Virtual reality enhanced through browser connections

A method for enabling a visitor to access VR representations authored by different authors of locations in a virtual universe via a computer network, the method comprising:

• providing a plurality of data servers and a domain server interconnected with the data servers, the data servers providing access to sets of VR data of virtual representations of locations within the universe, as well as world wide web data, each data set independently authored by a respective author different from the other authors;
• receiving data from the visitor representing a selected location in the universe;
• accessing the domain data in response to the received data and obtaining therefrom the network address of the data server that provides access to the VR data for the selected location;
• and
• transferring the VR data for the selected location from the data server to the visitor's computer for generation of a VR presentation of the selected location without leaving the virtual universe.

A virtual reality viewing system for viewing virtual locations in a virtual universe accessed through a computer network, the viewing system comprising:

• memory for storing:
• a plurality of data sets, each data set representing a location in a virtual universe, each data set independently authored by a respective author different from the other authors, each data set comprising world wide web data;
• and
• data representing a map of the locations in the virtual universe represented by the plurality of data sets;
• a display for displaying an image of a map from the map data;
• an interface for:
• receiving visitor input for selecting a location displayed on the map, the location represented by one of the plurality of data sets;
• transmitting the one data set representing the selected location through the network;
• receiving data representing the network address of a network data server providing access to the one data set;
• and
• communicating with the network data server to receive the one data set;
• and
• a processor for executing instructions stored in memory, wherein execution of the instructions by the processor generates a virtual reality presentation from the one data set without leaving the virtual universe.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform a method for enabling a visitor to access VR representations authored by different authors of locations in a virtual universe via a computer network, the method comprising:

• providing a plurality of data servers and a domain server interconnected with the data servers, the data servers providing access to sets of VR data of virtual representations of locations within the universe, as well as world wide web data, each data set independently authored by a respective author different from the other authors;
• receiving data from the visitor representing a selected location in the universe;
• accessing the domain data in response to the received data and obtaining therefrom the network address of the data server that provides access to the VR data for the selected location;
• and
• transferring the VR data for the selected location from the data server to the visitor's computer for generation of a VR presentation of the selected location without leaving the virtual universe.