Via the Association of Virtual Worlds a group of passionate people are forging ahead with plans to engage a much larger community into evolving and immersive landscapes of virtual worlds. Yes Virtual Worlds in plural, no longer is Second Life the ONLY choice for people inspired by the concept of connecting with people in an engaging, meaningful and commercial manner. Advertisers and marketers literally threw money at Second Life, a wacky fantasy futuristic 3D world – without understanding why – and they were right in doing so as the world took notice. Now the hype has been exhausted, it is now time to FOCUS on how to make virtual worlds deliver concrete and sustainable communities, businesses and enjoyment.

More to come soon…. (Secret Reporter APLINK)

Images of Secret Meeting

Association of Virtual Worlds Partners with Altadyn and Trimensions Metaverse Development to Construct Virtual World Headquarter

Jacksonville, FL (PRWEB) March 20, 2008 — The new Association of Virtual Worlds is proud to announce its partnership with Altadyn, developer of the 3Dxplorer 3Dweb authoring tool and player, and Trimensions Metaverse Development, a noted virtual worlds developer and designer, to construct a 3D virtual world headquarters and facility for use by its members.

“With its unique 3Dxplorer technology, Altadyn is positioned to deliver a virtual world experience to benefit even those who have never before explored virtual worlds. Trimensions Metaverse Development develops imaginative 3D spaces that are also functional – a necessary combination. We believe that this team will create a place and experience that our members will enjoy, regardless of whether they are industry insiders or newcomers to virtual worlds,” says Dave Elchoness, Executive Director.

Read more at YS Authentics

Source: TMJ

1. Gamasutra – GDC: Emotiv Knows What You’re Thinking. “On Thursday at the 2008 Game Developers Conference, Julian Wixson and a small panel of associates described and demonstrated the Emotiv headset and SDK, suggesting how a developer might incorporate the technology into a new or even quite finished production. The svelte Emotiv headset uses an array of sixteen EEG sensors to detect electrical impulses in the scalp. These signals are then interpreted by a suite of tools, each with its own range of applications”.

2. Tech.Blorge – The government begins plans to monitor World of Warcraft. “If you’re a die-hard World of Warcraft player, you probably aren’t too concerned about having your online identity known by others; how would you feel if you knew that big brother was monitoring your MMO action? The U.S. government is beginning a program that will monitor the most popular online MMOs so as to identify terrorists online”.

3. Courant.com – Virtually Divorced From Reality. “It started with World War II games on the computer. He would spend hours flying jets, fighting the Germans. And then his interests changed. “I’d wake up in the middle of the night, and he’d be at the computer looking at women’s pictures,” said Jennifer of her ex-husband. “It was lonely for both of us.” Her ex became far more interested in his fantasy online virtual world, with its endless supply of pornography, than in his real family”.

4. BBC News – Virtuality and reality ‘to merge’. “Computers the size of blood cells will create fully immersive virtual realities by 2033, leading inventor Ray Kurzweil Longevity-Industry Dec-07 has predicted. Exponential growth in processing power and the shrinking of technology would see the development of microscopic computers, he said”.

5. Information Week – Turning Work Into Play Is No Game. “It sounds like techno-utopian silliness to say that businesses need to learn from online games how to make tedious knowledge-work more enjoyable. But many knowledge-work jobs are so deadly dull that the typical worker lasts just nine months — in call centers, for example. Extend that by a few months, and businesses stand to save piles of money, said Byron Reeves, a professor in the department of communication at Stanford University”.

6. BBC News – Virtual and real blur in Eve Online. “Virtual worlds are becoming increasingly rich and diverse environments with complex social and economic eco-systems. Science fiction trading game Eve Online is one of the most dynamic worlds, with its own economists helping players get to grips with the intricacies”.

7. Gamesindustry.biz – Home is “best-looking multiplayer world”. “The creative director of Sony’s Home project has told GamesIndustry.biz in an exclusive interview to be published in full next week that he believes the PlayStation 3 virtual world platform is the “best-looking” and most “user-friendly” multiplayer experience he’s seen so far. Talking on a recent trip to Monaco for the Imagina conference, Ron Festejo explained his feeling that other virtual worlds, such as Second Life, were garish, while other online experiences were simply too hardcore for most people”.

8. ZDNet – Solving the Virtual World Interoperability Problem. “Despite the popularity of Second Life, there are in fact several such services on the market today. Enabling interoperabilty between There, Entropia Universe, Moove, Habbo Hotel, and Kaneva could go along way towards promoting the Virtual World industry. IBM researcher Ian Hughes’ excellent post poses the question of what that interoperability might look like”.

9. Mediaweek – Disney Goes Virtual Kids’ ‘Studios’. “Disney has announced the formation of Disney Online Studios, a new division within the Walt Disney Internet Group focused on virtual worlds, gaming and social networking initiatives aimed at kids. The announcement comes as the company’s latest virtual world, the young girl-aimed Disney Fairies Pixie Hollow, was previewed during Toy Fair in New York on Feb. 19″.

10. ZDNet – Is open source giving Second Life a second life?. “Linden Labs, whose Second Life is so cool yet so lacking in profits it’s been lampooned in an IBM ad, sent out an e-mail alert this week boasting that open source is giving the company, well, a second life”.

The Metaverse Journal is a site devoted to bringing an Australian perspective to virtual worlds. Launched in November 2006, we believe that virtual worlds at the very least may bring a new approach to internet-based interaction, and we want to cover their evolution. Virtual worlds may provide some of society’s biggest opportunities and greatest challenges in coming years – it’s an area worth keeping informed about.

Lowell Cremorne – Editor in Chief

1. The Washington Post – Spies’ Battleground Turns Virtual. “U.S. intelligence officials are cautioning that popular Internet services that enable computer users to adopt cartoon-like personas in three-dimensional online spaces also are creating security vulnerabilities by opening novel ways for terrorists and criminals to move money, organize and conduct corporate espionage Ex-Spies-Corporate-Work Jan-08 ”.

2. CNN Money – Pointing The Way To New Web Worlds. “You can sling from one Web to another in business these days. The so-called Web 2.0 technologies that gave birth to consumer blogs, social networks and other ways to offer product advice are weaving their way into the corporate world”.

3. CNET – Teen virtual world goes Hollywood. “Habbo, a virtual world for teens, signed a deal with the William Morris Agency, one of Hollywood’s oldest and largest talent agencies. As part of the deal, WMA will promote its celebrity sports and entertainment clients within the digital world and help Habbo forge new promotional partnerships in Hollywood”.

4. ClickZ – MinyanLand Virtual World Aims to Teach Kids Finance. “Teaching kids financial responsibility can be fun and advertisers should come along for the ride, say the creators of MinyanLand, a virtual world for kids. Launched January 30, MinyanLand is the result of the National Council on Economic Education, financial infotainment company Minyanville and family site network Kaboose, coming together to try and educate children in grades three to six about the importance of financial responsibility and thrifty spending. Unlike several other virtual worlds targeting the kids market, including Disney’s Club Penguin, Minyanland does not require a subscription fee to participate, according to Kevin Wassong, president of Minyanville”.

5. ABC Science (Australia) – Bionic lens spies virtual world. “Engineers say they have combined a flexible contact lens with an imprinted electronic circuit and lights for the first time. The ‘bionic’ lens could give wearers a new look at the world by superimposing computerised images onto their natural view. Such virtual displays could be useful to drivers and pilots, who could have route, weather or vehicle status information overlaid onto their vision. Video game players could immerse themselves in a virtual world without restricting their range of motion”.

6. CNN – For online addicts, relationships float between real, virtual worlds. “Think of online video game addiction and what probably comes to mind is a socially awkward adolescent. But teens are not the only ones who get addicted. Consider Zach Elliott, who lives in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, is in his mid-40s, and plays Final Fantasy XI, an online role-playing game. About three years ago, he says, “there were people in my real life that sort of vanished into this game, and I followed them into it””.

7. FOX Business – Multiverse Unveils Virtual Times Square. “The Multiverse Network, Inc., the company building the leading network of 3D virtual worlds, today unveiled Virtual Times Square, a true-to-life digital recreation of one of the world’s most famous metropolitan environments”.

8. CIO.com – Companies Explore Virtual Worlds As Collaboration Tools. “For emergency responders working along Interstate 95, accidents aren’t a game; they’re a way of life (and death). So it seemed odd to a group of firefighters, cops and medics when researchers from the University of Maryland suggested it use a virtual world to collaborate on training for rollovers, multicar pileups and life-threatening injuries”.

9. TrainingZone.co.uk – View to a Kill: Training in Virtual Worlds. “Learning and training are likely to be the ‘killer application’ for computer-generated 3D worlds such as Second Life, delegates heard at the Learning Technologies event in London last week. Capgemini consultant Marco Tippmer made the claim during a session on the hype and realities of the latest training technology. We have been here before, he admitted, during the ‘virtual reality 1.0′ bust in the early 1990s, when lack of sufficient computing power undermined expectations surrounding touch-sensitive gloves and immersive 3D headsets”.

10. ZDNet UK – Nortel: Virtual worlds may replace the office. “Nortel Networks is looking to the next generation of employees to shape the workplace of tomorrow, and high on its agenda is exploring the role of Web 2.0 technologies and virtual worlds such as Linden Lab’s Second Life”.

Singapore, February 11^th 2008 – Metaversum, the creators of the virtual world Twinity, has named The Pacific West Communications as the lead integrated marketing agency for Singapore. The Pacific West Communications will be responsible for Twinity’s integrated marketing activities through mainstream media, new media and social networking channels. In addition, the agency is responsible for Partner/Developer Relations and will be instrumental in developing business for the virtual world platform.

Twinity, the virtual world offering from Metaversum, mashes up the real with the virtual world, thus enhancing one’s real life. Twinity is currently in private beta.

“We selected The Pacific West Communications based on their proven experience with both the traditional and new media channels in the region,” said Mirko Caspar, CMO Metaversum. “Their intimate understanding of the virtual world communities will be crucial for releasing Twinity to the public and explaining to marketers the benefits of utilizing it as part of their marketing tools to the consumer.”

“The upcoming launch of Twinity will provide both the public and business a completely new virtual world approach to enrich their personal life, communication and media behavior and marketing outreach respectively,” Said Andrew Peters, Asia-Pacific Regional Director, The Pacific West Communications. “We have also started a Facebook group to create a pre-launch awareness of Twinity and we are currently working closely with Metaversum on the strategic plans to launch Twinity to both the traditional and new media channels.”

Besides developing integrated marketing campaigns to drive awareness of Twinity, The Pacific West Communications will also manage strategic partnerships and co-operations.

About Metaversum
Metaversum develops and operates the 3D online world Twinity. This visionary endeavor mashes up the real with the virtual world. Twinity offers its members the ability to populate the digital world with their own avatars, design 3D homes, communicate with friends, engage in shared media experiences, work or simply have fun. Members of the Twinity community enrich and expand their lives by integrating real life into the virtual world. Twinity is currently in its private beta phase. Founded in July 2006 and financed by leading venture capital firms, Metaversum has offices in Berlin and Kiev. For more information: www.metaversum.com and www.twinity.com.

About The Pacific West Communications
The Pacific West Communications (TPWC) is a strategic integrated marketing agency that offers a suite of services spanning public relations, marketing, advertising and events, specifically for companies in the infocomm technology (ICT) and related industries throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Headquartered in Singapore with offices in Hong Kong, Sydney and London, TPWC delivers a total value-added service and solution to clients, for real and virtual world’s projects. TPWC streamlines the execution of campaigns across various marketing channels.

For more information please visit: http://www.thepacificwest.com

Marketing Singapore:  covers the appointment

Sydney Australia. February 07, 2008 – Big-Bit Australia Pty Ltd, a leading virtual worlds full service solutions provider today announced the exciting launch of Big-Bit Islands in the Virtual World Second Life. Entertainment, live performances, attractions and business services and the Big-Bit team will be on hand to guide you through the evening’s event. The event starts at 9pm SL time February 9th 2008

Image: Event Arena Big-Bit Island

Bit-Bit is a leading Virtual Worlds full service solutions provider that offers strategic advice, construction, marketing and events services to companies seeking to establish footholds in virtual worlds such as Second Life and other newly emerging worlds. Comprising a talented International team of virtual world veterans, Big-Bit has in-house building and programming expertise to execute scripting for complex projects in virtual worlds.

What SL Residents can expect ?

• Big-bit Islands Grand Opening Saturday February 9th – 2008
• Dance with our very own funky DJ – Estrelle Fauna
• A Treasure hunt for those seeking to enhance their inworld wardrobe and nab a mystery prize or two
• Grand Prize 10,000$L
• Fireworks will adorn the Big-Bit Islands skyline to welcome in a new era of services & entertainment

Visit PrimAdonna: http://slurl.com/secondlife/PrimAdonna/169/248/27

What RL People can expect ?

• Considering launching in Second Life? The Big-Bit Team will be on hand to discuss your options
• Previous projects will be highlighted on the Big Bit Island as testament to Big-Bit’s expertise in inworld development
• Bring your Business to Big-Bit Island and let Big-Bit’s imagination work for you

Visit Big-Bit Island: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Big%20Bit/163/115/27

PrimAdonna Island, part of the Big-Bit island group is home to PrimAdonna designs by Big-Bit’s Jana Gillespie also known in Second Life as Estrelle Fauna. Specialising in fashion, content creation and design, PrimAdonna offers unique style careful attention to detail and great versatility. The PrimAdonna shop offers a variety of women’s clothing from casual to formal and corporate wear for both men and women including shoes. PrimAdonna Island and shop have been magnificently rebuilt and announces it’s reopening.

Image: PrimAdonna on Big-Bit Islands

Big-Bit offers companies an innovative way for getting products launched in Virtual Worlds. For more information please contact Jana Gillespie, Big Bit Australia Pty Ltd, details below.

###

About Big-Bit Australia
Big-Bit understands that the single most important ingredient that drives humanity is the need to communicate. Without communications we would not be able to achieve even the simplest of tasks. We partner with clients to create the opportunities for them to engage with their communities in the virtual space in ways that are only limited by their desire to drive business and our imagination. In doing so, we commence on a journey with our clients that is destined to take a business into new dimensions of communication, understanding and connectivity.

For more information please contact:

Andrew Peters
The Pacific West Communications
Cell: +65-9451-9012
Email: andrew@thepacificwest.com

Jana Gillespie
Director
Big-Bit Australia Pty Ltd
Cell: +61-412-582-233
Email: jana@big-bit.net

The newest trend among companies is the Internet-based virtual world Second Life (SL), which has 11 million addicts worldwide. From durable goods to IT, insurance to real estate, everything related to actual trade and the real business world also exists on SL. While international giants like IBM, Microsoft, Adidas, Sony and Intel are dominant in SL, Turkish companies have also started to catch on.

Read More: Turkish Daily News

Nope, I’m not a Digital Native. A Digital Native, by our definition, is someone who is both born after about 1980 and who uses digital technologies in certain advanced ways. I think I might qualify as a Digital Settler, someone who has used these technologies in extensive ways from the start, but who knew a world before so many things went digital. I think that many, though not all, of our children in developed economies like the United States and Europe are Digital Natives. There’s enough to the idea of a generational gap, though, between Digital Natives and their parents who are at best Digital Immigrants, though, that the trend is worth exploring in depth.

More on the books theme (the book is definitely not dead!), but one that’s not done: I’m writing a book right now about Digital Natives, called Born Digital, along with my good friend and colleague, Prof. Dr. Urs Gasser of the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. We’re arguing that there is an emerging population of Digital Natives around the world – who together could form a global culture joined by digital networks and how they use them. While there are things to worry about in terms of how our kids are using these technologies (their privacy, safety, information overload, and so forth), there is much to celebrate and to build upon. The future of many societies around the world depend in part on how we can come to understand this global phenomenon and do something about it.

What happens when billions of new digital natives get $100 web-enabled laptops?

It’s great, great news. The notion behind One Laptop Per Child – of giving a basic, networked machine to the next billion Digital Natives, in parts of the world that are developing rapidly – will be a big kick-start to the next phase of global transformation wrought by new information technologies and how we use them.

The key, though, is not just to put interconnected hardware in the hands of young people, wherever they may be. It’s just as essential that we focus on literacy of various kinds – the training that goes along with learning how to navigate this information environment. That’s not just an issue for developing countries, either. We have major digital divides of the literacy sort right here in the United States and in the wealthiest parts of Europe (I am typing this from a research center high on a hilltop in Switzerland). Check out the work of Eszter Hargittai of Northwestern University and you’ll get the picture.

Read more at COMPETE

Google News Alert for: “Second Life”

Cops Learning How to Extend Beats Online
The Associated Press –
(AP) — Raise your hand if you’ve heard of “Second Life,”

police Lt. Charles Cohen asks a room of about 75 law enforcement officers

from around the country. …

Anti-social bot invades Second Lifers’ personal space
New Scientist (subscription) – UK
A software bot that masquerades as an ill-mannered human user

within the popular virtual world Second Life is being used by UK researchers

Canada Post launches in Second Life
DM News – New York,NY,USA
By Chantal Todé On Saturday, Canada Post will launch a virtual city

in Second Life, where online shoppers will be able to visit the 3D virtual stores of …

Canada Post founds virtual city on Second Life
Media In Canada – Toronto,ON,Canada
by Terry Poulton Yesterday, Canada Post announced that it has

boldly gone to perhaps the last place anyone would have

expected it to go: Second Life. …

‘Fujitsu Islands’ open in Second Life
Prdomain Business Register (press release) – Navi Mumbai,India
1 Nov 2007, Tokyo: Fujitsu Limited announced today

that it has created “Fujitsu Islands” within the Second Life

three-dimensional virtual world operated by …

Enter the NanoLands nanotechnology challenge in Second Life
Nanowerk LLC – Honolulu,HI,USA
(Nanowerk News) You probably remember our little “

Nanotechnology in Second Life” story from a few weeks ago.

Today, NanoLands, the nanoscience and …

Second Life jobs fair pays off for KPMG
ComputerWeekly.com – UK
Professional services firm KPMG has succeeded in attracting

potential recruits through a jobs fair on the

Second Life virtual world. …

Google Blogs Alert for: “Second Life”

Will Second Life Anonymity Be A Deal Breaker For Business?
By Erica Driver
Second Life is an anonymous virtual world —

most people cannot identify themselves with avatars that

use their real names. I say most people because I suppose

there is a chance your name in real life could be
Forrester Information and Knowledge… – http://blogs.forrester.com/information_management/

RBS Launches World’s First Virtual Careers Recruitment Event in …
By Fiona Torrance(Fiona Torrance)
“Craig Hepburn, Global Webmaster for STA Travel,

told the audience how he had invested only tens of thousands

of pounds in Second Life (a fraction of what some brands have spent),

but by taking a sales-led strategic approach the …
Biz Blog Review – http://bizblogreview.blogspot.com/

Second Life 1.18.4 Viewer RC2 Release Candidate Update
By Joshua Linden
We’ve made Second Life 1.18.4 Viewer Release Candidate (RC2) available
Official Linden Blog – http://blog.secondlife.com

One year with Second Life Insider
By Tateru Nino
This is my 365th day with Second Life Insider.
Second Life Insider – http://www.secondlifeinsider.com

Do You Have A Home On Second Life?
By casasugar
Second Life is a virtual online user-defined society
CasaSugar — Home sweet home. – http://casasugar.com/

In the week of Nov. 5, the news giant is set to open a news-gathering outpost in Second Life. And unlike news service Reuters, which embedded a real reporter in the online virtual world last year, CNN will rely on Second Life “residents” to do all the legwork.

Mike Shields – CNN

As news organizations slash budgets and scale back bureaus, CNN is expanding—except not in real life.

In fact, CNN’s aim in establishing the virtual bureau—which required “very little investment,” according to Grant—is to learn. “I don’t think we are betting the whole farm on it,” she said. “It’s one aspect of many ways we are engaging with users.”

Source: MEDIAWEEK

Mark Glaser, of MEDIASHIFT

Second Life avatars

From time to time, I’ll give an overview of one broad MediaShift topic, annotated with online resources and plenty of tips. The idea is to help you understand the topic, learn the jargon, and take action. I’ve already covered blogs, social networking, widgets and various other topics. This week I’ll look at the growing phenomenon of virtual worlds.

Background and History

Virtual worlds are online three-dimensional spaces where you can interact with other people, collect items and build structures, and communicate via a virtual representative of yourself called an avatar. These worlds have been influenced by various science fiction writers such as William Gibson and Neal Stephenson, along with the movie, “The Matrix.”

Virtual worlds differ from massive multiplayer online games (MMOGs) because they don’t offer battles against monsters or have an overriding mission for players. For example, a resident of the virtual world Second Life might spend time in that space accumulating virtual land, rather than striving to complete quests or conquer levels as one would in many popular MMOGs such as World of Warcraft.

The origin of virtual worlds goes back to early games such as Maze War, which was developed in the early ’70s at NASA. The game included eyeballs as avatars, there were maps showing the levels, and it was one of the first games played on networked computers, and eventually over a precursor to the Internet.

Habitat scene

In 1986, LucasFilm Games developed Habitat, a more two-dimensional environment that included humanoid avatars, and people could access the game through online service Quantum Link on their Commodore 64 computers. Developers Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer, who maintain a blog about their experience with Habitat, say they let Habitat residents generally set their own rules governing the world — as long as they couldn’t hack into the system. In a research paper about their lessons from Habitat, the developers wrote:

READ MORE AT MEDIASHIFT 

gogofrog continues to ramp up despite funding being elusive…

News from Virtual Worlds News

If you’re based in the West, there’s a good chance you haven’t heard of Gogofrog, the Web-based virtual world based out of Australia. “You probably wouldn’t because of who we are and what we’ve been doing,” said Gogofrog Founder and CEO Vincent Teubler. “We’ve been keeping very much to ourselves and not spending much money on advertising.” All that is getting ready to change.

Gogofrog didn’t start out as a plan for a virtual world. It started out of Teubler and Creative Director Lorenzo Lorefice’s desire to do something different with their IT recruiting company’s website.

“99% of Web pages are just brochures,” said Teubler. “People aren’t going in and interacting or transacting. They’re just looking at the furniture and the directory. You find a lot of sales people looking to just find who to contact. I thought, let’s do something different. Why don’t we look at a 3D play?”

read more at Virtual Worlds News

APLINK Exclusive Coverage gogofrog news September 2007

During the “State of Play” Virtual Conference I had the opportunity to hand my very last very badly mangled Pacific West Communications business card to the Founder of gogofrog, whilst I blushed with embarrassment, in true Aussie style he withdraw his own business card from his wallet and swiftly screwed it up…unfolded it and handed it to me with a “she’ll be right MATE” Rapturous laughter erupted and along with his business partner, Lorenzo from Japan, the gogofrog story began to unfold.

Due to Singapore’s stringent censorship laws I am unable to repeat that which was discussed with a beer in our hands beside the Pan Pacific’s swimming pool so instead I later sent Vincent an email to get his view on Virtual Worlds and how gogofrog will emerge over the months to come… To my knowledge the gogofrog Virtual World is the only one which does NOT require a MASSIVE download or separate login process to enter the 3D world, just point your browser at gogofrog and with a few clicks of the mouse you’re in.

The Interview – The gogofrog emerging Story – itsReal & itSeriously itsFun & itsFree

1- What is the commercial vision for gogofrog

That within three years :

gogofrog is recognised as the pre-eminent browser based 3D internet service provider to the broader global business and consumer market.

That the Gogofrog Hub (the independently Gogofrog controlled and linked central Virtual Space that links to the millions of global user defined virtual spaces) is operating as the centre for all commerce to these Users and their avatar visitors.

That the global Flash developer community (exceeding 1 million active Flash Developers) are actively engaged in an open content development economy across the broader Gogofrog Metaverse.

That Adobe, as developers of Flash, are active supporters of Gogofrog as it provides a global medium for their development community to practice and engage in commerce using Adobes products and additionally through this introduces a massive global internet user community, to the power and capability of Adobe products.

2- What is the social vision for gogofrog

The challenge which Gogofrog has been working on to date and has now successfully overcome, is the development of a browser based Metaverse concept. If you think about it, any social and especially and business focussed virtual world be that Gogofrog or Secondlife, ultimately needs to be browser based. A social space that can’t be used from work is a big problem and a business focussed virtual world that can’t be accessed from work is simply unusuable. Why? Because the vast majority of business computers around the planet will not allow people to download executable software. Thus unless the metaverse is browser based it simply will not be a useable proposition. Let’s face it, the Myspaces of this world work as social spaces because people can and do link in through work.

Think how relatively hard it is to get your friends much less new visitors and potential friends, to meet you in a virtual space, if the first thing they have to do is one, wait until they get home from work, then download a whole lot of software and signup to be a member… it isn’t a realistic proposition in the ‘real world’ much less in the instant gratification of the online world. Accordingly the central premise to all virtual worlds ultimate success has to be them becoming browser based.

Our social vision and development efforts has been governed above all else on making Gogofrog a browser based virtual world our number 1 priotity. To be a truly open social space it needs to be. Having achieved that we can now look at the following to take our social vision further.

• Building both an economy and open content development platform that will allow visitors to both build and trade in their content and enable an almost unbelievable ramp up of the overall immersiveness of our current naive virtual environment and avatars. Bottom line here is that our focus to date has been on the engine and now we are moving forward on the economy and content with some very powerful and influential partners (sorry could tell you but then I would have to kill you, stay tuned for further announcements) as well as looking to tap directly into the million Plus global Flash developer community. We have a small handful of developers helping us with our current content (which is more about proof of concept)… imagine when we add a potential million more developers and the underlying economy to enable them to trade on their expertise within our spaces.
• Concurrently we are building out the functionality available to users and their avatar visitors. Let’s face it in the Gogofrog world people can play socially in 2 ways. They can connect socially in The Hub (which is our central virtual space that connects to all user spaces) or they can build their own closed virtual spaces where they can create their very own and indeed if they want ‘invite only’ social networking space. So you can have a school group or group of friends or business colleagues or sporting associates, meeting in their very own virtual space without other and potententially unwanted avatars/visitors wondering into their virtual space.
• To take this User defined social virtual world further we have developed and are currently testing all new avatar communication mechanisms. Avatar to avatar voice and webcam (seperate or joint) communication. We have it working already so testing is what we are doing now and it is all still fully browser based… no dowloads at all. What this spells is a whole new realm for virtual world communication and very much a change in the whole paradigm of the social restrictions and constraints of the existing virtual worlds. Let’s face it, it is hard for someone to pretend to be a 18 year old girl when a click on that avatar allows both voice and visual verification of who that person is in real time. These functions will be User defined of course… so what it means is that people will be able to freely see and interact in Gogofrog social spaces largely as they do in the real world and not in any way have to worry about pretadory or antisocial behaviour within virtual spaces. We are about making the virtual world as close to reality as possible. We go by the tag line Gogofrog: Advanced Social Networking and that’s what we are delivering.

3- What industries would benefit most from gogofrog

Any industry that is could benefit from a virtual showroom or a virtual meeting room that they want to link to their current 2D webspace or for that matter any company at all that wants to put a toe into the world of virtual spaces but without the drawbacks of software based virtual spaces and without the drawbacks of significant entry costs for real estate or content. For that matter any brave company with a very savvy client demographic could shift their whole web presence to Gogofrog as we do have a 3d to 2d switch that enables visitors/avatars to instantly flick to html 2d representation of the companies web space, if the whole virtual space concept is too much for them.

4- Which countries are gogofrog targeting and why ?

Asia markets without a doubt. Currently Gogofrog is available in English and Japanese and expect many more dropdowns in the language boxes. But Asia is the focus because at the end of the day half the world’s population are here and they are all pretty internet savvy. US is important but bottom line is Asia as the big target.

5- The avatars appear to be quite basic is there plans to enhance

Ohh yeah… coming at you real soon along with the announcements on content development partners. However that said, don’t forget that browser based still is the the central focus and keeping it real in so much as voice and webcam commiunication. At the end of the day current avatars in other worlds are very gamey. We will be sticking to a diet of real… so expect your face on your avatar rather than a cartoon representation.

6- What is gogofrog‘s revenue model

STG (Sell To Google) no seriously that is the long term strategy… no seriously, the revenue mode is based around building Gogofrog‘s overall economy and the trade of content there-in. Announcements due in the not to distant and expect that you will go “ahh yeah that makes sense” when you and others see the economy model we are building and launching.

7- Virtual Recruitment is becoming a growing market in SL could this be an application within gogofrog

Already possible and already being done. www.tra-group.com is a regional IT recruitment services company. If you look on their contact page you will see at the bottom…’virtual meeting room’. I have it on good authority (I am the CEO ) that they undertake a few interviews for interstate and international candidtes in there. Beats the high cost of video conferencing and they are looking forward to the webcam and voice avatar release to make it even more real.

8- Is Voice being considered for Gogofrog

Yep… voice and webcam are not only being considered but built and done and being tested, it should be in beta in the avatar communities in the not too distant real future… and virtual one too.

much thanks to Vincent Teubler – ceo & founder – gogofrog (pictured below)

and Lorenzo Lorefice – gogofrog

Targeted to directly benefit the current U.S. military mission in Iraq, the effort will focus on developing a highly realistic virtual training environment based on MMOG technology that can support counter-IED training capabilities. Although this effort will focus on the IED mission, the results will be applicable to other DoD missions and training requirements.

As part of an optional third phase of this R&D effort, the resulting system developed by the Forterra-led team would be evaluated in user trials to study the training of Soldiers around key aspects of counter – IED operations.

“Advanced distributed learning, reuse of content, and game technologies offer potential solutions for the training challenges facing the U.S. military, such as how to effectively combat Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs,” said Mike Macedonia, Vice President and General Manager of Forterra’s National Security Division. “The research that we are undertaking will focus on defining technologies, interfaces, and standards so SCORM-compliant content can be used in an immersive 3D environment where small or large groups of users that are physically distributed can collaborate for the purpose of training, experimentation or mission rehearsal.”

Under this R&D contract, Forterra will provide JADL with expertise and technology in the area of distributed multiplayer game technology, including Forterra’s OLIVE™ (On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment) software platform that enables developers to rapidly generate realistic, collaborative, 3D Internet solutions that easily scale from single user applications to large-scale simulated environments supporting thousands of concurrent users.

The Forterra-led team includes Intelligent Decision Systems, Inc. (IDSI) and Rustici Software. IDSI will provide support for the instructional design required to determine the efficacy of MMOG technology modified to support SCORM standards. Rustici Software will provide valuable experience and insight into the technical issues around SCORM standards, Shareable Content Objects (SCOs), and the ADL runtime environments.

Developed under DoD’s ADL initiative to establish common guidelines and specifications for learning on a global scale, SCORM is designed to allow users to create a future learning environment that is better, faster, and less costly, anytime and anywhere it is needed, to meet the training requirements.

“This R&D effort led by Forterra is in lockstep with our overall ADL strategy to promote the reuse of training content by defining standards where by it can be exploited by next-generation learning and training technologies,” said Jean Burmester, Director of JADL Co-Lab. “Forterra will help us examine the tremendous potential offered by extending SCORM-based learning content into online, game-based, multiplayer training environments. The use of MMOG technology appears to hold great promise for warfighter training and with extensions to support interoperability with SCORM compliant content and Learning Management Systems, this significant R&D effort will provide a bridge to existing and legacy programs.”

In the research phase of this effort, The Forterra-led team will identify training opportunities for using an MMOG environment as a delivery platform for reusable SCORM-compliant content. The team will also identify the characteristics of SCOs for integration and delivery within MMOGs as well as identify user interface paradigms for delivery of SCOs in an unstructured multiplayer, 3D virtual environment.

About JADL
The Joint ADL (JADL) Co-Lab located in Orlando, Fla., works collaboratively with the ADL Network to carry out its mission of integrating instruction and technology to meet the military’s training requirements. JADL is guided by its board of directors representing the military and joint services. JADL works closely with its Team Orlando partners to meet the distributed learning requirements of the Total Force.

JADL promotes the implementation of ADL through research, development and consulting services for the DoD. JADL also develops guidelines, tools, sample methodologies and strategies for implementing ADL in a military environment. Primary research areas include advanced SCORM functionality, instructional effectiveness, repositories, game-based learning and simulation system integration.

About Forterra Systems
Forterra Systems is a leader in providing online distributed virtual world technology for the corporate, healthcare, government, and entertainment industries. Forterra’s software and services enable organizations to build their own virtual worlds to train, plan, rehearse, and collaborate in ways previously considered impossible or impractical. Using the OLIVE (On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment) platform and industry standard PC hardware, customers can rapidly generate realistic, collaborative, 3D Internet solutions that easily scale from single user applications to large scale simulated environments supporting many thousands of concurrent users. http://www.forterrainc.com

About IDSI
IDSI, headquartered in Centreville, Va., is a leader and premier provider of performance improvement services to the Department of Defense and other government and commercial organizations. Established in 1996, IDSI has over 110 highly qualified and experienced personnel as well as innovative and award winning products. http://www.idsi.com

About Rustici
Rustici Software is the leading provider of products and services to assist organizations with SCORM conformance. The company’s primary business is SCORM consulting. Rustici Software helps its customers understand and conform to online training standards. http://www.rusticisoftware.com

Last Tuesday, before the State of Play V party “Flash Forward”, thanks to Andrew Peters and the Digital Movement, I was invited to meet up with Xu Hui, CEO of HiPiHi and we spent one hour together with him, hearing his thoughts and aspirations about HiPiHi, China’s virtual world platform creator with an interesting tagline, “The World Exists because of You”. We will also hear his thoughts about how HiPiHi differentiates herself from Second Life. Here is a summary of the main points during that one hour conversation.

Read More at SGentrepreneurs

MANHASSET, N.Y., Aug. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — CMP Technology today announced that it is the first global media company to be certified by Linden Labs as a full-service content developer in Second Life, the popular and fast- growing multi-user virtual reality environment. CMP can now offer a broad range of Second Life services as well as turnkey project management, including asset conceptualization, design, scripting and building; custom application development; multimedia engineering; virtual event production; proactive asset and audience management and comprehensive engagement metrics.

“The media-rich, 3D world of Second Life is part of an emerging metaverse of immersive social computing environments offering powerful new ways for buyers and sellers, learners and teachers, teams and workgroups to connect and collaborate,” said John Jainschigg, Director of Online Technology and New Business for CMP’s Software Group. “By 2011, Gartner expects that 80 percent of Internet users will be participants in some quadrant of the 3D metaverse and CMP’s goal is to lower the complexity barriers, cost and risk of metaverse engagement so businesses of any scale can play profitably with these powerful tools.”

CMP’s metaverse division will work with customers to create unique builds and events that promote deep engagement and nurture community. The division will integrate Second Life and the web to reach global markets while leveraging CMP’s trusted brands to acquire highly-qualified audiences and bring them inworld.

In addition, CMP Technology continues to expand its events in Second Life, following the successful April launch of Dr. Dobb’s Journal’s Life 2.0 Spring Summit, a “deep tech” event on metaverse development, which featured keynotes by Mitch Kapor and Philip Rosedale, and drew over 1,000 software architects from the Fortune 500 companies, universities and federal government.

The next Life 2.0 Event will be held September 15-21, 2007, with a focus on the “Opensource Grid” and once again the program will feature a full set of keynotes, tutorials, presentations and panels from the most innovative metaverse players. Currently, Dr. Dobb’s Island is hosting discussion groups held Tuesday and Friday of each week focusing on technology, trends and business topics.

About CMP Technology (http://www.cmp.com/)

CMP Technology is a marketing solutions company serving the technology industry. Through its market-leading portfolio of trusted information brands, CMP has earned the confidence of more technology professionals than any other media company. As a result, CMP is the premier provider of access, insight and actionable programs designed to connect sellers and buyers in ways that yield superior return on investment. CMP Technology is a subsidiary of United Business Media (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion.

read more | digg story

In a few short years, Second Life has grown from an experiment to the world’s largest virtual universe. Inside the mind of its founder.

Web Exclusive Read More HERE

Second Life: Now in Pod Form

At an Obscura Digital event last night, the company showed off, among other things, a pod that immerses the occupant in Second Life. Teaming up with Phreak Interactive, a company dedicated to blurring the boundary between virtual and real, Obscura created an egg-like structure that projects the virtual world on its walls.”"Traditional media is square, flat and 2D,” said Patrick Connolly, CEO of Obscura. “People should be immersed into it the virtual world. (They) can step into it instead of watching it.” [via SFGate.com]

Watch this video and be amazed how people talked about the internet that had a REVOLUTION population of 15million

Last nite, we found the only restaurant in town that sold meat, chicken and fish. The meal was delicious. Now am getting ready for the 5 hour train trip to Surat.

Virtual Worlds for India will be a long way in the future it seems. The amount of people with computers in the home are still very low and people who are in the Education industry have not heard of either MySpace or FACEBOOK.

This Week’s News

Doppelganger Partners with Kitson and Rocawear
Two VCs Invest in Indian Virtual World Game Developer
Second Life to Have Standardized Voice Within Months
Playboy Opens Up in Second Life (includes exclusive interviews)
Faketown talks Fighting Carbon Emissions and Marketing in 2D (includes exclusive interviews)
MindArk Discusses China’s Upcoming World in Entropia (includes exclusive interviews)
Metabirds and Centric Discuss Second Life and HiPiHi (includes exclusive interviews)
Eduserv Invests £333,000 into Virtual Worlds Eduction Research
Children’s MMOs in the New York Times
Korea Establishing User-Created Content Censorship Rules
Open source Second Life add-ons still months away
Windlight Goes Open Source
Areae Picking Up Steam Prior To Launch

New Product News

Forterra’s New SDK Signals Shift from Service Company to Software Company
MEGACITY Creating Business-Friendly Virtual Tokyos
Empire of Sports, First Sports-Based Virtual World to Launch
Sony Announces Free Realms: Free-to-Play Virtual World
Update: Japan based Co-Core to launch Tokyo Reproduction Virtual World
MTV Launches Virtual Lower East Side: 5th Virtual World in 9 Months
Lego Universe Virtual World To Have Community Features?

Announcements

Virtual Worlds Fall Conference and Expo – October 10-11, 2007 – San Jose - Early Registration is now open -
VW Fall – Official Hotel Discount Set – book your room now.

Market Research

82 Percent of IT Leaders See Opportunity in Virtual Worlds
Analysts Predict Political Pullout From Virtual Worlds
Canadians Warming Up to Social Networking, Not Virtual Worlds
30 Percent of Top 100 Dutch Companies Involved in Virtual Worlds
Most Second Life Users Likely to Buy Virtual Goods
20 Percent of Interactive Agencies Look to Virtual Worlds

Briefly Noted

Virtual Worlds As Data Center Organizers?
Search for Missing Girl to Enter Second Life
Interview: Sparter Talks Virtual Gold Trade, Farming, and Property Rights
Who’s New to Second Life this Week (13 firms referenced)

Virtual Worlds Weekly Contact Information

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Don’t you just love the feel of a nice silk draped across your skin? I love it as it slides across my body either in the form of sheets on my bed or shirts, or any kind of undergarment. I created a sweet silk top that I paired with my Earthy 769 Jeans. I think the outfit has a causal, understated hotness about it. Ya know, ya look hot in it, but there is no reason to shove it in other peep’s faces.

 It can be found in-world (when the Grid is not down like right now) at Fashion Slave in the BraveHearts sim. Enjoy!

Philip Rosedale is featured in Inc. Mag this month in the, “How I Did It” feature. Very interesting kinda traces his career and briefly discusses the hurdles Linden Labs has jumped over. I thought it was particularily interesting the management style and organization structure (if you call it that) that LL has. Find the whole 3-page article here.