Slashdot Mirror
Google Launches Lively, an Avatar Based 3D World
no.good.at.coding writes "Google has launched a Windows-only, in-browser (you need to install a client first, though) 3D avatar world — Lively — that you can embed in websites and use to interact with other people. It's not as expansive as Second Life yet, but expect things to get better."
What's next, a program to install animated smileys to your Outlook e-mails?
Random rants about technology: http://technorants.blogspot.com
Can people interact as themselves rather than cartoon characters? Are there that many people into dolls and make-believe or are there too many people who are too depressed just being themselves? Then they don't need avatars, they need help.
You can't handle the truth.
A competitor to second life, finally. Maybe this will expand awareness of SL and drive demand in virtual world development. I hope Google pushes this hard.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
The number one mistake of any new MMO service is the failure to be MMO. Does it scale? Will it work when even 1% of the US broadband users are trying it out? Will it work when every visitor has added a hundred ginormous phallic temples to every acre of land? Will it work when ten thousand of your closest "friends" attend your online bar-mitzvah?
[
I have never seen the use of this whole 3D-avatar-stuff. I can communicate just fine via phone, mail and chat. If I want more interaction, I rather pack my bags and visit my friends than "meeting" them in some virtual wonderland. But then again, maybe I'm old school.
I knew google still had some aces up their sleeves.
It even makes use of Facebook accounts.
And Vista/XP only, while still being browser based.
Also, it's not really a Second Life competitor since you can't create stuff, part of what makes SL unique. It's more like just chat rooms.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
"Requires Windows Vista/XP" ...so much for not being evil! Seriously though, why is this platform specific? It seems really shortsighted to exclude everyone else.
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
I haven't seen one flying penis yet.
Ubiquitously - A Ubiquity Developer Community
Ars Technica has posted a hands on: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080708-hands-on-googles-lively-social-3d-world-is-20-percent-done.html
expect things to get better.
Like running on multiple platforms? Having a userbase that isn't all newbs checking it out for a couple minutes? Having suggestions on what to _do_ with it that can benefit meatspace unlike other 3d worlds?
Well, if you really want to chat with random people on every website you visit...
Hi Foofoobar, what's up? Where are you from and how is the weather there? It's soooo lovely around here in Germany. I will visit my grandparents on Saturday. Oh, I have to go for a walk with my dog. Have a nice day :)
This looks like an online suburbia cartoon ... I mean even as a newb on SecondLife I looked way better than the avatars for this place.
"Requires Windows Vista/XP with Internet Explorer or Firefox
By using Lively you agree to these Terms"
Didn't click on the link, didja?
Bearded Dragon
I don't think so, it's running from FireFox 3.0 here...
I distinctly remember applications like this back in the 1998/1999 timeframe where you could install a client-side app and interact through avatars with others visiting the same web site. It was only 2D and I don't think it was ever widely used. It was supposed to be an extension of the chat rooms that were so popular back then...
ÕÕ
A bare island. Whoda thunk it?
Let's see how their servers hold up if their search engine, map server, or web email ever become popular.
Patrick Doyle
I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
Then we'll see who the ladies listen to when we recommend SciFi novels. P.S. It'll be me, because my avatar will have a giant cock.
Furries ruining another 3d world in 3... 2... 1...
Ah, WinBlows... a clever strike at their evil greedy hearts! Surely it will take months for them to recover from that blow. You might be interested to know the title of my woefully unpublished "Star Trek" novella, "Gates of Borg". From my parents' home in Reykjavík, I stab at thee!!! http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2002/7/22/
Other than the fact that this is 3D, tons of companies tried almost the exact same thing in two dimensions back in the '90s when the whole "avatar" concept was still a major part of the mainstream media view of "the Web." (Right along with movies like "The Net" and "Hackers," when Internet things were hip to the newly computer literate).
Of course, there is actually more to this story than that. Internet connections are more reliable, the "Web" is more usable, and the Internet has largely been demystified. There remains, however, a distinct void in the realm of non-game interactive spaces. We've plugged right along with forums and IM, but shared-space chatting has all but disappeared outside of MMOs (game-contextualized) and IRC (realm of the uber-nerds and anime fansubbers alone). Second life is second-rate and ugly, and everything else is balkanized to the point of obscurity.
This is a chance, albeit a small one, that this offering will fill that void. Of course, this begs the question of whether or not this void truly exists in the perception of modern Internet users.
GeekNights!
Late Night Radio for Geeks!
And if you get into a fight with someone, will you be able to get their exact location off google maps and hit them for real? =)
we can easily say "apparently there are enough people who are sensitive enough to be able to empathize even through a virtual avatar in an online world".
the way i see it, many of the people who label the online world as 'virtual' are rather emotionally challenged people. there is nothing 'virtual' in the online world. there is a person behind that avatar, just like you. s/he can make you laugh, make you angry, sad, engage in heated up philosophical conversation, or do stuff together. stuff done with other people in an online environment is no less valuable than stuff done in an offline environment. you can go get drunk in a local pub while talking or you can get drunk in front of the computer talking with same people the same stuff. there is no difference other than physical proximity.
if you NEED physical proximity to be able to feel connected with people, then i'd say that thats a sign of 'emotionally challengedness' in the form of weak empathy capability.
Read radical news here
I don't give a shit anymore. I'm glad that somebody was interested enough to do this, and that other people find it interesting, but I will be staying away. My workplace, which fancies itself as hip and smart, will probably make this mandatory, like they have with Facebook, which will simply be another pointless drain on my otherwise interesting day. Bah humbug!
so i can frag other lusers! Woohoo, Quad damage here i come. ;)
That would be "IMPRESSIVE"
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
I'm thinking they can easily introduce parts of their 3d city landscapes in the Google Earth DB into Lively. I would like to be able to visit foreign countries from behind my desk. Especially if they can somehow get the Street View data in there as well.
1. Microsoft product on release day: every tiny flaw is MAJOR and spells doom for the Windows monopoly. Harp on every flaw. Don't bother with actual data, just replace your own anecdotes with things that aren't even related to the flaw itself. Bonus points if you comment on matters you know nothing about.
2. Apple product on release day: maybe a few flaws, but Apple intended it to be that way, and you, the consumer, are absolutely wrong in thinking that it could be better. Without flaws, how would Apple make money off of newer versions of their products? Fixing flaws is so anti-capitalist.
3. Open source product on 1.0 release day: major issues remain, but "everything will get better in time." Oh, and if you have any problems, don't complain, go fix it yourself...because certainly you can fix tiny errors lodged in thousands of lines of undocumented code yourself. Horrible UI is tolerated because good UI is considered a hallmark of 2.x versions, generally.
4. Google product on announcement day: the product offers a slightly unique take on existing service but also datamines all the information you provide it in ten new ways unknown to you. However, the product is in beta so its okay. Because strcmp("Google", "Microsoft") != 0, this behavior is acceptable and only the domain of tinfoil hats. (Warning: this may change in the next five years for no logical reason.)
Looks like he confused Google with open source. It happens.
I just took a look at the demo (And since I"m a Gentoo user, can't install the plugin) and why the hell does every female avatar in there look like a damn elf? I mean I don't know of any girl alive who has eyes like that. Do the guys at google masturbate to Bratz dolls or something? That's ridiculous.
Pax Vobiscum
...it wanted its comic based bubble chat back.
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
Doesn't seem to work on Firefox 3.
There is a war going on for your mind.
Oops, I forgot I'm still using Windows 2000 at work.
There is a war going on for your mind.
Yes and unfortunately what we picture is on the other end is a 13 year old playing Warcraft.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
Can people interact as themselves rather than cartoon characters? Are there that many people into dolls and make-believe or are there too many people who are too depressed just being themselves? Then they don't need avatars, they need help.
And that XBox of yours isn't a real musical instrument, either. Stop having fun!
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
The Lively installer helpfully installs a Google Updater service, which it also sets to run every time my computer boots. Because staying up to date with a program that I'll never use again should be my computer's top priority.
And, when the login fails, you're left with a window whose only option in to click "Sign in". That's right, no close button. Plus, it already made my FF crash.
Any bets on how many decades before this thing comes out of Beta?
"Choosing to refrain from producing another person demonstrates a profound love for all life" [vhemt.org]
While this is a little cutesy for me, it's at least a move toward the SnowCrash direction :-D
Awesome!
works on firefox for win as well. And they promise to release mac and linux versions
parent is not troll imho. what is going on? I have seen lots of anti-ms comments being buried recently. Conspiracy theory?
"You cannot access the following Web address:
http://lively.com/
The site you requested is blocked due to a Malicious Web Reputation."
What already?
Acid House saves Souls
Expect it to get better in about a year and a half.
Wasn't there a story on /. just yesterday, featuring a Mozilla employee bitching about a proprietary web?
But I suppose limiting Lively to IE and Firefox (on Windows only!) is okay when the product is made by your sugar daddy. Nothing wrong with proprietary by Google, no sir.
Burn, karma, burn!
lol i gave google the benefit of the doubt. But man it isn't SL which i didnt like anyways. Its 3d chat rooms. And it doesnt load properly atm (/.ed? lol) AND as many of you will soon notice it doesn't have an uninstall program, you have to use windows add/remove. I'm totally disappointed yay.
Requires Windows Vista/XP
That's very unusual of Google.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Another Google program that will stay in beta until the end of time! In all honesty, can anyone explain to me the point of avatar/character-based 3D environments like this one? Does anyone actually use them for more than a few minutes of amusement?
There are mountains to cross for those that are willing.
What I've always felt was lacking in most popular avatar-based systems (MMORPG's like WoW, social networks like SL, etc) was kinesthetic synchronization. The Wii is coming close to this, but I'm looking forward to the day when we can log on to a virtual world and have our physical actions approximated and reflected. The motion capture technology exists, as does the facial expression and lip-movement software. It just needs to be put together and hooked up to an MMORPG. Someday, maybe not now, maybe not in ten years, but someday I will be able to say "Read my lips: F**k You!" to that Lvl 30 Nightelf Hunter that just KS'd my mob in the Arathi Highlands, and he'll be able to.
This gives the term "Beta" a bad name.
How does Google release a Windows/IE requiring program?
Don't they of all companies know better?
We've all tired of posts with no redeeming qualities beyond bashing Microsoft, particularly in those cases where they haven't actually done anything.
Google, Microsoft's main competitor at the moment for those keeping track, released a tool to do something of dubious value to much of the Slashdot community. They have opted to release the tool on Windows first, probably because it has a larger install base than all competitors combined, but have stated there will be Mac and Linux versions "real soon now". Precisely which part of this story involves Microsoft doing something that could or should be criticized?
I'm all about making fun of Microsoft when they do something stupid, and Dog knows it happens plenty, but sadly they've done nothing mockworthy in this story.
Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
...until I got to a room and got the "download windows client" link.
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
Didn't we read over the last year or so that there was a migration of the
vaunted Microsoft talent to the Google enterprise?
Could it be this is the sort of thing one would expect from such a talent pool
of ex Microsoft trained types?
Just saying.
I'll stick with Age of Conan for my avatar jollies.
Something between the lines jumps out and bites your arm off. Soltan Gris / London
If Google launches an MMO, I am *so* out of here.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Is this the second coming of VRML?
That's what I also said in another post (that its works on ff for win and the team says they will release mac and linux version). Anyway the parent comment is only stating a valid opinion. thats not troll.
That's such a delusion. People you talk to online are not anything like what you think of them. You're not interacting with a person, you're interacting with your own imagination, seeded with a few select facts or fictions from someone else.
See, but my imaginary friends would never bum me out by killing my fantasy like that. They'd be all like, "OOh, no, we're totally real, spun! Now, should we go on that fantastapotomous hunt or fly to the Land of the Horny Stewardesses?"
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Ha... Winblows... people still say that?
Hmmm witty sig or funny sig? Maybe elitest techy sig!
I've been waiting since the 1990s for an avatar that could hand files to others, and have those files appear on their desktops, even open (trusted users, etc) and collaborate on. You're right, voice is be necessary, too.
More than a decade late, Google underwhelms with this.
My employer would pay big bucks for being able to host virtual client meetings in a slick building, with the above features and intuitive gestures. If there is an active open source project working on virtual worlds, we'd like to know, too.
Lies about crimes
You must be new to this whole internet thing, huh?
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
Most of the support forum questions state exactly the same issue, can't log in to any room..
Great way to impress people
Can people interact as themselves rather than cartoon characters?
It would take a lot of expensive data capture to produce an accurate model of a user's body. It's simpler just to give an interface like Nintendo's Mii Channel, allowing the user to create a caricature of himself for use in a chat world.
that sux if no Linux ver., at least make a Mac ver.
I am not interested in any virtual 3d world that isn't decentralized, meaning that anyone can set up their own server with their own rules, with the ability to easily and seemlessly travel between servers. Something like a 3d version of the www.
I second that 100%. A 3D-equivalent of the WWW would perhaps have many advantages (as usual, it is hard to imagine how we would really use it), but it needs to be as open as the WWW to be of any real use. So there needs to be an interoperable standard for avatars, and a standard protocol for your "browser" to interact with any 3d server. Why would I, as a company, invest in an online store inside second life, which is an environment over which I have 0 control, where some other company has the power to print money?
Yep, people still say it.
And, even more baffling, they keep dragging out the "in soviet russia...." joke, too.
First of all, I agree. Google has jumped the shark, which is good for us all. I'm sick of the Google hype. Everyone fawns over every half-baked Google project, such as this one. I'm really getting sick of their arrogance and will be enjoying watching them fall.
The worst part is that they are only supporting Windows. If it was multi-platform like lindenlabs second life, I'd be willing to consider it an interesting experiment that could lead to a platform for something entertaining...perhaps some interesting games down the road. I can't see anything useful or even interesting about avatar chat.
The worst part is that Google gets headlines for such a stupid idea...just because their Google. If a startup came up with a useless Windows 3D chat client, it'd never make it to Slashdot. Stop buying into the Google hype CmdrTaco. I hope they bribed you well for this story.
It's Virtual Places all over again.
Someone over at Ubique better get on the phone.
.
Kriston
Sigh. Good old C64.
Real human conversation contains lots of emotional cues such as intonation, facial expression, and guestures. Text loses most of this, save for CAPS, obscenities and emoticons. The result is people will say things in text messages they'd NEVER say face to face (unless extremely chemically uninhibited). Avatars are a way to restore this, if done properly.
It feels like everyone wanting to put their custom application 'on the web' makes the entire legitimate web experience that much less effective at doing what the web does well; [Lively has nothing to do with] hyperlinking documents.
...To those of you who thought this was going to expand the attention of concepts like this and second life, or were just otherwise excited for this thing- I'm sorry to inform you that this thing will fail.
http://www.lively.com/html/community_standards.html
9/10 things the internet stands for is not allowed, and doing it could result in deletion of your entire google account so you can lose all your e-mail and contacts if you're a g-mail user! Hooray!
What's the 10th thing that the internet is here for that is the only one they allow? Protest, especially protesting against this massively boring, utterly time wasting idea.
In that case, since I am not in the habit of arguing with myself, I see no need to rebut the obvious fallacies of your argument — or perhaps you meant something else by "not interacting with a person, you're interacting with your own imagination"?
Do you like Japanese imports?
In Soviet Russia, win blows you!
For some reason the video shows a girl punching a (school?)boy in the face. Kinda fucked up.
This is just like VRML, circa ten freaking years ago.
Terrorists can attack freedom, but only Congress can destroy it.
Why isn't there any OpenSource/Open Community virtual world yet. Where the player can change the worlds and etc. There are evolving many simple 3D tools for the web. Like 3dmlw.com, Flux player and maybe some day also Flash.
But on a lighter note, I haven't seen any "imagine a beowolf..." comments recently.
The CB App. What's your 20?
Link? All I was able to find was the page where they say "we hope to support other platforms someday". There is a canned button on the suggestions page to request "Mac support" but not Linux.
I'm TRYING to comment in their Google Groups "Lively -- suggestions and feedback" page. First I had to sign in. THEN I had to "subscribe". Then I had to find which group's posts would allow me to reply. Now I've hit "send" for my comment. The "send" button has now greyed out to indicate that I've pressed it, but there's no indication that anything's being sent...
I think they just don't want to hear it.
They seem to have lost interest in cross-platform. If they hadn't, they'd be developing with broad cross-platform support in mind from the beginning, rather than promoting the Microsoft Windows platform right from the start, with the idea that "someday" they might get around to trying to figure out how to make their Microsoft Windows software limp along on "other platforms". I point to the example of their Flickr-alike (whose name I keep forgetting). It now has a "Linux" version after a long wait. It evidently requires WINE so as to pretend to be on "Microsoft Windows". Not a good indication of interest in cross-platform support, in my opinion.
It's gotten so bad that I'm finding myself ever-so-slightly surprised when I see they even took the trouble to make it work outside of Microsoft Internet Explorer.
(With the exception of Android, I wonder if "Google Earth 4" - which I am grateful for and make frequent use of - may be the last time they bother with native code for us mere Linux users. I'm paranoid they may abandon us if/when they get around to developing the "Google Earth 5" series.)
Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
... because right now they're terrible.
I'm honestly surprised; Google's previous beta rollouts have, to my memory, been a lot more functional at first unveiling. This new system is seriously broken... I can't put more than one person in a room (no idea why, as others seem to have no trouble), it's slow, it's limited, and it has serious user interface design issues.
Google will have to move fast if they want to compete in this space. There are, quite frankly, too many options for social interactive chat right now; the only thing Google has going for it in this market is name recognition.
Take care,
Mark
There is a solution...
I know that it's cool now to hate google and all, but I have NEVER seen anything from them that I didn't admire at least somewhat, and for most things I find them unbeatable.
If they came out with gClippy I'd have to give it a try, and I'll give you 3:1 odds that it would be surprisingly useful.
I remember playing with Comic Chat (I think it was a client by Microsoft) on IRC back in 1998, 10 years ago. Anyway, it was fun for a few days and then it became annoying. Soooo ... good luck with that google
Fourty-two!
Seriously, this is nothing new. VIOS had it before second life, etc... They were seriously ahead of their time and went bankrupted.
President/CEO Pacy World http://www.pacyworld.com
To an actualy Lively, near Sudbury Ontario (both parents are from there), there is no reason for me to want to go, virtually to an INCO produced wasteland (no it's not that bad nowadays...).
I tried to think of a good sig, and this wasn't it.
Who didn't know the real world was full of dicks?
I expect all of you will stop griping if you find a way to run it in Wine.
What was neat about Atmosphere was that it was intended to be like a 3d webpage. You built the world then hosted the files yourself, embedded in a webpage. If you wanted to add the chat/avatar stuff, they ran a server (supposedly open source) to manage that.
Yes, the penis avatars showed up quickly, but you could javascript restrictions to only allow avatars from certain domains, control animations, make fog, respond to user events, interact with the host page, etc. That gave it the flexibility to be so much more than a "3d chatroom."
Viewpoint meshes were supported, but primarily you built with primitives. Native objects had the lightmap precalculated with a nice radiocity lighting. Texture, light, add sound, Havok physics... I'm sad it's gone but the market just wasn't there.
Data visualization, telemedicine, mechanical prototype testing - these are the things a virtual world should offer. This is just a glorified chat interface.
No user-generated content, no building tools, no scripting. I mean, social networking is already taking a back seat to business interests in Second Life, Forterra, etc. IMHO this project is so far beneath Google's capabilities it is not worthy of much attaention.
Anybody here enjoy Tad Williams' virtual reality series? Well, I did. I almost kind of look forward to the version of the web that was fleshed out there (not the actual otherland itself, though, since that still seems a little too sci-fi to actually happen).
This is pure speculation, but...
People are very visually oriented. Look at the history of TV, and the increasing visual complexity of computer applications in general (particularly websites). 3D and VR are things people almost instinctively salivate over-- the snafu is that they happen to be extremely picky about implementation.
I see the proliferation of 3D spaces on the web as being inevitable in many ways. It just has to be done exactly right. There will always be a place for 2D presentation of information, but I think it will be eventually mostly accessed from within a 3D environment. The holdup is that no one has yet struck upon the right formula.
I think this 'lively' thing could be a contender. As others here have said, it would be a lot more useful if rooms could be linked across sites to each other, creating something like a 3D version of the web. This is not at all outside the realm of possibility. Of course, a lot more work has to be done on being able to embed apps and suchlike, but if the users are there, it will happen.
Much ado has been made to the effect of "what's the point?". I felt exactly the same way about the early days of the now-ubiquitous GUI. A lot of GUIs make tasks more difficult and time-consuming than a command line, as a lot of you here know. Yet, people have flocked to them, and they are now the de facto standard. I think the same will prove true of the 3D interface. The point is that it makes computer use more fun & engaging for people (which, in turn, makes them easier to market to). That's pretty much it, I think-- but when you're talking about common human nature and how it drives everything, that's enough.
Not working for me... still "Joining room..."
This isn't a 3D world, it's simply a small-scale chatroom like IMVU or the Palace. Comparing it to Second Life is like comparing apples and bushels.
Why isn't there any OpenSource/Open Community virtual world yet.
That would be OpenSim using the open source Second Life client for the user interface.
The first two rooms I saw were "Sex Island" and "SEX - virtual sex". Surprise, surprise.
I tried it and it's very cool. But I cannot chat in Chinese. One cool thing is if I type "hehe", the character would laugh (with voice!).
Well one thing for sure, those cartoony avatars are really creeping me out. Definitely deep in the uncanny valley. Oh yeah it also has furries making it a prime target for virtual world trolling.
youre talking as if youre gonna buy a sack of gold, or platinum and therefore valuing the sack over rarity.
its regardless whether the avatar you see on screen is easily copyable or not. its not the avatar that is having the orgasm (if you are able to have it in front of the screen), its YOU. your brain is getting stimulated through impulses your sensory organs send to it, and the mindset you are in, and you are having whatever you are having.
scientifically there is zero difference in between having a sex with an actual person or a virtual sex session if you look at it in terms of sensory organ -> brain -> emotional and mental mindset -> orgasm cycle.
your conscious is always in a dark room. it knows the outside world through the sensory organs and interprets it with your brain, and then responds to it. if your interpreter is strong enough, you can create any kind of mental and emotional mindset.
Read radical news here
Imagine a beowulf cluster of "imagine a beowolf cluster of those" comments.
It said on their site they teamed up with Arizona State to make this, wasn't this the co-operation that was supposedly making an 'mmorpg' out of google earth? Don't tell me this crap is what they were REALLY making.....
Feels uneasy that they think that i must see thru windows to see the (3D) World, maybe that feel closer than seeing it thru googles, but the real (3d) world experience will start when you get really free (sorry, couldnt resist).
I can see it now... "Remember, kids, don't talk to Anonymous Cowards!"
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
How is this different from Activeworlds, which has been running since at least 1998 (when I last used it).
Activeworlds.com (like Lively) only runs on Windows too. No use for anyone but people who like to chat on their Windows machine.
Bah. I dismiss this.
Seems to me it's following their original corporate strategy: To make all things depicted in Snow Crash come to life.
Well, they already made the CIC database (Google Search/Video/Books/etc.), Earth (they even took the name from it), now the Metaverse.
Something tells me though that Google might be able to succeed in that realm where Second Life failed, just because they would seem more willing to integrate it with stuff like Android to get people to build their own apps for it.
Karma: Non-Heinous
You just did...
* Windows-only.
* Can't "walk" in your avatar, you can only teleport to waypoints and drag your avatar with the mouse.
* There is no personal view, either first person or following-the-avatar third-person.
* Chat is either a window that almost obscures the view of the game, or chat bubbles that make it impossible to follow conversation.
* Downloading the scene takes longer than Second Life, and that's already way too long.
* There's no in-game building.
* There's almost no avatar customization, and what there is is basically clothes (including body paint and wigs in that category).
* There's very little room customization - basically furniture, that's it.
* There's no connection between one "room" and another, and no global in-world presence.
* The camera is completely unconstrained, and it's trivial to move the camera so that all you can see is a wall.
* Camera motion is almost as clumsy as avatar motion.
About the only way to use it effectively as a chat system is to open up the chat history window and ignore the 3d aspect completely.
...where's my Metaverse, damn it!?
Let's give them a hanky. They might die without our constant attention.
"Jump the shark" has jumped the shark?
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
There are so many cool languages that would have done as well.
Not to mention that even though CLI commands are easier to use to implement changes and pull data into scripts, 3D models can often present more data in an easier-to-grok visual format.
As I do not have network connection configured in Windows, no chance to try it now. Waiting for better release or at least wine-compatible version.
1) ad-space (free!)
...
2) behaviour tracking (social contacts, browsing habits)
3) ???