Forterra Systems, Inc. was a

3D graphics 3D computer graphics, sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics, are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the purposes of perfor ...

software company headquartered in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

that produced private and secure

massively multiplayer online game A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players to interact in the same online game world. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, although t ...

(MMOG)

virtual worlds A virtual world (also called a virtual space or spaces) is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many simultaneous users who can create a personal avatar and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its acti ...

for corporate, government, defense, medical and educational clients. Forterra Systems also shared a close history with the MMOG '' There''. On February 1, 2010,

Science Applications International Corporation Science Applications International Corporation, Inc. (SAIC) is an American technology company headquartered in Reston, Virginia that provides government services and information technology support. History 20th century The original SAIC was cr ...

(SAIC) announced its acquisition of the company's simulation & collaboration product line, including all names, trademarks and licenses. Founded in 1998 as There, Inc., Forterra Systems built private and secure distributed virtual worlds using their OLIVE (On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment) technology platform and industry-standard PC server and client hardware. OLIVE virtual environments typically are deployed within a client's existing IT and network security systems. Optionally, OLIVE could be hosted externally by Forterra, depending upon the customer's preferences.

On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment

On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment (OLIVE) customers rapidly generate realistic, three-dimensional virtual environments that scale from single user applications to large-scale simulated environments that support a vast number of concurrent users. The virtual worlds produced or hosted by Forterra Systems and their clients appear to function similarly to public, open-invitation MMOGs (e.g., '' There'', ''

Second Life ''Second Life'' is a multiplayer virtual world that allows people to create an Avatar (computing), avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user-created content within a multi-user online environment. Developed for person ...

'', '' Active Worlds''). OLIVE environments differ from consumer-based MMOGs in that access to the virtual world is privately managed, and granted only to specific groups of users. OLIVE applications typically focus on employee or staff training, and secure collaborative business decision-making, for example, rather than focusing on entertainment or broadly-defined social networking purposes. Another difference between conventional MMO virtual environments and OLIVE environments is that real-world locations are replicated in an OLIVE virtual world, as opposed to fantasy-based worlds or hypothetical "islands". ''There'' is based on shared technology with Forterra Systems that was initially developed in conjunction with a

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

project. The ''There'' service was spun off to

Makena Technologies ''There'' is a 3D online virtual world developed and operated by Makena Technologies. The platform opened to the public in October 2003 after a two-year beta and counted more than one million registered members by 2009. Designed for social play r ...

in 2005. ''Theres operations remained uninterrupted during the various corporate changes. Since then, two additional instances of ''There'' have been created, both owned and administered by Makena Technologies.

References

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External links

SAIC: Products: OLIVE On-Line Interactive Virtual EnvironmentForterra Systems Inc.IEEE Spectrum article about Forterra Systems Inc.
* ttp://it.toolbox.com/blogs/future-of-work/focusing-exclusively-on-enterprise-virtual-worlds-32859 Review of Forterra OLIVE which emphasizes its enterprise collaboration focus Companies based in San Mateo, California Software companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Virtual avatars Virtual reality companies Virtual world communities Defunct software companies of the United States Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game companies of the United States