Metaverse One

So the last full week of March ran the Game Developers Conference at the Moscone Center here in San Francisco. I love this event as it offers a glimpse at the innovation coming from the Game Industry, and brings in so many colleagues and friends from around the globe to a spot less than a block away from my office. A jam packed week of meetings where many conversations happened and good alliances were formed. The GDC this year was very reflective of the economic crunch taking place. The career expo was just as busy as the exhibit hall with a steady stream of students and professionals passing out resumes and looking for jobs. More than less of the associates I chatted with from the virtual worlds industry were no longer with the companies they once were. Even the exhibit hall had a smaller presence than in the past. Regardless of size, there still was an impressive group of exhibitors. For game editors, Hero Engine had a nice setup where the rep walked me thru some of the features of ...

As of late, I have been witness to an explosion of interest in the web3D open standard by the Green community. Beyond the work our group is doing to promote green with Architecture For Humanity, I am constantly approached by those in the green space from both the design and manufacturing wanting to migrate to the 3D web. Many see the high barriers to entry for using virtual worlds, their platform limitations, and don't really need avatars. "I want to show how my building or design is Green", is a growing theme. Even in a recent issue of 3D World it was covered that a study by Autodesk and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) said clients are driving architects to green design. The Autodesk/AIA Green Index , which measures how architects are practicing sustainable design, reports that 42% of their clients are asking for green building elements on the majority of their projects. The Green Index also found the 66% of the architects surveyed said that this client deman...

The economy is not just affecting the real world, but the virtual as well. No one or avatar is safe from the budget slashing going on. Virtual world builders , platform companies, and start-ups are also feeling the pain. Carla Thornton's article Virtual Worlds: "2009 is going to be a trial by fire" points out some interesting points about these times. From the article - Virtual worlds, at least those looking for funding, are meeting the all-too-real world of the worsening economy, according to a new report. Prepared by Virtual Worlds Management , a provider of market research and events related to the virtual worlds industry, the report says investments in 63 virtual-world related companies declined by 58 percent from 2007 to 2008, shrinking from $1.4 billion to $594 million. This year will see more contraction, Joey Seiler, editor of Virtual World News , told The Standard . "2009 is going to be a trial by fire for the industry and entrepreneurs," he said. ...

Wednesday March 4 th was the Web3D Consortium's 2009 Outreach/Member meeting at NASA Ames research facility. The focus of the event was to reach out to those industries that use web3D, educate, and continue dialogue for how the 3D web open standard X3D and the Web3D Consortium can assist with some of the issues they are having and collaborate to advance the growth of these domains. A quick recap, web3D is any form of real-time interactive 3D. This includes virtual worlds, mirror worlds, augmented reality, simulation, web3D/mixed reality applications, and more. The Outreach event had a good turnout with those from both the web3D space, the virtual worlds industry, mirror worlds, and several web3D students. Guest Speaker Jay Cee Straley from Sprint, presented us his insight on Web3D technology and standards for the mobile platform. He demonstrated some very cool applications of web3D and augmented reality for mobile devices. Don Brutzman ( NPS ) and I ran the X3D plugfest tha...