Why Build A Virtual World?

[Meat Hunter]

Why Build A Virtual World?

I just heard a promo for one of this week’s TED Talks on PBS titled “Why Build a Virtual World” by a man influenced by his adventures at Burning Man. It’s less than 10 minutes long.

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlaye ... 09-18-2015

[Ratty]

Thanks Meathunter. I didn't know that 2nd life was patterned after Burning Man. I tried to play in their virtual world last year but gave up. I thought it would be easy to just download it and be part of the on-line burn. Nope. It was kinda bleak and empty. Plus I was too stupid to figure out tricks and moves. Hey, eplaya is virtual enough for me.

[Elderberry]

Hey, eplaya is virtual enough for me.

Me too. I just don't get it. Hell, Facebook is bad enough.

[RudolphDiesel]

Thanks Meathunter. I didn't know that 2nd life was patterned after Burning Man. I tried to play in their virtual world last year but gave up. I thought it would be easy to just download it and be part of the on-line burn. Nope. It was kinda bleak and empty. Plus I was too stupid to figure out tricks and moves. Hey, eplaya is virtual enough for me.

As a long time resident of SL I just recently found BURN2, and I have to agree it is a little bit bleak, especially compared to other parts of the SL world. At the same time you have to understand that every part of SL is as colorful or bland as the residents make it. Just like the real playa. If there are only only 10 people in all of BRC, if would also be rather bleak.

I guess I will fly the BURN2 flag on the playa if we get tickets.

[spacetime]

I too have a very old account on that service.

I know why people don't like the burning man second life thing. But, second life is kind of like that most places.

I used to craft in the sandbox lands and it was very much like deep playa.

I believe that the best days of that software are behind it.

There are newer virtual world efforts, such as High Fidelity (created by guy behind 2nd life), which have improvements that hold some promise.

Also since second life came out, VR headsets are delivering immersive experiences.

It is inevitable that very, very good virtual reality experiences (both in software and immersion) will become a thing as commonly used as the web we know.

[some seeing eye]

I think I heard somewhere Street View was rejected for privacy reasons. But that would be a great tool to use to build out 3d models of any given year along with the satellite data and even some 3d laser scanning or Kinect scanning in spaces. But why bother with virtual world tech?

Telepresence robots with VR headsets! Also would solve the ticket problem...

[media]

With the tech interest in the event, this could be done easily within a camp and no one would know.

[trilobyte]

I know Phillip, he's a really nice guy. He was absolutely inspired by Burning Man (he's been burning since 1999 Ithink) as well as the book Snow Crash, and they've been doing a virtual version of Burning Man inside the virtual world of SL since it launched more than a decade ago. Burning Man even has a regional contact for SL (the first virtual regional contact was Danger Ranger). I not only have met and hung out with other burners virtually inside SL, but I've met and hung out on the playa or at burner events with people whose first connection to Burning Man was through virtual worlds.

To me, a lot of the reasons to build virtual worlds are the same as why we burn. To build things, to make art, to meet people and make friends and experience things we might not ever get to experience otherwise.

From having spent considerable amounts of time in (and making content for) a number of different virtual worlds, I can say it's a pretty awesome experience. It's more immersive, and makes for some incredible connections and experiences. That's not to say that you can't make grewt connections or have great experiences on ePlaya, it's just an evolutionary step or three ahead.

Think of it as like movies. You could tell some great stories once the motion picture arrived on the scene. Then came talkies, and eventually color, and even 3D and so on. The existence of 3D and color doesn't mean you can't tell stories or enjoy a black and white or even a silent movie anymore, but it opens up the door for even more immersive storytelling (something like Avatar probably wouldn't have been anywhere near as successful if it were a black and white silent movie). In that analogy, ePlaya is the black and white silent movie, a site like Facebook would be like a color movie with stereo sound, and virtual worlds would be like a 3D movie with surround sound... That you could also walk around and turn your head around in.

The technology of virtual worlds is still coming together. Virtual worlds like Second Life and others exist, but right now the technology bar is high and so I wouldn't describe them as ready for mainstream.

[Aurelia]

Trilo ,
ThanK you for the excellent recapitulation of the process.

Forgive me but this is akin to those chairs that were used a few decades ago to envelop you in surround sound...
Or like one year there was an excellent Kaleidoscope which altered one's perception/experience during the walk through
whatever works for you
ten burners is fine also

xoA.

[BoyScoutGirl]

...The technology of virtual worlds is still coming together. Virtual worlds like Second Life and others exist, but right now the technology bar is high and so I wouldn't describe them as ready for mainstream....

I've got some contacts in the video game industry and was lucky enough to demo an HTC Vive a few weeks ago. After having been impressed by but also nauseated by the Oculus Rift previously (granted, it was the DK1I played with), I was reservedly hopeful. However, those fifteen minutes with the Vive completely, 100% convinced me: if VR is the future, the future is now.

My mind bought into the various scenarios I played immediately and seamlessly. This tech won't be cheap when it first comes out, but it will be accessible to dedicated gamers and will only become more accessible soon afterward. I came out of the demo absolutely giddy: this coming generation of VR is incredible, incredibly fun, and has a TON of potential. We humans have a lot to figure out in terms of sustainability, social justice, and world peace, but hot damn our tech is cool.

[trilobyte]

It's probably worth noting that virtual worlds and virtual reality headsets are two different things.

You do not necessarily have to have or wear a VR headset in order to explore or build things in a virtual world. Things like Second Life work just fine on a regular computer screen using keyboards, mice/trackpads and whatnot. It's like walking around in games like world of warcraft, except in a virtual world you can walk (or fly) around wherever you want and aren't really tied to a game's story. When I'm talking about virtual worlds, I'm talking specifically about this.

VR headsets are a whole different thing. I think those things are interesting, but still have a long way to go before they're "ready for the masses." Aside from still being fairly spendy, it's still cumbersome and awkward. They're bulky and a bit weird today, but I think they'll get there.

There are other pieces of the technology puzzle that will help improve the idea of virtual worlds besides just the crazy headsets.

The first bit is communicating with each other. The age-old way is typing your message with your keyboard, just like we do on ePlaya. Virtual worlds also give you the option of using a headset or microphone and just talking to each other. The more recent versions of the software even let you do what's called 'voice morphing' so you can change or disguise the sound of your voice. That can be fun for people who are playing characters in games and want to sound more monster-y, but also works well for the shy or people who don't like the sound of their own voice. Getting closer to the cutting edge of technology, and we may soon have real-time language translation (there are already real-time translators for text chat in Second Life).

Beyond that, there is some cool technology in development that will someday allow for your computer to be able to pick up on your facial expressions, mouth movements, and hand gestures. That makes communicating with each other so much more realistic, since in just a few minutes the technology kind of disappears and it feels like you're in the room with your friend, coworker, etc. To me, that's an even bigger deal than the headsets. Today, in a virtual world I can trigger different animations and facial expressions, but in order to do that I have to spend time customizing my virtual person (or avatar) with different animations, and then I have to press buttons or click on stuff to make those things happen. It's kind of like puppetry - it looks great if you're a puppeteer, but it takes a lot of work and can be confusing if you're not. The expression and gesture trackers means it just works, and you don't have to think about it.

[trilobyte]

The good news is that the tech has already come down pretty dramatically in price. Oculus headsets were well over a thousand bucks at the outset, and I think the current development kit (which includes a pre-release headset) is only a few hundred. Oculus (which is now owned by Facebook) will be releasing the headset to the public next spring. Pricing hasn't yet been announced, but is expected to be in the $300 range. I don't think it will take long before that drops to $200, and eventually it'll hit what I think is a sweet spot price of $100.

The motion, expression, and gesture tracking stuff isn't currently too expensive (that stuff used to cost thousands), and I think that what we'll see is that as the technology gets good and becomes "ready for prime time" it will become features in computers and devices. Apple, for example, has bought a number of companies in the last 5 years that specialize in hardware and software for motion, gesture, and expression tracking... I could totally see some future iMac or even iPad being able to do that stuff.

If you want to see something really interesting and fun, and for free... check out an app called VRSE. It's on iOS app store and Google Play for the android platform. Once you install it, check out the music video for Revolt from the band Muse. As you watch the music video, you can move your phone or tablet around... look up, down, turn around, etc inside the music video.

[BoyScoutGirl]

Good points all around, Trilo.

I'm not surprised that 360º music videos are one of the places this is starting to be mass consumed, but I'm much more interested in interactivity; this is one of the areas where Burning Man has changed my outlook on what art is and can be. The aspects of communication Trilo mentions (voice communication, expression, etc.) are a natural starting point, but I'll think we'll soon be interacting with a virtual world in a similar manner to how we interact with the physical world: movement of the body. How to do this in a natural way that isn't tiring is the current challenge, as well as coming up with creative uses for movement.

In the gameplay demo I was talking about, I had a control "stick" in each hand, so, in addition to tracking my head movements and where I was in the room, the system was also tracking my hands. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine physical gestures like shrugging, waving, dancing, hugging, etc. being captured, especially if they use IR like the Kinect does.

[trilobyte]

Same here. The videos make for a few minutes of entertainment, and have better re-playability so fans can watch over and over again to spot additional details and surprises... but that's not terribly exciting for me. Holding onto gear and joysticks is kind of meh-tastic to me, it's not really very different from keyboard and mouse/trackpad. I actually prefer the keyboard/trackpad combo, since I can use those tools for building stuff both in apps, and in-world (in the case of stuff like SL or HiFi). I also have a funky controller called a Space Navigator from a company called 3D connexion (part of Logitech these days, I think). It's a little weighted knobby thing that sits on my desk, and gives me rotate, twist, pitch, yaw, shift, and other 3D movement controls. I used to use it quite a bit in SL (more for playing around or just filming my actions), and occasionally use it in big 3D design apps (like Maya, C4D, etc). The most wow-tastic input experience I ever had, though, was with the motion and facial tracking cameras. It just works, I move my arm and the same happens in world. I smile or talk, and the facial features happen on the character in virtual space, too.

In somewhat related news, I saw that the Oculus folks announced their launch pricing (a whopping $600, and most people will need a more powerful computer in order to use it). I'm glad to see they've turned that corner, hopefully within the next few years the hardware and software technology will be more ready for the masses to get into VR.

Virtual worlds, though, are already available and already a lot of fun. Whether it's making more simple objects using 'prims' (boxes, cylinders, spheres, etc) or building more elaborate stuff. This thread got me feeling nostalgic, and had me flashing back to this really cool thing we did years ago in the virtual world.

[media]

Here's basically what's happening in the clip above. A handful of artists and performers around the world got together with the goal of having a circus in the virtual world. They either bought or made all the clothes and animations and character details for all their circus performers for Carnivale D'Arcane. Then they built all their sets and props to perform with, as well as tents and other scene dressing. Then they worked with a virtual world community called New Babbage, which is a steampunk-themed city. So they staged it as "the circus is coming to town" and plastered posters and handbills throughout the virtual city to let people know about the event (as well as posting it electronically on message boards and in-world groups), and on the day of the show people from all over the town (who are actually scattered around the world) came to the spot in town where the circus was setting up. It was a really fun social occasion, with people chatting amongst friends and marveling over the circus performances (though as much for their technical skills at making it all happen as much as the performance itself). Similarly, people do all kinds of dance parties and even costume balls, and then art festivals (Burning Man's been happening in virtual worlds for more than a decade), and even workshops and seminars. It's really fun stuff, I wish I had the kind of time to spend in-world today that I did a few years ago.

[DoctorIknow]

Funny I should open this thread just hours after my first purchase ever of Facebook shares, which will be a very longterm hold.

I'm not a virtual world or virtual reality indulger, but of course, no question about it, it is next tech frontier reaching way beyond gaming/entertainment into all realms of business and medicine/health care. It's only just begun, and Facebook seems a safer place to bet on than other firms going at it in different ways that make Oculus Rift seem obsolete by design. Just as in lawsuits, the "winner" might be determined by who has the deepest pockets.