The 3D multiverse of VRWeb is viewed by a so-called Portal Hopper (or “Hopper” in short). Using this tool, you can “hop” from world to world much like a browser can “jump” from link to link. Just like web pages on the internet, anyone can host their own worlds. What’s different is that these worlds can be explored. You can typically walk around in them either while wearing a VR headset or on screen. The screen (or “flat”) mode can be either from a 1^st person or a 3^rd person perspective and controlled by a game controller or the WASD keyboard and mouse, much like most video games. 

Like in any browser you can type in any address to enter a new world. However, the VRWeb network is best explored by discovery. If you have no clue where to start, you can always go to the central hub located at vrweb.portalhopper.com (if you have the hopper installed, you can click on this link to run it and navigate to the central hub). This domain is where you can also download the current hopper at www.portalhopper.com/download. 

In the hub world, you will find recommendations of other worlds to visit and a growing number of portals to games, events and whatever else our partners come up with. 

To enter a portal to hop to another world (think domain), you just step through the portal or touch it, if it is a touch portal. It could be represented as a door or gate as well as a statue or any other object in the current world. Although there are recommendations for what a portal should look like, there is really no limit to the playfulness of the world’s creator. 

But not all portals can be activated so easily. Some portals have requirements such as being a club member, paying a fee, or buying the game. Some portals may enforce an age limit or other restrictions. To hop through such portals, you will have to give up your anonymity through an authorization process. This authorization is simplified by the Hopper. You only sign in once into the blockchain which keeps track of all your virtual possessions, your personal data and memberships, payment options etc. So, if a payment or authorization is required, the hopper will handle the details for you. 

Some Portals may require a special app or game to enter this world. In that case, the special hopper app will download and install in the background before you can enter. Typically, this will be a game which needs access to the full capabilities of your PC or headset. However, in this game you will usually find at least one portal to get back to where you entered. 

The above mentioned blockchain also stores virtual money which you need to pay into the system first, like a credit card which you cannot overdraw. This gives parental control over how much their children are spending and provides you with a standardized system for payments across the globe. 

In this context, a world is a collection of locations that are bundled together under one domain.

The 3D world of VRWeb is viewed by a so-called Portal Hopper (or “Hopper” in short). Using this tool, you can “hop” from world to world much like a browser can “jump” from link to link. Just like web pages on the internet, anyone can host their own worlds. What’s different is that these worlds can be explored. You can typically walk around in them either while wearing a VR headset or on screen. The screen (or “flat”) mode can be either from a 1^st person or a 3^rd person perspective and controlled by a game controller or the WASD keyboard and mouse, much like most video games. 

Like in any browser you can type in any address to enter a new world. However, the VRWeb network is best explored by discovery. If you have no clue where to start, you can always go to the central hub located at vrweb.portalhopper.com.

When wandering between Locations, the Portal Hopper will retain its information such as a game score or your name. But when hopping to another world, all this information is flushed to prevent the Hopper from hogging memory.

In order to deserve the name “Hopper”, it must be able to
– interpret a VRML file which describes at least which Hopper is required to enter a world and the link to this world
– be able to “hop” through the portal, meaning it can either load the next world or jumpstart another hopper who can handle this world
– run an installer for other hopper-aware apps

Theoretically, a game which is based on a completely different physics/graphics/game engine can be a Hopper if it complies to above rules.

If you are a developer and want to make your code hopper-aware, please refer to the Fundamentals for Developers section, for instance Technology Stack of VRWeb, and our forum.