Metaverse One

Facebook has announced plans to purchase Oculus VR, the company behind the Rift headset, for around $2B in cash and stock. This includes $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock. This is what Mark Zuckerberg had to share via the Facebook blog: "I'm excited to announce that we've agreed to acquire Oculus VR, the leader in virtual reality technology. Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. For the past few years, this has mostly meant building mobile apps that help you share with the people you care about. We have a lot more to do on mobile, but at this point we feel we're in a position where we can start focusing on what platforms will come next to enable even more useful, entertaining and personal experiences. This is where Oculus comes in. They build virtual reality technology, like the Oculus Rift headset. When you put it on, you enter a completely immersive computer-generated environment, like a game or a movie ...

So I am visiting the Netherlands and got a chance to check out this augmented reality Facebook application called Free Ride . It launched a couple weeks ago and was developed for YoungWorks by my friends at The Young Generation  (TYG). I applaud TYG for their clever use of augmented reality here. This Flash-based snowboard game uses a custom beanie that has an embroidered fiducial marker to control the snowboarder. Moving side to side controls the direction of the snowboarder and leaning forward or back controls the speed. My Dutch isn’t the greatest, actually I don’t know any, so expect a follow up interview explaining more about the application from a member at The Young Generation soon. The Young Generation is a full service digital agency that specializes in concept, design, strategy, and production of interactive campaigns. I look forward to seeing what killer games and interactive campaigns they come out with next.

A few months back a friend told me of a 3D city map app called UpNext . Naturally being a digital city geek I downloaded the app for my iPod Touch to give it a quick look-see. Launching the app gave me the choice of several 3D city maps (Austin, Boston, New York, Portland, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.) to download that I could access offline which is a super plus for those with an iPod Touch. I selected San Francisco, which only took a few moments to download, and it didn't take long to become impressed with the app. Navigation uses standard Apple interface actions such as pinch to zoom, two finger drag to tilt the view, etc. As I zoomed in from the initial bird's eye view of the whole city, the app broke the city down into its neighborhoods. This was a nice surprise as I still don't know the exact locations of all the 'hoods' in SF. Zooming further down quickly loaded simple but nicely textured 3D building models with more levels of detail as I got closer to ...

Wednesday was the official launch of ExitReality , the free Internet plug-in that allows anyone to view a web page in multi-user 3D at a click of a button. I did blog about them a few months back when they were in closed beta, but now it's time for a full review. The 4MB plug-in works with IE, Firefox, and Google's Chrome and installs a logo button on the browser toolbar for instant "web3D-ing" a site. It supports X3D / VRML and COLLADA content as well as an extension for interactive Flash as a texture. It has a drag/drop feature for adding content directly into any scene. I have found it does have issues loading interactive content, but it was still neat to see my static X3D converted World of Warcraft character and VRML body scan in-scene. The interface is stylish and hugs the border of the 3d window. The top bar consists of an address bar that allows for "Launch in 3D or 2D", tabs for Search (it finds 3d content), chat, standard editing tools (move, r...

This review has been a long time coming but I did not want to share too much while these guys were in closed beta. Vivaty, the fun way to socialize and share your web stuff in a personal virtual scene ( your stuff. your friends. your scene. ), is now open to public beta. This multi-user 3D platform allows you to view and interact in the 3D web via a small browser plug-in for Facebook or AOL AIM. Lets start with the spaces. The spaces take almost no time to load on a broadband connection and look really detailed. Nice job on the designs, lighting, fog, and backgrounds. They have an "open" feel to them and each has its unique style. One can tell this design team is a group of pros. Somewhere I can here "You can do it!", in the Governator's voice. The release is showcasing partnered scenes from Target and Coke Zero, some cool looking virtual dorm spaces. The avatars are realistic with almost lifelike animations. There are a number of moods you can set fo...