For the Virtual Record: Second Life


Second Life provides an online society within a 3D world, where users can explore, build, socialize and participate in their own economy. -Second Life website

Due to the amount of fan *cough* email I receive from "Second Lifers," I want to state for the virtual record, that I really have no problems with Second Life (SL) for what it is. I do visit it from time to time, have good friends that enjoy it, know those that make a living building content within it, and even know cool people working at Linden Labs.

Linden Labs, creators of Second Life, have done a lot to bring virtual worlds further into the public eye the past few years. Second Life is primarily composed of user created content. News of a virtual world millionaire, big brand interest, educational interest, congressional hearings, and a growing number of headlines show that people do see the utility of multi-user online 3D environments. I was in Second Life back when it had just a small following and not much to it. It was cool for the time, great for showing people what 3D on the web was like, but limited as far as what I ultimately wanted to use 3D on the web for. Now Second Life is a bustling virtual world filled with all kinds of content, applications, and citizens. Many have had great times with SL. Who can forget this griefer incident with Anshe Chung during an in-world CNET interview? (Not for avatars under 18 as this shows 3D genitalia)



The wild west of virtual worlds that even has one wanting to head off into the sunset with their kidnapped virtual met mate. Now most residents are using SL for having fun, social networking, creating cool content, applications, and whatever they can think of to the limitations of the platform, noted. It is a starting point for those that want to experience a 3d user generated society with a variety of content. It has been in the news. It offers more creative freedom than Sims Online and most other virtual worlds. I think SL is a great testing ground for showing what content/applications developers will build for the open 3d web. I never have or will see it or Open Simulator as the foundation for the 3D web let alone Metaverse. A part of it yes, but not the foundation.

This thinking doesn't bring me much love from Second Life residents and the reason for this blog entry. They share with me exactly how they feel for thinking this and more. What gets me are the "Second Lifers" that see the benefit of 3D on the web, and don't upgrade to the technology that will allow them to do what SL can't. Does the KoolAid taste that good? Second Life is just not there technically people, can't catch up or scale, and wasn't designed to go there. It is great for entertainment, a virtual make believe, and good at that. As officially stated by Linden Labs, "an online society within a 3D world, where users can explore, build, socialize and participate in their own economy."

I am a builder of the 3d web, I work with open standards so all people, ideas, and economies can connect online. Keep building a Second Life and enjoy! I am enhancing our first one.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Artificial Intelligence & Robots

Image
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. Released during the Game Developers Conference, the now viral “Kara” concept video made by the Paris-based Quantic Dream, developers of the Heavy Rain game, is a look at the future of gaming, using full-body motion capture and a new computer-graphics engine. It is running in real time on Sony’s PlayStation 3 platform. The video is thought provoking as a robot comes to life and is quickly scared by the idea of how precious that can be. What I find interesting is that this type of artificial intelligence is not too far in the future thanks to friends like David Hanson of Hanson Robotics . I got the chance to hang out with David for several days during a trip last year to New Zealand and I was amazed by his work and the state of the A.I. industry. While I have some reservations about 'smart machines' thanks to Hollywood (Terminator, Matrix), David assures me th...
Read more

Full of AWE at Augmented World Expo 2017

Image
Augmented World Event 2017 There are not many event series I can say I have attended since day one but the Augmented World Expo , formerly the Augmented Reality Event, is one I can put in that category. This was the 8th annual event and no doubt it sure has come a long way since that first event I visited in 2010 . AWE is the largest event focused on the commercial side of AR, VR, and includes wearables. “AR and VR are bringing superpowers to the people and this year we are on a mission to highlight how to use these Superpowers to Change the World. This year’s conference and expo will showcase speakers, startups and organizations who are using AR & VR to drive economic growth, encourage empathy and collaboration, democratize healthcare and education, and promote sustainability in the world.” - event website This year was the best year for AWE in my opinion and their biggest ever. The event brought in 4,700 attendees, 351 speakers, and 212 exhibitors from all ov...
Read more

Metaverse One - Upgrading to Social Media

Image
Today marks the 14th year of when I started this blog to cover the technologies of our ever evolving Metaverse.  A lot has happened since then, both in tech and the personal life. Yet knowing that I need to start blogging again since the topic of the Metaverse is everywhere, I use this anniversary to announce the launch of the Metaverse One TikTok channel  where I will be posting videos every few days covering topics about the Metaverse and related technologies .                                          Make sure to follow there and the Metaverse One Youtube Channel .
Read more