The world of immersive, avatar-based 3-D virtual reality (VR) environments began in the last millennium and became known through the initial offerings of Second Life. At the end of the 2000’s, open source versions became available and many artists and developers provided artifacts, buildings, and even entire immersive environments free of cost, if server space were available, or for nominal fees if server rental was required. Thus, your invited guests, can roam through incredible, immersive spaces losing the sense of their physical environments as they become engaged in the world, the story and your design. What will that be? An immersion into a Shakespearean setting, a genetics information environment, a class meeting with guest speakers, a healthcare prototype of a pediatric office, or a role-playing environment for a social work intake office? The environments are limitless as are the infinite number of stories or learning experiences you can design within them. The presenter will highlight work already done by her SUNY students in developing their own spaces, as well as sharing some other leading applications, referencing the educational constructs that can support effective design. She will review the technical current state-of-the-art in open-source avatar-based immersive environments explaining as well new opportunities that are under development for open source VR settings, such as headset-enabled immersion that can soon rival the work of game-engine-designed environments. Links to Creative Commons resources will be provided so participants could begin developing their own environments. A workshop entitled Become an Avatar: And, Explore Virtual Reality will be available in advance of the presentation should you want to experience these environments directly.