The Metaverse Journal - virtual worlds news

Chatbot comedy

This little gem has gone viral over the past few days. See what happens when two chatbots are set up to talk to each other: Seems there’s still some evolutionary work to be done…. [via Gail Muir]

Euclideon’s Unlimited Detail: a hands-on

In recent days I wrote about the latest video released by Australian developers Euclideon, who are behind the ‘Unlimited Detail’ engine. In that article I claimed the video was a pretty effective rebuttal of some of the criticism / cynicism amongst the gamer community in particular. Thanks to a convergence of schedules and geographies, I [...]

Euclideon and Unlimited Detail: no cookies for you…yet

A couple of weeks ago I ran a story on a potential new 3D engine called Unlimited Detail. I was particularly intrigued on the information supplied because of its claim of massively increased levels of detail – something that’s crucial in areas like simulation for the sciences, education and health professions. The feedback on that [...]

Relay for Life 2011 in Second Life: Success Plus

I don’t usually just reproduce media releases, but this one’s definitely worth making an exception for: Relay For Life of Second Life shatters records in 2011, raises US$375,000 for cancer research Relay For Life, the signature fundraising event of the American Cancer Society, has once again shattered records in Second Life. Less than halfway through [...]

Ballet in Second Life: Archidance

I’m an absolute heathen when it comes to dance, particularly ballet. That said, I was pretty impressed with this short piece of machinima. Ignoring the artistic merits, I hadn’t thought of what a brilliant choreography tool virtual worlds could be. I consider myself enlightened now. Apparently Ballet Pixelle’s Archidance was performed back in June, wish [...]

SLCC 2011 Wraps Up: how about some machinima?

The Second Life Community Convention is over for another year and there’s certainly a lot more to it than the Linden Lab CEO keynote. Self-proclaimed ‘God of Machinima Reporting’ Draxtor Despres, has done a nice job of summarising the vibe and feedback of the weekend. Enjoy: Also – check out the great wrap-up on the [...]

Linden Lab CEO: we’re growing but we’re not sure why

Another year, another Second Life Community Convention. Last year it was Philip Rosedale addressing the convention. This year it’s Rod Humble and today he spent 45 minutes talking about his initial time at Linden Lab and his thoughts on the success and future of Second Life and answering questions. He starts off by emphasising that [...]

Gamification of work: a pointed critique

As you’re probably aware, there’s been a lot of interest over the past couple of years in ‘gamification’ – the application of gaming principles to work or any activity where the objective is greater participation. We reviewed one of the tomes dedicated to it last year – the arguments for the concept are appealing to [...]

The Watch – virtual worlds in the news

1. Massively (USA) – Enter at Your Own Rift: How gold farming really hurts the economy. “Recently, Trion Worlds CCO and RIFT Executive Producer Scott Hartsman talked to Gamasutra about how gold farming is a much bigger threat than we assume, particularly because of the large amount of credit card fraud. Those who played RIFT [...]

Unlimited Detail: simulation implications

I ran across a fascinating video via New World Notes, that shows an alternate way of rendering 3D environments. The seven-minute video provides a fascinating (albeit hyperbole-filled) overview of the atom-based approach, called Unlimited Detail. The driving force behind the project is Queensland, Australia-based Bruce Dell, working for an outfit called Euclideon (whose website is [...]

Registered Virtual Worlds Accounts: 1.4 billion and growing

Gurus of virtual worlds statistics, KZero, have released their second quarter 2011 info on virtual worlds. Estimated registered virtual worlds accounts now sits at 1.399 billion, up from 1.185 billion in the first quarter of this year: If you’d like to see the whole shebang, you can view the Slideshare presentation right here: KZero Radar [...]

The Watch – virtual worlds in the news

1. App Market TV (USA) – More than Second Life – It’s a Second Nation. “The electronic campfire which we gather around for news and support is a worldwide one. Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and various other networks allow for people to update, keep tabs and offer useful links 24/7. They also allow for that most [...]