Archive for Avatars
February 15, 2008 at 5:48 pm
· Filed under Augmented Reality, Avatars, News, TVIR, Technology
As reported last year on the MJ in Getting Inside the Simulation, 3D camera driven interfaces are already available. What Kapor is talking about is widespread adoption
“Look at Minority Report,” Kapor said. “I’m here to say that (technology is) going to be real in the next (few) years.”In fact, he said, he predicted that 3D cameras, which would be built into computers much like regular 2D cameras are today, will be available in as little as 12 months.
Basically, 3D cameras would allow the virtual world software to interpret how users are moving in the real-world and to translate that movement into the software. That could mean, then, that if the user raises his or her hand, so too does their avatar.
Kapor said he wasn’t clear on what the interface would be like, but he suggested it could be based on something like that of the Segway, in which users move their body forward and the Segway goes forward, backward to go backward, and so forth.
“So, if I look to the left in the real world, I just want my avatar to look to the left,” Kapor said. “If I smile, I just want my avatar to smile. The cameras should be good enough to pick that up. I think we’re going to see an amazing jump in the sense of presence.”
Mitch Kapor: 3D cameras will make virtual worlds easier to use | Geek Gestalt – A blog by Daniel Terdiman – CNET News.com
3D is a universal language that will impact all aspects of computing and communications. Just in time for the coming boom 
Related Links
Touching the Meshverse
Hacking Reality
Lego Mesh
The 3D Experience – Resistance is Futile
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August 28, 2007 at 5:56 pm
· Filed under Avatars, Croquet, News
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August 21, 2007 at 10:56 am
· Filed under Avatars, Business, Metaverse, Second Life
Non-Player Characters or what I’ve called Next Generation Avatars will be required to maintain a strong business presence in the meshverse. More and more folks are picking up on this:
It takes more than a presence to make money on Second Life, van Zyl said. Too many companies have offices or storefronts on Second Life but don’t staff them, he said. “When you walk into this virtual reality there should be a person who greets you and directs you where you need to go,” he said. “It’s absolutely vital that there is human interaction.”
But van Zyl knows that having someone available 24 hours a day to greet residents on Second Life is a tall order for many small firms. That’s why Simuality, together with a Netherlands company, provides trained avatar receptionists for clients. In the case of Khuri’s law practice, van Zyl expects to provide an avatar who can answer questions about the type of legal work provided and understand the preliminary paperwork clients need to complete.
Chicago Tribune: Live help in setting up virtual shop
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August 7, 2007 at 5:57 am
· Filed under Art, Avatars, Events, Metaverse, Places
Links to pictures and video of the William Gibson book reading in Second Life are available at Penguin Books
… Audio was beamed in from the MDM campus in Vancouver to the riversrunred studios in London, and out to Second Life. What made me happy about this event was that it gave people from all over the world a chance to be in the same space as one of their favourite authors, and during the event I was receiving goodwill messages from people thrilled to see him.Penguin Books Blog
Eventually, locations where events like these are held will have the ability to record and playback holodeck style. Croquet’s animatronic video gives a glimpse of how this next generation of avatar will play out.
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August 7, 2007 at 5:57 am
· Filed under Art, Avatars, Events, Metaverse, Places
Links to pictures and video of the William Gibson book reading in Second Life are available at Penguin Books
… Audio was beamed in from the MDM campus in Vancouver to the riversrunred studios in London, and out to Second Life. What made me happy about this event was that it gave people from all over the world a chance to be in the same space as one of their favourite authors, and during the event I was receiving goodwill messages from people thrilled to see him.Penguin Books Blog
Eventually, locations where events like these are held will have the ability to record and playback holodeck style. Croquet’s animatronic video gives a glimpse of how this next generation of avatar will play out.
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August 4, 2007 at 7:36 pm
· Filed under Avatars
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June 18, 2007 at 10:20 pm
· Filed under Avatars, Companies, Nintendo, Second Life, Wii, iPhone
This past weekend I played with a Wii and while making my Mii avatar, I was struck by how similar the process is to creating an avatar in Second Life. It was also obvious that this kind of interface could work for lots of things if it had softer iPhone like controls. There’s similarlity in how both work and why people like them:
Once you use an iPhone, you’ll get twitchy fingers. You’ll wonder why you can’t swipe your finger across your laptop screen to jump backward and forward in your browser. The touchability exposes the mouse as the crude finger substitute that it really is. Look at the success of Nintendo’s Wii, which works on the same principle, converting physical movements into virtual ones. People are ready to break the fourth wall of computing and put their fingers directly on the data. This is manual-free computing, instinctive and intuitive, with zero learning curve.
Touch Screens Take Over
I’ve mentioned before that people are hacking the Wii, so once the iPhone comes out I don’t suppose it will be long before we see an iPhone and Wii remote meshed together. I believe that this is the kind of interface that will be pervasive in the meshverse. It’s the kind of platform I’ve been creating software for over the past 5 or 6 years so it is pretty exciting to see it materializing.
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