Category Archives: General Computer Stuff

Philip Speaks at VWBPE 2014

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This morning Daniel Voyager has a link to this video, which is about 33 minutes. Daniel also has an index to the video: VWBPE 2014: Philip Rosedale Keynotes – Live Updates. It is based on time-of-day rather than minute marks. But, you can get a sense of where in the video things are.

I didn’t hear much new information in this speech/video. Drax, or at least some Draxtor… and it sounds like a question the world famous Drax we know would ask, asks if High Fidelity (HF) will make Second Life™ obsolete. In answering Philip sounds a bit like a politician. Meaning I didn’t really hear an answer. There is no yes or no or may be or what would have been most accurate: I don’t know. He does point out that Linden Lab is an investor in HF. He expects HF technology to make it into Second Life.

[youtube umvD2m1UefM]

But, the question is valid. Think about it. If HF can eliminate lag then Second Life will have to eliminate lag or I believe it will die. Which would you rather use? A laggy world or a highly responsive one? We already know lag is a major objection that new users of Second Life have.  Continue reading →

Facebook Chat

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It seems to me Facebook is all about the money and market share. Businesses do have to compete and Facebook is the big kid in the room, king of the mountain so to speak. Lots of people are trying to knock Facebook out of that position. In the latest European battle to be your text messaging service Facebook is shifting tactics.

If you use a mobile app for Facebook, you know it has had a text chat app built in. Now it is being removed. You either download Facebook’s chat app or do without FB chat.

Get the details on what’s happening here: Facebook Is Forcing All Users To Download Messenger By Ripping Chat Out Of Its Main Apps.

When I read Zuckerberg quotes I don’t see concern about FB customers. I get a sense that it is all about maintaining market share. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Businesses do have to compete. But, it is possible to get it wrong.

The quote I’ve seen from Zuckerberg is:

“ And the reason why we’re doing that is we found that having it as a second-class thing inside the Facebook app makes it so there’s more friction to replying to messages, so we would rather have people be using a more focused experience for that.”

The underlining is my emphasis.

I point this out because I am already thinking about what a FB virtual world might be like. I believe that the fundamental nature of any Facebook world is going to be set by Zuckerberg and the Facebook corporations business needs. My thinking is getting the nuances of the nature of both accurate will improve my predictions.

Oculus Competition

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A company named True Player Gear, based in Canada, is making a competing or what will be a competing VR headset.  They call theirs Totem, which is a name taken from the movie Inception.

Totem VR Head Set

Totem VR Head Set

It looks neat.  The show Road to VR has an interview with the companies CEO, Bertrand Nepveu. Check it out here: Exclusive: ‘Totem’ VR Headset to Compete with the Oculus Rift, CEO Shares Inside Details.

The specs for this head set are similar to Oculus’ DK2. However the field of viewer is only 90 degrees. We have recently heard developers talking about how important it is to have a wide field of view. So, that may be a slight disadvantage.

They are going for the 1080p screens. That should give good resolution. Still, it is at the limit of what Michael Abrash thinks is acceptable for a good immersive feel. They say they are low persistence, but they don’t put a number on it.

They are planning to do a Kickstarter and put out a development kit.

Their claim to fame right now is they are  not owned by Facebook. Those that are abandoning Oculus because of the FB purchase now have a place to run to.

Microsoft VR Headset

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Yeah, you knew this was coming, right? Well, there were two versions announced on April 1st  about Microsoft putting out home and enterprise version VR headsets. The enterprise version would be named:  Microsoft Office© Oculu 2014 Enterprise Edition™, yeah… that is a name the MS people would come up with. The home or consumer version is named Project Neo. OK, that is a bit more user friendly.

What supposedly leaked about Project Neo is:

  • 640×480 LCD Screen
  • 37 degrees Field of View
  • Custom 2DOF Tracking System called “DOF Mode”.
  • Exclusive to the Xbox One
  • Minesweeper VR to be launch title

I suspect using a Project Neo headset with specs like these would be like looking through a tube.

The enterprise version Oculu would be more Oculus Rift like. But, they tell of some nutty idea that looking at a flat Excel spreadsheet in a virtual environment is going to get an accountant’s panties…  er… heart throbbing. It’s not gonna happen. OutlookVR 2014… I don’t think so. Continue reading →

Jo Yardley About Oculus

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Jo got her Oculus Rift DK1 working and tried out the CtrlAltStudio Viewer and the SL Oculus Beta Viewer. She relates her experience of being IN, as INSIDE, Second Life™ as opposed to seeing it on a computer screen. Her story is well worth the time to read. I suspect we will hear more in this week’s Drax Files Radio Show.

Her article is here: My first Oculus Rift experience in Second Life.

Image by Mathew, Flickr

Image by Mathew, Flickr

From what she says things were pretty awesome. But, there are a number of problems, which she gets into. The big problem as I see it is the complexity of Second Life. New Oculus users coming in are likely to be overwhelmed by the massive number of viewer controls and the complexity of basic tasks. Jo’s solution is to create viewer-user-levels, beginner, moderate, and advanced that can easily be switched between. She remembers when the Lab tried the basic viewer. But, she still believes the approach would help player retention. Continue reading →

Gwyneth Llewelyn’s April Fool’s Joke?

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Well, it isn’t that funny. Actually, it is pretty damn scary. She has written a short, for Gwyneth, 2,700+ words that tie far too many things together to make the story sound real.

See: Facebook ‘likes’ Second Life, High Fidelity and buys both.

If you are easily given nightmares, avoid reading the article. She has far too many reasons why her April 1st headline could be real.

VR Forecast

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We have an ongoing debate… or maybe it is just a voicing of opinions… in Second Life™ about VR and the Oculus Rift. Will it be a game changer or a minor fad? Perhaps like the Space Navigator. A few people use it, but the majority have ignored it. And when will it arrive? We have no guaranteed answers, but we have some good predictions coming out of the game industry.

In January 2014 at Steam Developer Days Michael Abrash gave a talk about the state of VR and what he expects to happen over the next two years. The video runs about 28 minutes. I cover some of the points from it below as well as some other information.

[youtube G-2dQoeqVVo]

We are starting to hear of industries that will support VR headsets ramping up. Companies have leaks and there are some dandies. See: Massive leak regarding Sony VR headset? The competition is heating up.

Of course the thing with leaks is they usually cannot be verified and are often from anonymous sources. If there is anything politicians have taught us, it is anyone quoting an anonymous source is not to be trusted. So, we do need to salt such information pretty heavily. But, we are starting to get more rumors and hear more little leaks. This we call smoke and smoke usually leads or at least alerts us to the fire, the reality. Continue reading →

Oculus… Facebook?

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Jo Yardley has an article up about Facebook buying out Oculus Rift. It would be nice to know the details of that deal. But, an upfront US$2 billion… that is a deal. See: Facebook buys Oculus Rift for $2 billion.

Is this a good thing for Second Life™ users? At this point there is no way to know. Everyone on both the Facebook and Oculus sides are talking about how great a deal this is. Companies always do that.

Putting $2 billion in Oculus’ pocket is a good thing for them. Having access to Facebook’s resources is a good thing for them. But, they had to give up some measure of control. Only time will tell if that works out. Remember the movie? Still that is a lot of money for a tech company that has yet to prove the tech will be as popular as hyped.

For Facebook they get the Oculus tech. They obviously think they can to something with it. Strongly enough they shelled out $2 billion. But, what they say they will do with it is pretty vague.

We do know Facebook is NOT privacy oriented. Nor are they a game company. So, where will they take Oculus development? Minecraft developer Markus Persson is backing off plans for teaming with Oculus because Facebook creeps him out.

I just want a ‘retail’ Rift to play with.