Loading
-
Second Life to Find Voice Soon
Techtree News Staff, Mar 01, 2007 1140 hrs ISTSecond Life avatars (animated proxies of members), look set to find a voice of their own, according to Second Life creator, Linden Labs.
Second Life avatars (animated proxies of members), look set to find a voice of their own, according to Second Life creator, Linden Labs.
Linden Lab says it will soon implement voice over Internet technology, enabling Second Life's 3D avatars talk to each other over computer microphones and speakers.
Reportedly, Massachusetts-based technology firm, Vivox, will provide the necessary software for avatars to be able to go beyond the existing means of communication that is instant messaging (IM) only.
Soon, members' alter egos will be able to speak to each other - simply by walking up to whoever they wish to speak to.
Commenting on this development, Linden Vice President, Joe Miller, said integrated voice is but a natural extension of the virtual world, and that voice would further enrich the Second Life community, introducing new opportunities in social development and Commerce.
The voice program will include something called spatial audio, which according to Miller, is the dependence of the ability to talk and hear on distance between people in the virtual environment.
Which means, a group that is close together will be able to chat normally, while once a certain distance is reached, even shouting will not be enough, Miller explained.
Besides, members will retain the prerogative to decide who they want to talk to and who they want to avoid.
More a virtual world than a game, Second Life features more than four million members from over 100 countries, wherein 'residents' create/build homes, landscapes, vehicles, games, clothes, the works.
Transactions take place in the 'in-world' currency, Linden Dollar. Incidentally, 1 US$ is equivalent to around 250 Linden Dollars.
The soon-to-be-introduced speech system will be put into testing, starting next week, and the software in test form for the entire game is expected to debut by end March. After which, there would likely be two whole months of customer feedback.
Vivox Chief Executive, Rob Seaver, remarked that Second Life, with its resident-created world and highly immersive structure, is an ideal platform for business and social interaction, and that live voice is needed to realising the full potential of this environment.
In a nutshell, the new technology is highly anticipated, and is expected to add an exciting new edge to the wildly popular world of Second Life.
Related News:
Group Seeks to Liberate Second Life
Linden Lab says it will soon implement voice over Internet technology, enabling Second Life's 3D avatars talk to each other over computer microphones and speakers.
Reportedly, Massachusetts-based technology firm, Vivox, will provide the necessary software for avatars to be able to go beyond the existing means of communication that is instant messaging (IM) only.
Soon, members' alter egos will be able to speak to each other - simply by walking up to whoever they wish to speak to.
Commenting on this development, Linden Vice President, Joe Miller, said integrated voice is but a natural extension of the virtual world, and that voice would further enrich the Second Life community, introducing new opportunities in social development and Commerce.
The voice program will include something called spatial audio, which according to Miller, is the dependence of the ability to talk and hear on distance between people in the virtual environment.
Which means, a group that is close together will be able to chat normally, while once a certain distance is reached, even shouting will not be enough, Miller explained.
Besides, members will retain the prerogative to decide who they want to talk to and who they want to avoid.
More a virtual world than a game, Second Life features more than four million members from over 100 countries, wherein 'residents' create/build homes, landscapes, vehicles, games, clothes, the works.
Transactions take place in the 'in-world' currency, Linden Dollar. Incidentally, 1 US$ is equivalent to around 250 Linden Dollars.
The soon-to-be-introduced speech system will be put into testing, starting next week, and the software in test form for the entire game is expected to debut by end March. After which, there would likely be two whole months of customer feedback.
Vivox Chief Executive, Rob Seaver, remarked that Second Life, with its resident-created world and highly immersive structure, is an ideal platform for business and social interaction, and that live voice is needed to realising the full potential of this environment.
In a nutshell, the new technology is highly anticipated, and is expected to add an exciting new edge to the wildly popular world of Second Life.
Related News:
Group Seeks to Liberate Second Life
Related Links
Tag keywords
Opinion Poll
- Which desktop web browser do you use?
-
Internet Explorer
Firefox
Chrome
Safari
Opera
Other (specify in comments)
Poll Results View Previous Polls