52:50 Ease of use – The Lab is figuring out how users can bring someone new in and have them be able to do things without hours of training. Since the VR world is in a state of flux there is no set of devices to target. That complicates figuring out how to simplify the user interface.
China by dolletjes, on Flickr
The goal is to make content creation and consumption easier than it is in SL.
At the 54:20 mark Ebbe starts talking about SANSAR, the Next Generation Platform.
One of the problems with Second Life is in being able to discover things. While there is great content in SL it is hard to discover. From outside SL it is nearly impossible to discover the content. That will change in SANSAR.
Accessibility: This is about how to access content across a wide range of devices. The problem of having to download software to see content is a huge problem. Imagine having to download software specific to each web page… no one would do that. As it is we can download a web browser and visit 99% of the content on the web without having to download or install anything else.
Scalability: How do we get from hundreds of users at an event to thousands? Today SL can only handle at most about 200 people. Ebbe says it is possible to build so that tens of thousands can be at an event. That is their goal with SANSAR.
Ebbe says a huge effort is going into ease of use. Our SL viewers have thousands of controls. Moving and interacting with 3D worlds is a complex computer task. Even understanding how to wear clothes in SL is complex. The new mesh avatars and appliers has added levels of complication.
56:10 Business model – Ebbe talks about the Second Life business model and how well it is working for Second Life. But, he does not see that model as likely to scale well to serve millions of users. So, we know from this and other comments Ebbe has made that they want to make SANSAR cheaper to use.
57:20 Goes to Q&A
What is SANSAR? Ebbe answered it is a new virtual world platform from ground up. Everything is being built with modern tech and to be scalable. The new platform will allow people to build bigger experiences and make more money. He thinks the $60 million we earn now will be a puny amount.
Also, Ebbe goes back to ‘discovery’. With SANSAR they will make it possible to get outside the walled garden type environment that Second Life is. People will be able to find and easily come into experiences. I am assuming this means it will be possible to have experiences found by Google/Yahoo. In SL things are hidden from those not already in the world. Google and Yahoo do not link into Second Life. In SANSAR the goal is make content in the new VW easily discoverable by everyone.
59:45 – Why not call it SL 2.0. The first thing Ebbe mentions in his response is there would be too many assumptions projected from SL to NGP/SANSAR. Ebbe feels it important to avoid that. Ebbe also points out that running SL 1.0 and 2.0 side by side would be confusing. He anticipates the two running side-by-side for years.
1:00:00 Ebbe’s part ends.
Analysis
This article is long enough, almost 1,000 words. I do have thoughts about what Ebbe was saying and what it means. I plan get to those later today.