Metaverse One

So I am busy doing research with the group on our first set of student Metaverse mash-up projects, and had to post this video to give all a glimpse of what is coming. This is the power of X3D. Enjoy. Special thanks to fellow web3D student Tedd Robinson for his real and virtual world assistance, and Nick Carpenter who loaned out his avatar for the project.

Augmented Reality (AR) is a "Mixed Reality" technology where the virtual and real worlds appear together in a real time system. An augmented reality system generates a composite view for the user that is a combination of the real scene viewed by the user and a virtual scene generated by the computer that augments the scene with additional information. This technology of movies like Minority Report is no longer science fiction, but has been for a while science fact. Even though AR has been developed in research labs and used by the military ( Office of Naval Research ) for decades, it is only until recently that hardware and software is making it more accessible for the mainstream. In order to superimpose graphics over a real environment in real-time, one needs mobile computing, a tracking or identification system, and a display. Now with more powerful cell phones, Iphone, and other hand-held computing devices, AR is primed to move into the mainstream. Google's Android ...

As promised from my blog in August , here is my entry (now that there are videos) about the Web3D Tech Talk. At SIGGRAPH 2008, the Web3D Consortium celebrated its 10th anniversary with its best ever Web3D Tech Talk. Of course I may be a little bias as I participated in the event, but the tech talk show cased very cool uses of X3D and VRML with content and applications from various sectors and across all hardware platforms. No boring Powerpoints or spec jargon here at this standing room only talk that wowed the crowd with the technology that is defining the open 3D web. Participants from around the world showed off X3D applications that covered medical, educational, social, mixed reality, and other interesting uses of the tech. Enough of my writing, these videos speak for themselves: Michael Aratow - Rationale for 3D standard for 3D medical imaging Tony Pack - X3D to display and review seismic data Johannes Behr - Beyond the Web Browser:X3D used for Virtual and Augmented reality Damo...

3pointD.com reports on emerging 3D connectivity — a phenomenon sometimes called the metaverse — in all its manifestations. From virtual worlds like Second Life to applications like Google Earth , from cool mapping hacks that link up real-world locations to new ways of creating virtual ones , from concepts like folksonomy to the culture of online worlds , find news and feature articles about all that and much more at 3pointD.com, every day.- 3pointD website 3pointD.com is a good resource of current news for all those interested in virtual worlds and Metaverse related technologies. Started in April 2006, edited by journalist Mark Wallace and sponsored by the Electric Sheep Company . Mark is a seasoned journalist, co-author of the book The Second Life Herald , and co-founder/Chief Executive of Wello Horld, a web start-up based out of New York. Since he is an active participant in the community, make sure to check out his blog and keep an eye out for Wello Horld.

I am sure most remember that Kevin Costner movie "Field of Dreams" and the line, "If you build it, they will come." This quote seems to also be the mantra for most if not all virtual world platforms. I have recently seen multiple companies build a platform, give people an avatar, movements, personal spaces to customize, and scenes to explore in hopes of catching huge numbers of virtual residents to monetize off of. Very cool idea, but then what? I have spoken with hundreds of virtual world residents in all kinds of platforms and most express a similar problem, nothing to do. A growing consensus that I think the virtual world operators need to address. 3D chat and Feng Shui'ing a space can only hold so much excitement. Personally I feel it is not about the number of unique visitors or account sign-ups, but the return patrons. Imagine if World of Warcraft had no quests, PVP, or story line. Just create an avatar, move/animate in various 3D spaces, and chat. Would t...

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...

Back in February, Stanford campus was my home for a weekend of Metaverse real world events. Friday the 15th - Metaverse Roadmap Workshop: Over forty different leaders and pioneers in Metaverse related industries were invited to discuss and collaborate on a continuation of the Metaverse Roadmap . For me, truly an honor to be invited to participate with the brightest people of so many different fields and technologies. The day was a mix of great speakers, presentations, and various break-out workgroups. Bridget Agabra , the ASF Metaverse Roadmap Project Manager, did a great job of organizing this fascinating event sponsored by Metaversum . A really cool event to be a part of. Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th - MetaverseU Conference This public event was a collection of presentations, panels, and open discussion covering various facets of the virtual/mirror worlds, augmented reality, and lifelogging. The conference was simulcast in Second Life to truly make it a mixed reality event. Bet...