SL to get voice support

This has been on the cards for a while but is now confirmed in a post on the SL blog - though, not yet, in any code. I think a beta is coming soon.

Oddly, the addition of voice to SL is something that I'm finding it hard to get really excited about - even though I know I should. Yes, chat and IM are limiting as the main communication channels in SL, particularly in situations like group meetings and presentations. On the other hand, I suspect that for many people one of the attractions of SL is the ability to leave RL behind on entering. Much harder to do if you take, or are expected to take, your voice with you.

My personal view is that the addition of voice will change the SL experience quite fundamentally... change it for the better in many ways, but one can see from the comments after the SL blog entry that it's not a change that is to everyone's taste.

Having said all that, the 3-D aspects of the way voice is being integrated, to give a better immersive experience, seems to be very interesting. And definately of interest and value in the context of any meetings taking place in SL. Chat conversations between anything more than about four people simply do not work well curently.

All in all, it'll be very interesting to see how voice integration works out.

Artslib talk

I was due to give a brief talk about ArtsPlace SL to the artslib group in SL today.

Unfortunately time didn't allow it. Shucks... I'd prepared my talk and everything! :-)

Never mind... I hope to do the same thing next week.

006.8 tee-shirts

I've put together a range of '006.8' tee-shirts... though you probably need to be a librarian to understand and/or be interested.

I can do them in black/blue/red/yellow/brown/emerald and short sleeved/long sleeved/vest style.

IM me in-world if you want one. They are free.

I'm assuming that Forest Press / OCLC aren't going to get upset about this! :-)

My neighbourhood

The area around ArtsPlace SL is beginning to get built up, with land that has been sitting around for sale for quite a while being bought and used. My near neighbours now include a number of Spanish people (there seems to be a growing Spanish community on Pak), a swimming pool (pictured) and a bondage gear stall! Nice.

Coincidentally, I've tentatively been offered space to move ArtsPLace SL onto the new ALA Arts Infoisland, though the area isn't currently open for access, which if it happens will be a much more appropriate location for me.

More LoopRez building

Here's a second attempt at using LoopRez to build... I'm not sure I like this one as much as the first, but I wanted something smaller and which could be chained together easily (as shown here).

I note that a Deluxe version of LoopRez looks to be available (or nearly available?). Interesting. Definitely looks worth having... see the tutorial for details.

Interface design

I'm now so used to using Alt and left mouse button to zoom in on things and change my view that I want the same action to work in my Web browser and other applications... I find my self trying to do this when I want to take a closer look at pictures in Web pages for example :-(

SL, Blender and SketchUp

I overheard a chat conversation between two people at the Berkman Sandbox the other day while playing some more with LoopRez. The conversation was in German so I couldn't understand it. But I followed up a couple of the URLs they were talking about (just being nosy I guess!), here, here and here.

These pages talk about using Blender, Google SketchUp and even MS Powerpoint as tools for building SL objects. Very interesting... not that I've tried any of this yet. But it seems to me to be indicative, in a very positive way, of the powerful ways in which SL can be interfaced to other software and systems.

Coincidentally, I was interviewed by someone from the museum community the other night (for me) in SL - part of some background research for a paper for the Museums and the Web conference. The interview was primarily about my experiences of developing ArtsPlace SL. In passing I was asked if I'd tried other 3-D virtual worlds. I responded that I'd tried There.com briefly, but didn't like it - largely because the camera handling disagrees with me slightly. But it's also interesting to note that the growth of the porn and gambling industry in SL which, while somewhat unsavory in some respects, can be viewed in quite a positive light from a purely technical view. As with the early days of the Web, the porn industry in particular is very quick and innovative in the way it adopts new technologies and generally leads the way where others follow (at least in technical terms).