second life

What ever happened to the online virtual world revolution? You know, the one where everyone would spend hours every day blinging out their Second Life avatars and crashing weddings in World of Warcraft?

Well, those days never quite materialized. The media fanfare around virtual worlds has transitioned from an initial wildfire of exuberance to essentially nothing, as expectations for growth and revenue failed to pay off.

Using motion sensors, brain signals and a heap of creativity, several new technologies promise to do away with cramped typing fingers, videogame-fried eyes and hoarse phone voices. This past summer in Tokyo, for instance, a paralyzed man with electrodes attached to his head took his Second Life avatar on a virtual walk just by envisioning his character strolling.

Google added its own version of life to the Web this week with its launch of the animated program "Lively." A "20 percent project"—one borne from Google's policy of allowing its staff to spend 20 percent of their work time on their own projects—Lively is much like another Second Life. Its users can enter 3-D worlds, engage in real-time avatar interactions and express their thoughts and feelings all in a virtual community. What distinguishes it, though, from its competition is that it can be controlled from any Web page.

Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created a robot-like avatar in the virtual world Second Life that isn't controlled by a person at a keyboard, but an artificial intelligence program.

The knock on popular virtual world Second Life has been that it's a little slow, and not entirely easy to use. Sure, it has roughly 13 million registered citizens, but only a few hundred thousand are actual devotees who spend a fair amount of time in the alternate universe.

Congress held a hearing yesterday on the potential influence of Second Life and other virtual worlds, complete with a screen that showed avatars following the event from that increasingly popular alternate reality.

A few lawmakers showed off their own avatars, including Rep. Ed Markey, pictured here, and experts talked about the benefits of these virtual world—nonprofits, for example, are using them as a way to raise funds and fight for their causes.

Since Representative Edward Markey couldn't be in Bali for the United Nations climate change meeting, he appeared virtually instead. With the help of a staffer, Markey created an avatar in Second Life, and addressed the meeting via video screen, from his place in the virtual world. Sadly, he didn't get too adventurous with his dress. Even his avatar looks like a Capitol Hill insider.

Markey said he couldn't be there because he needed to be in the US to help pass a clean energy bill, but he should've taken a greener-than-thou route instead. Why did any of them waste the jet fuel going to Bali? They all should have stayed home, saved the fuel, and met in Second Life instead.—Gregory Mone

Via SFGate

Second Life, the online digital world with nearly 9 million virtual residents, has now spawned a lawsuit.

Kevin Alderman, the founder of Eros LLC, a company that outfits Second Life avatars with realistic genitalia and a handful of intercourse-related moves, says someone has been pirating and selling his work. Alderman claims that his SexGen Platinum product, which goes for $45 in Second Life, was ripped off by an avatar named "Volkov Catteneo," who has since been selling it to other virtual residents. Now Alderman has filed suit to recoup those losses from the real person operating through that virtual thief. Hashing out their differences in Second Life just wasn't going to cut it.

We're not sure if Volkov is actually guilty or not, but his name doesn't exactly scream innocence. Could you ever dream up a better moniker for a science fiction villain?

Anyway, you can read more details about the case here.—Gregory Mone

Via AP