With
ease they navigate through virtual environments interpreting audio-visual
hints as they go. Astonished parents watch their kids with concern and envy.
Just, as the WIMP (windows, menus, pull-downs) metaphor rules the design
of graphical user interfaces (GUI) of today's software and replaced the com-
mand line control, 3D environments and 3D navigationwill provide new GUI
metaphors for operating systems and desktop applications in the future.
Multi-user worlds are a new way for people to collaborate. Rumans are
social beings. In multi-user worlds they can form new communities which
have common interests and are not restricted by the locality, mobility or
status of the person in the real world.
In the days of the first telephones, radios and TV sets nobody was able
to foresee how these media would evolve. Today we are in quite a similar
situation. Predicting the future of multi-user worlds is a forlorn hope. New
technologies change social structures and new demands emerge which can
be satisfied by exactly these technologies. In hindsight it remains unclear,
whether the demand produced the technology or whether the technology
produced the demand.
The success of DVWs depends not only on technology. A successful DVW
must be compared with a movie and is a result of a team of experts with very
different skills: programmers, directors, designers, story writers, producers
and marketing experts.
Clarke-Willson [20] suggests that virtual environment designers should
apply the same principles that made even early games so appealing: third per-
son view, discovery and exploration, player control, maps, landmarks, closed
environments (limited space), complexity management (reduced nurober of
active objects) and constant positive feedback.
A platform of increasing importance for multi-user worlds are game con-
soles. Since 1995 Sony has sold over 20 million Play Stationsand SEGA sold
500.000 Dreamcast consoles in the US in just two weeks. The Dreamcast con-
sole and those under development by Nintendo and Sony can be connected
to the internet and thus make possible multi-user games. Given the low price
of these consoles, they might even be able to supersede personal computers
as internet stations. This trend has also been realized by Microsoft and Intel.
Allegedly, they recently started to develop a game console in cooperation.
 Part II

Fundamentals
4. Three-Dimensional Computer Graphics

In this chapter we look at how three-dimensional computer graphics are pro-

duced from mathematical models. We first look at some mathematical pre-
liminaries. Then we look at the different stages of the graphics pipeline.
Three-dimensional worlds are made of three-dimensional objects, which
in turn are constructed from spheres, boxes, cones or sets of surfaces. Objects
are not just combined but also transformed, i.e. they are scaled, rotated or
translated. Mathematically these transformations can be described by ma-
trices and composition of transformations by multiplication of the associated
matrices. Coordinate systems play an important role in computer graphics.
In VRML the geometry, position and orientation of an object are defined in a
local coordinate system. Then the object can be placed in another coordinate
system by defining the position, orientation and scale of its local coordinate
system in the enclosing coordinate system.

4.1 Some Mathematical Preliminaries

In the mathematical view of 3D computer graphics, objects are just sets of

points in a three-dimensional coordinate system. Usually one uses cartesian
systems, i.e. systems with orthogonal coordinate axes. A coordinate system
is either right handed or left handed (Figure 4.1). These terms stem from
the fact that if you hold your right hand appropriately, the thumb, index
and middle finger point into the directions of the X-, Y- and Z-axes of a
right-handed system. The analog holds for left-handed systems.

y
y

z
~X
Fig. 4.1. Right- and left-handed coordinate systems
20 4. Three-Dimensional Computer Graphics

When defining a 3D scene one usually proceeds as follows: one defines

each object in a local coordinate system with its own origin, and then these
objects are integrated by rotating, translating and scaling into another coor-
dinate system. In 3D computer graphics homogeneaus coordinates are often
used. These coordinates include an additional scaling factor w. The rela-
tion between cartesian coordinates (X, Y, Z) and homogeneaus coordinates
(x, y, z, w) of a point are as follows:
(x,y,z,w) = (Xjw, Yjw,Zjw,w), for w # 0. (4.1)
If w = 1, then the coordinates are called homogenized. Furthermore,
w = 0 is used to describe points at infinity.
In the following we assume that all homogeneaus coordinates have been
homogenized. Assume, that a point is translated by tx in direction of the
X-axis, ty in direction of the Y-axis and tz in direction of the Z-axis, then
the resulting point has the coordinates ( x', y', z', w') where

for homogeneaus coordinates:

x' = x+tx
y' = y+ty
z' = z + tz
w' =w = 1,
(4.2)
and for cartesian coordinates:
X' =X +tx
Y' = Y +ty
Z' = Z +tz.
The set of equations for homogeneaus coordinates can also be encoded
by a translation matrix T, and the translation of a point is achieved by
multiplying the coordinates of the point by T. For cartesian coordinates the
equation can be turned into a vector equation and the translation is achieved
by vector addition.

[n H].
For homogeneaus coordinates:

(x',y',z', 1) = (x,y,z, 1) *
(4.3)
tx ty tz 1

For cartesian coordinates:

(X', Y', Z') =(X, Y, Z) + (tx, ty, tz).
The translation can be reversed. The translated point is simply translated
by -tx, -ty and -tz. Thus we get the inverse matrix:
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George Washington Parke Custis of Arlington House and Thomson
Mason of Hollin Hall were both sheep raisers and there was much
rivalry between the two families in this field, including Mason entries
which took prizes at Custis exhibitions and shows.[75] This offers, in
addition to the day-to-day opportunities presented to Mason through
his political and social standing, one more means whereby T.F.
Mason might have learned of Hadfield, observed his work, met him,
and contracted for design assistance in the construction of his
country house.
In addition, Mason was a lawyer, who later became a justice of the
peace and a judge. For several years before and after 1820, Hadfield
was involved with the design and construction of the City Hall, which
was to house the Courts of the District. Mason would have been
aware of this and would probably have known Hadfield.
Certainly the design evidence of Huntley indicates the work of an
architect. The structure is much too architectonic to have evolved
and in many respects much too advanced for its day to have been
designed by a local carpenter-builder. Perhaps at some future time
we shall discover information which indicates precisely whose trained
hand put all the pieces together in this highly satisfactory manner.
Until that time, the evidence strongly points to George Hadfield.

Chapter 4 Notes
[58] Paul F. Norton, "Decatur House: Design and Designer,"
Historic Preservation, Volume 19, Numbers 3-4 (July-
December 1967), pp. 9-24.
[59] Fiske Kimball, Domestic Architecture of the American
Colonies and of the Early Republic, (New York: Dover, 1966
Reprint), p. 27.
[60] Rowland, George Mason, Volume II, p. 369.
[61] H. M. Pierce Gallagher, Robert Mills (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1935), p. 170.
[62] Deering Davis, Stephen P. Dorsey, Ralph Cole Hall,
Georgetown Houses of the Federal Period. (New York:
Bonanza Books, 1944), pp. 21-23.
[63] Lonnelle Aikman, We the People (Washington: U.S. Capitol
Historical Society, 1965), p. 33.
[64] H.M. Gallagher, Robert Mills, p. 169.
[65] George S. Hunsberger, "The Architectural Career of George
Hadfield," Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
Volume 51-52 (1955), pp. 46-65.
[66] Ibid.
[67] Ibid. p. 51. See also: Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone,
Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Charles
Scribner, 1932 (1931)), Vol. IV, p. 76.
[68] Letter, George Hadfield to Thomas Jefferson, Thomas
Jefferson papers. Volume 222, op. 39775, Library of Congress.
[69] Daily National Intelligencer, February 13, 1826.
[70] Karl Schuon, Home of the Commandants (Washington:
Leatherneck Association, 1966), pp. 61-64.
[71] Harry F. Cunningham, Joseph A. Younger, Wilmer Smith,
Measured Drawings of Georgian Architecture in the
District of Columbia, 1750-1820 (New York: Architectural
Book Co., 1914), Sheets 58-61.
[72] Original watercolor signed "Geo. Hadfield, Sept. 1798," Avery
Library, Columbia University.
[73] Murray H. Nelligan, Custis-Lee Mansion (Washington:
National Park Service, 1950), pp. 2-4, 6, 15, 24. The staff at
Arlington House was also kind enough to allow the author the use
of Mr. Nellingan's unpublished manuscript on Arlington House.
[74] H. Paul Caemmerer, Historic Washington (Washington:
Columbia Historical Society, 1960), pp. 34, 39.
[75] Edith Moore Sprouse, "Died in a Kind of Fit Like....", Hollin
Hills Bulletin, May and June-July, 1969.
 SUMMARY
It should be clear from the picture of Mason which emerges from an
earlier part of this report that his tastes and his capabilities could
have included a house designed by a known architect. His family
ties, educational background, travels, position and social standing
evidence the highest standards of his day. His acquisition of Colross,
his sensitive repairs of that structure and the manner in which he
seems to have furnished the house again indicate taste and
awareness of current architectural trends.
The design evidence indicates that Mason did build well at Huntley,
and that he sought assistance in doing so. Huntley's similarities to
other area structures designed by the architect George Hadfield are
striking. In addition, of all the architects in the area at the time
Hadfield was most available and is believed to have already designed
one house for the Mason family, Analostan. There is also good
reason to believe that Thomson Francis Mason and Hadfield knew
each other.
Whatever the derivation of the mansion house at Huntley, it survives
as a notable example of early nineteenth century architecture; as an
example of a farm or country house of an early nineteenth century
city dweller; as a Mason family house and as a part of a well sited
and relatively complete complex. When considered together, these
factors make Huntley an important architectural landmark.
 Figure 28. Huntley, front elevation, 1946. Edward M. Pitt,
Architect. Blueprints courtesy Col. and Mrs. Ransom Amlong.
Photo copies by Wm. Edmund Barrett.

Figure 29. Huntley, rear elevation.

Figure 30. Huntley, basement floor plan.

Figure 31. Huntley, first floor plan.

Figure 32. Huntley, second floor plan.
 APPENDIX A
SOME MASON HOUSES IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Mason land holdings were vast in Stafford, Prince William, Loudoun
and Fairfax Counties in Virginia, and in Maryland and Kentucky. In
the northern Virginia area the Masons built or occupied a number of
houses many of which are mentioned here.

Thomson Francis Mason Houses

501 Cameron Street, Alexandria. This is believed to be the "large
and comodious" dwelling which, according to an 1823 entry in
the Alexandria Gazette, Mason was renting at the corner of
Cameron and Pitt Streets. The house is a three-story brick
structure, probably built during the first quarter of the
nineteenth century. It is still standing. (Alexandria Gazette,
March 13, 1823 and November 1, 1833.)
Colross, Alexandria, 1100 block of Oronoco Street, block between
Oronoco, Pendleton, North Henry and North Fayette. This was
an existing house built in the last quarter of the eighteenth
century, acquired by Thomson F. Mason in 1833. Mason was
buried in a tomb behind the mansion after his death in 1838.
The main house was moved to Princeton, New Jersey, in 1929
and rebuilt there. Today the block in Alexandria includes a
warehouse, car wash, automobile repair facility and a
transformer station. The present location of the remains of
 Thomson F. Mason, removed from Colross, is not known to the
writer. (Mary G. Powell, The History of Alexandria, Va.,
Richmond, Wm. Byrd Press, 1928, p. 261; New York Herald
Tribune, July 7, 1929, "Colross Built 1785, to come to Jersey
site."; Mrs. Betty Carter Smoot, Days in an Old Town,
Alexandria, privately printed, 1934, pp. 121-32; Henry H.
Saylor, Alexandria Virginia, The White Pine Series, New York,
Russell F. Whitehead, 1926, (photographs and drawings); plus
additional material available in the Alexandria Public Library.)
The Hallowell School, 609 Oronoco Street, Alexandria. A two-and-a-
half-story brick structure, built circa 1800, it is the companion
house to the Lee Home, next door at 607 Oronoco. At 609,
Benjamin Hallowell operated a school among whose students
was Robert E. Lee. T.F. Mason acquired the house after the
Hallowell School moved elsewhere, at public auction on
February 9, 1835, though he may have lived there earlier as a
tenant. By the time of purchase he was already a resident at
Colross, but a sale advertisement for 609 Oronoco Street in
1839 calls it " ... the late residence of the Honorable T. F.
Mason ...". The house is still standing. (Deering Davis, Stephen
P. Dorsey and Ralph Cole Hall, Alexandria Houses, Cornwall,
N.Y. Architectural Book Publishing Co., Inc., 1946, pp. 88-89,
126; Benjamin Hallowell, Autobiography, Philadelphia, Friends
Book Association, 1884, pp. 95-120. Alexandria Gazette,
August 30, 1839,; Alexandria Deed Book V-2, p. 355(1835).)
Huntley, 6918 Harrison Lane, Groveton, Fairfax County. Still
standing. Though Huntley was built during Mason's ownership
of the property, no record has been found that he actually lived
there.
115 South St. Asaph Street, Alexandria, is a two-and-one-half-story
brick structure over an English basement built about 1800, and
still standing. A sign on the structure says "Home of Thomas
Mason, circa 1775." It was purchased by Mason in May of
1832, at about the same time that he purchased the lot next
 door at 117 S. St. Asaph Street. A three-story structure of the
last quarter of the nineteenth century now stands there. Mason
may have been a tenant at 115 before his purchase, but was
already out of the house by November 8, 1833, when a Dr.
Wheelwright announced that he had "... removed to the house
on St. Asaph Street ... formerly occupied by Thomson F.
Mason, Esq." (Deering Davis, Stephen P. Dorsey & Ralph Cole
Hall, Alexandria Houses, Cornwall, N.Y., Architectural Book
Publishing Co., Inc., 1946, p. 126; Alexandria Gazette,
November 8, 1833. Alexandria Deed Books: U-2, p. 27 (1832);
U-2, p. 29 (1832); and M-3, p. 646 (1852).)
This list includes only part of the real estate owned by Thomson
Francis Mason. He lived in the Cameron Street house during the
1820's. He may have lived in either the Oronoco Street or St. Asaph
Street houses before he purchased them. At any rate, he purchased
Colross, Hallowell School and the St. Asaph Street houses in the
decade before his death. He died in 1838 and was buried at Colross.
There are long periods of time unaccounted for and probably many
real estate transactions which have not yet been documented.

Other Mason Houses

Analostan, home of General John Mason. Located on the Potomac
River in the District of Columbia on Theodore Roosevelt Island,
known in the past as Barbadoes, Mason's Island, or Analostan.
Built in the 1790's, its design is attributed to George Hadfield.
General Mason sold the house about 1833 and moved to
Clermont. Parts of the Analostan house stood until the 1930's
when they were demolished by the Theodore Roosevelt
Memorial Association. (Sunday Star, Feb. 6, 1921, Rambler "...
History of Analostan Island;" Star, June 4, 1958, Rambler,
"Revisits Analostan Island;" Virginia Record, July 1956, p. 9,
Mollie Somerville, "George Mason's Island;" Rowland, George
Mason, New York, Russell & Russell, 1892 and 1946, Vol I, p.
117; Harry F. Cunningham, Joseph A. Younger, and J. Wilmer
 Smith, Measured Drawings of Georgian Architecture in the
District of Columbia, 1750-1820, New York, Architectural Book
Company 1914, Sheets 58-61.)
Clermont, which was purchased by General John Mason and to
which he and his family moved in 1833. Site near Fairfax
County-Alexandria line, off Clermont Drive, near point where
the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac tracks cross Cameron
Run. It was demolished in the 19th Century. ("Diary of Miss
Mason," beginning Sept. 20th 1833, property of Mrs. Augustus
Thorndike, partial copy in Gunston Hall archives (Analostan
file); Christine Gibson unpublished report, Fairfax County Public
Library, Virginiana Collection.)
Gunston Hall, home of George Mason IV, in Fairfax County. The
house is a one-and-one-half-story brick structure, with interiors
by William Buckland joiner and architect. In the garden is one
of America's best surviving stands of English Boxwood. The
house still stands on Route 242, 4 miles southeast of Route 1,
and south of Fort Belvoir. It is owned by the Commonwealth of
Virginia and administered as an historic house museum by a
Board of Regents of the National Society of Colonial Dames.
(Thomas Tileston Waterman, The Mansions of Virginia, Chapel
Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1946.)
Hollin Hall, built for and occupied by General Thomson Mason, son
of George Mason IV of Gunston Hall, and father of T.F. Mason.
It was a two-story frame structure, which burned early in the
nineteenth century. Part of the complex may still exist, or be
incorporated into the present structure known as Little Hollin
Hall at 1901 Sherwood Hall Lane, in Fairfax County south of
Alexandria. (Rowland, George Mason, New York, Russell &
Russell, 1892 and 1946, Volume II, pps. 307, 351, and
numerous others; Hollin Hills Bulletin, May 1969, June-July,
1969.)
Lexington, in Fairfax County, built for George Mason V, son of George
of Gunston Hall and uncle of T.F. Mason. The house stood on
 Mason Neck, near Gunston Hall. The structure burned in the
nineteenth century. (Rowland, George Mason, New York,
Russell & Russell, 1892 and 1946, Volume I, p. 112; Edith
Moore Sprouse, Lexington, unpublished report, June 1967,
Virginiana Files, Fairfax County Public Library.)
Okeley, home of Richard Chichester Mason, brother of T.F. Mason.
The structure was destroyed during the Civil War. It was
located in Fairfax County on S. Kings Highway, just south of
Huntley. (Rowland, George Mason, New York, Russell & Russell,
1892 and 1946, Volume II, p. 473; Alexandria Gazette, March
30, 1841).
Spring Bank, owned by George Mason, son of William Mason and
first cousin of T.F. Mason. There may have been an earlier
structure on the site, but the house in which this George
Mason lived is a two-story brick structure, built about 1850,
which is still standing. It is located at Penn Daw in Fairfax
County in the Spring Bank Trailer Park, at the intersection of
Kings Highway and the Jefferson Davis Highway (Route 1).
(Rowland, George Mason, New York, Russell & Russell, 1892
and 1946, Volume II, pps. 366, 369, and others.)
Woodbridge, home of Thomas, son of George of Gunston Hall, and
uncle of T.F. Mason. It stood in Prince William County almost
directly across Occoquan River from Colchester and was
demolished prior to 1892. (Rowland, George Mason, New York,
Russell & Russell, 1892 and 1946, Volume I, p. 112.)
 APPENDIX B
CHAIN OF TITLE
1949—June 11, Deed Book 694, page 400: AUGUST & ELEANOR
S. NAGEL to RANSOM G. AND MARGUERITE K. AMLONG.
1946—September 1, Deed Book 515, p. 60: ARMISTEAD L.
BOOTH, executor under the will of ALBERT R. HARRISON
to AUGUST W. & ELEANOR S. NAGEL.
1911—April 5, Liber J, No. 7, p. 22: CLARA B. HARRISON,
UNMARRIED, MARY C. HARRISON, UNMARRIED, ALBERT
R. HARRISON, UNMARRIED, first part, MARGARET N.
HARRISON GIBBS AND HER HUSBAND J. NORMAN GIBBS,
second part. (Albert W. Harrison died intestate.)
1871—March 11, Liber O, No. 4, p. 338: NATHAN W. & SUSAN
E. PIERSON to ALBERT W. HARRISON.
1868—November 21, Liber I, No. 4, p. 236: BENJAMIN KING to
ALBERT W. HARRISON AND NATHAN W. PIERSON OF NEW
JERSEY.
1862—June 12, Liber E, No. 4, p. 195: JOHN A. SMITH to
BENJAMIN KING.
1859—December 7, Liber B, No. 4, p. 451: JOHN FRANCIS
MASON AND ARTHUR PENDLETON MASON, first part,
JOHN A. SMITH, second part, BENJAMIN KING, U.S. ARMY,
 NOW RESIDING IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, third
part.
1859—November 7, Liber B, No. 4, p. 449: BETSEY C. MASON
to JOHN FRANCIS MASON AND A. PENDLETON MASON,
SONS OF THE SAID BETSEY C.
1859—November 7, Liber B, No. 4, p. 448: BETSEY C. MASON
to JOHN FRANCIS MASON AND A. PENDLETON MASON,
SONS OF THE SAID BETSEY C.
1839—February 4, Will Book T, No. 1, p. 3: "To all persons to
whom the presents shall come, greetings. Know ye that
the last will and testament of Thomson F. Mason of
Alexandria County deceased hath been in duo form of law
exhibited., proved and recorded in the Office of the
Register of Wills of said County, a copy of which is to these
presents annexed and administration of all the goods,
chattles and credits of the deceased is hereby granted and
committed unto Betsey C. Mason, the Executrix of the said
will appointed...."
1839—February 18, Will Book T, No. 1, pp. 1-4: Will of
THOMSON F. MASON. Will was dated December 14, 1838.
1825—Chancery Suit referenced in Liber W, No. 2, pp. 162-65:
THOMSON F. MASON vs. GEORGE W. MASON, RICH C.
MASON, FAYETTE BALL AND MARY HIS WIFE, GEORGE
MASON AND HELLEN, JOHN, GEORGE, AND SALLY MASON
HIS INFANT CHILDREN AND SAMUEL DAWSON AND
EUGENIA AND MASON DAWSON HIS INFANT CHILDREN.
(Suit was not located.)
1823—October 1, Liber W, No. 2, p. 199: THIS INDENTURE
MADE THIS FIRST DAY OF OCTOBER IN THE YEAR OF
OUR LORD EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY THREE
BETWEEN GEORGE M. MASON, AND MARY HIS WIFE,
RICHARD C. MASON AND LUCY B., HIS WIFE, GEORGE
MASON OF GUNSTON, AND ELEANOR ANN, HIS WIFE, ALL
 OF THE COUNTY OF FAIRFAX AND STATE OF VIRGINIA,
AND FAYETTE BALL AND MARY T. HIS WIFE AND SAMUEL
DAWSON, BOTH OF THE COUNTY OF LOUDOUN AND
STATE AFORESAID, all of the one part, AND THOMSON F.
MASON OF THE TOWN OF ALEXANDRIA IN THE DISTRICT
OF COLUMBIA, of the other part.
1820—November 21, Will Book M, No. 1, p. 130: Will of
THOMSON MASON OF HOLLIN HALL, dated April 15 1797.
The land on which Huntley is located had come to
Thomson by the will of his Father, George Mason of
Gunston Hall.
1792—August 23, Will Book F, pp. 104-105: Will of George
Mason of Gunston Hall granting lands to his son, Thomson
Mason, which were part of the Ball patent on both sides of
the North Branch of Little Hunting Creek.
1772—June 18, Deed Book K-1, p. 54: Sampson Darrell to
George Mason the lower part of a tract granted to John
Ball by the proprietors of the Northern Neck of Virginia in
September, 1695; willed to his son George Ball August 14,
1722; sold to John Carlyle, March 17, 1742/43; sold to
Sampson Darrell August 16, 1748.
 LIST OF SOURCES
Books
Aikman, Lonnelle, We the People. Washington: U.S. Capitol
Historical Society, 1965.
Caemmerer, H. Paul. Historic Washington. Washington:
Columbia Historical Society, 1966.
Carne, William F. Alexandria Business Book. Alexandria: M,
Hill Co., 1897.
Cunningham, Harry F.; Younger, Joseph A.; and Smith, Wilmer.
Measured Drawings of Georgian Architecture in the
District of Columbia, 1750-1820. New York:
Architectural Book Co., 1914.
Davis, Derring; Dorsey, Stephen P.; and Hall, Ralph Cole.
Georgetown Houses of the Federal Period. New York:
Bonanza Books, 1944.
Gallagher, H.M. Pierce. Robert Mills. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1935.
Gordon, C.A. History of the House of Gordon. Aberdeen: D.
Wyllie & Son, 1890.
Gouverneur, Marian. As I Remember. New York: D. Appleton
& Co., 1911.
Hallowell, Benjamin. Autobiography. Philadelphia: Friends
Book Association, 1884.
Hopkins, G.M. Atlas of Fifteen Miles Around Washington.
Philadelphia: privately published, 1879.
Johnson, Allen; and Malone, Dumas, eds. Dictionary of
American Biography. New York: Charles Scribner, 1932.
Kimball, Fiske. Domestic Architecture of the American
Colonies and of the Early Republic. New York: Charles
Scribner Sons, 1922.
Mason, Stevens Thompson. Mason Family Chart. Baltimore:
Privately published, 1907.
Miller, Helen Hill. George Mason Constitutionalist.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1938.
Nelligan, Murray H. Custis-Lee Mansion. Washington:
National Park Service, 1950.
Powell, Mary G. The History of Old Alexandria Virginia.
Richmond: William Byrd Press, 1928.
Rowland, Kate Mason. The Life of George Mason. New York:
G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1892, Volume II.
Schuon, Karl. Home of the Commandants. Washington:
Leatherneck Association, 1966.
Smoot, Mrs. Betty Carter. Days in an Old Town. Alexandria:
Privately printed, 1934.
Sprouse, Edith Moore. Potomac Sampler. Alexandria: privately
published, 1961.
Waterman, Thomas Tileston. The Mansions of Virginia.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1946.
 Articles
Bundy, Charles S., "History of the Office of the Justice of the
Peace." Washington: Records of the Columbia
Historical Society. 1902.
Hunsberger, George S. "The Architectural Career of George
Hadfield," Records of the Columbia Historical
Society, Vol. 51-52, 1955.
Norton, Paul F., "Design and Designer," Historic Preservation,
Volume 19, Nos. 3-4, July-December 1967.
Regis, Noel F. "Some Notable Suits in Early District Courts."
Washington: Records of the Columbia Historical
Society, 1922.
Somerville, Mollie. "George Mason's Island," Virginia Record.
July, 1956.

Newspapers
Alexandria Gazette: November 24, 1817; March 13, 1823;
August 5, 1828; November 1 & 8, 1833; May 16, 1837;
December 27, 1838; August 30, 1839; June 12, 1862;
October 12, 1864; May 13, 1868; May 3, 1870; May 16,
1870; May 14, 1892; March 3, 1911; January 1, 1930.
Daily National Intelligencer: February 13, 1826.
Fairfax Herald: March 10, 1911.
New York Herald Tribune: July 7, 1929.
Syracuse (N.Y.) Journal: July 28, 1875.
Washington Sunday Star: February 6, 1921; June 4, 1958.
 Manuscripts
Nelligan, Murray H. "Custis-Lee Mansion." Unpublished manuscript.
National Park Service.
Sprouse, Edith Moore. "Lexington." Unpublished report, 1967.
Thomson Francis Mason Papers. Collection of William Francis Smith,
Alexandria, Virginia.
Thomson Francis Mason Papers. Duke University, Durham, N.C.

Legal Records
Fairfax County Courthouse, Deeds, Wills, Chancery Court Cases:
Will of George Mason, August 23, 1792; Will of Thomson
Mason, April 15, 1797, Will Book M, No. 1, p. 130,
November 21, 1820; Liber W, No. 2, p. 199. October 1,
1823; Liber W, No. 2, pp. 162-65; Will Book T, No. 1,
February 18, 1839; Will Book T, No. 1, p. 3, February 4,
1839; Liber B, No. 4, p. 448, November 7, 1859; Liber B,
No. 4, p. 451, December 7, 1859; Liber E, No. 4, p. 195,
June 12, 1862; Liber I, No. 4, p. 236, November 21, 1868;
Liber O, No. 4, p. 338, March 11, 1871; Liber J, No. 7, p.
22, April 5, 1911; Deed Book 515, p. 60, September 1,
1946; Deed Book 694, p. 400, June 11, 1949.

Division of Planning Publications Staff

 Peter T. Johnson, Chief, Operations Branch
Stephen H. Lopez, Historic District Planner
Nan Netherton, Historic Research Supervisor
Elizabeth David, Research Assistant
Jay Linard, Copy Editor
Gloria Matthews, Book Designer
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