Abstract: A system architecture that synthesizes agent environments and virtualization environments to provide for a highly scalable, peer-to-peer real-time agent architecture. The agent environment enables agents participating in a shared experience to be peers of one another. Agents can choose which agents they want to peer by meeting in the agent environment and using published information determine which other agents they want to peer with to communicate stream source data therebetween. Virtualization environments are a mechanism for executing applications (“stream sources”). Any one or more of available virtualization environments (e.g., cloud infrastructure) may be selected in accordance with predetermined criteria to execute stream sources. In addition, non-virtualized environments (e.g., physical devices) may be utilized to run the stream sources in accordance with deployment criteria.