Metaverse One

This past weekend was the second iteration of Metaverse U put on by Henrik Bennetsen at Stanford University. The Metaverse U conference took place at Stanford University on May 29 th and 30 th . The goal of this years conference was to explore the cutting edge applications of virtual worlds and the open platforms that drive them. Henrik gathered an impressive lineup of speakers and I will embed their videos here once they go online. Some highlights from the presentations: Sirikata , Stanford's open source platform for virtual worlds, had a high representation this year with a demo that showed some of its editing features. Jeffrey T. Schnapp (Stanford University) talked about cultural heritage with virtual worlds stating "museums are the original 3D world" and the need to embrace (inter)active models of educational programming with an emphasis on bottom-up counterparts to traditional top-down approaches. John Hurliman (Intel) presented Cable Beach, a service based a...

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...

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...

After becoming aware that more than just the nice folks at Vivaty were reading my blog (they promptly thank fans), I see the need to catch others (non-supernerds) up to what all my recent blogs are about. For those techies that know what Open Metaverse truly means, skip this blog, close the laptop, close the eyes, rub the eyes, open, and go talk with someone you enjoy. If you have little/no clue to what the Metaverse is, or if you think it is SL or OpenSimulator, please keep reading. To see what smart collaboration (Open Metaverse Roadmap) had to say about the Metaverse last year, this is a must READ . ( warning-beyond this is my perception zone, not wikipedia ) Repeated visitors to my blog will see this graphic again. What is the Metaverse? Don't worry, I am not going to cover all these now, but these "domains" are converging into a mash up of technologies that will blur the line between the virtual and real via the immersive 3D web. This is the Metaverse, a mix of rea...

ExitReality , a London headquartered start-up with offices in Australia and Los Angeles, is another open standards supporter making its entrance into the immersive web targeting social networks. ExitReality is a social media company with an enhanced 3D, multi-user, immersive messaging environment. After signing up for the beta, and installing the player, one enters with an avatar in a 3D plaza at sunset. Carls Jr and Hardees have 3D spaces here, the Match.com ice cream truck (??) is off to the side. Now before I can agree that this is " just another VRML world ", I cant help but think of the player. The ExitReality player displays X3D / VRML and COLLADA content. It supports interactive Flash as a polygon texture. The interface has a stylish look that seems like a mash-up of Vista and Itunes . It allows you to drag/drop assets into any world for personalization with standard editing tools (move, rotate, scale, clone, delete, save). It has a buddy list, chat, and ot...

Let us take time to appreciate the individual pioneers and Sherpas in 3D, gaming, and web3d and all they have done to get these technologies where they are! *CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP As the next gen of developer I salute and support those companies and institutions that have stuck with supporting the collaborative "open" mindset. Their applications and brands echo across many a coast and eyes. Keep making what you do cooler. Hold firm your niche and use your powers for awesome. Help foster more growth in the industry in whatever way you feel for corporate social responsibility. Why not make a learning application and give it to the web, or work with a non-profit to build a 3D web presence? This will only make your echo louder. I sit in the grumbling noise of enlightened to this "new" technology. Immersive Information or " Infomersion " that connects us, directs us, and allows access to a more personalized highly interactive web experience. It will be grea...