Next Generation Plateform

Who is Winning the Virtual Reality Race?

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The financial people think it is Facebook and Apple that are positioned to win in the Virtual Reality War. But, it won’t be a fast war. It will last years.  Quoting Chris Ciaccia :

[A] Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster stated that virtual reality is likely the next key trend in technology, writing, “We liken the state of virtual and augmented reality today as similar to the state of mobile phones 15 years ago. It likely will take a decade before mainstream adoption as necessary improvements in displays and applications as well as lower pricing are needed to drive demand.”

Breaking bad$$$$
Breaking bad💵💵💵💵 by pokute Burt, on Flickr

They expect new virtual everythings to open up; gaming (obviously), live sports, concerts, immersive cinema and social experiences will have a VR version. The article, Facebook and Apple are Poised to Win the Virtual Reality Wars, gives us, at least me, some new ideas about VR can be used.

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The End of Second Life?

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Everything ends. It is just a matter of when. We hear this story of Second Life™ ending all the time. It is not new. Lots of Chicken Little. That SL has not ended, does not mean it won’t. The sky COULD fall. But, I think we will have plenty of warning should the end draw near.

mediterranean girl
Mediterranean girl by Annahyss Resident, on Flickr

I came to Second Life from Myst Online, which has closed and come back a number of times. So, I’m used to games I like closing. Rizom is another one I liked and played for a time. It too closed and came back. Others just closed. 

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Next Generation Platform-SL2: The Avatars

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Everyone is curious about what the avatars in the Next Generation Platform (NGP), or SL2, will be like and what we can do with them. Now we have some clues. High Fidelity is working on their avatars and has just release a set of improvements. See: Creating and rigging an avatar with Blendshapes in Makehuman. The information is somewhat compatible with the current Second Life™ and I suspect a hint of what is coming for SL2 or the Next Generation Platform.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZHyypkXDd4

This is a great video for designers. You’ll find references to a number software tools I have not heard mentioned in relation to Second Life. Some of those look to be handy for SL.

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Second Life & NGP: Voxels…

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At the recent VWBPE 2015 in Ebbe Linden’s (Altberg) speech he mentions voxels. This suggests, at the very least, the Lab is looking at voxels for possible use in NGP (Next Generation Platform – SL’s probable successor). But, what does that mean for us? And what is a voxel?

In the comments of one of my articles in the series Max Graf pointed me to the web site Procedural World. They are big on voxels and use then in ways that may be similar to what we could see in NGP. 

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Second Life: Next Generation Platform Update-IX 2015

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This is the tenth and final article in the series. In this one I touch on WHEN. The ideas I gleaned from Ebbe Altberg’s, Linden Lab CEO, speech at VWBRE 2015 that touched on aspects of the coming Next Generation Platform (NGP) and from what history I know of Second Life.

New Bauhaus building at Alexanderplatz
New Bauhaus building at Alexanderplatz by Jo Yardley, on Flickr

I started this series with these articles:

When is NGP Coming?

First, no one knows, not even the Lindens. I am sure they have a timeline and are working to keep to it. But, this is cutting edge software development. The Lindens are the most experienced people in the business. No one else has as much experience with user created content in an MMOG as the Lindens. No one. 

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Second Life: Next Generation Platform Update-VIII 2015

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This is the ninth article in a series (3 Pages). In this one I touch on ACCESS. The ideas I gleaned from Ebbe Altberg’s, Linden Lab CEO, speech at VWBRE 2015 that touched on aspects of the coming Next Generation Platform (NGP) and what history I know of Second Life.

Silent conversations
Silent conversations by Kaelyn Alecto, on Flickr

I started this series with these articles:

 

Access for the Challenged

There different types of access in virtual worlds. One aspect of access is providing a user interface for those with various handicaps and disabilities. This becomes a broader and more interesting consideration when we factor in VR. At some level we will all be keyboard and mouse handicapped when using VR headsets. This may explain why Ebbe seems to see VR and PC’s as distinct platforms. 

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