Review: ExitReality

I recently came across another newcomer to the web-based virtual worlds market: ExitReality.

At face value, ExitReality functions similarly to all of the others out there (SL, Vivaty, Lively, IMVU, etc.). You register (free), login, and get a customizable avatar dropped into a social 'lounge' area where other users also congregate. When I first tried the Beta environment out, there were about 10 other users. Pretty small, but they seem to be fairly new and still growing.

The unique thing about ExitReality is that it is based around the idea of navigating an actual 3d web. It's a concept that has been tried many times before, but never really caught on. In the 'ExitReality Plaza' the commercial aspects of this are pretty in your face. Each major building or structure in the environment is associated with some sort of business interest. There's a Carl's Jr, Wall Street Journal, and ESPN buildings, a Match.com ice cream truck (?) and many others. And as far as I can tell, these commercial interests are all just facades. I would expect to be able to go into the buildings and find related content, but the only further action is to click on their signs and be taken to their regular 2d site.

It's an interesting idea, but I still don't see it gaining mass market appeal. So far, it seems to just be a 3d chat with a whole lot of advertisements. There's just not a whole lot to do. The one advantage this site has over others is load time. It was definitely quicker than the others I've reviewed, but other important aspects - navigation, visual quality, content - all seemed to be lacking. If they mature in at least one of these areas, I'd consider them a contender due to their novelty but right now, they have a ways to go.

The other interesting aspect of this site is their claim to 'View any website in 3d'. I tried our site and got a pretty sad result. The algorithm they are using seems to just grab the graphics from your screen and paste them on various objects in an environment. They also seem to incorporate the site color scheme into the overall asthetic. The '3d' nformationdesign.com turned out to be one big wall with a screen shot of the homepage and then a 'field' of linked graphics that looked like flags on poles. It was pretty disappointing. I think this 'view any page in 3d' concept is probably their best selling point, but the algorithm needs some major improvements. Maybe some simple image processing to guess at what some of the pictures are, so they can be turned into actual 3d representations? How about doors or passages to take you to other rooms (pages) of the site instead of these link 'flags'? There are a lot of options here.

I'm glad to see more businesses take a stab at this sort of thing, but I think the market is getting to the point where the application needs to be a little more mature to catch on.


Did I miss something? Let me know.

Vivaty Update

I wanted to follow up on my last Vivaty post and mention that (as indicated by Pat at Vivaty) several improvements have been made in their latest release. There are now shared spaces that you can use as well as some gestures and other interactions. They even recently added virtual pets!

The most important release though is that of an authoring tool for scenes and objects. I have not tried it yet, but hope to soon. It looks like they have taken the appreciated route of using an external tool with a native .x3d format. This will make things highly portable and overall easier to create. (Are you following this SL? )

Another interesting note is that they are currently running a contest for developers with a top prize of $1000. I think it's a great way for them to promote the tool while also giving recognition to the talented modelers out there.

ReViving Virtual Worlds pt. 2

After yesterday's foray into the Lively beta, I finally decided to swing back to the Vivaty private beta invite that had been sitting neglected in my inbox. To my surprise, they are now supporting IE6 as well as IE7. So, though I'd really like to see Firefox capabilities, at least I didn't have to upgrade...

Vivaty currently functions as a Facebook or AIM imbedded application. I decided to go the Facebook route. This integration ended up being great - at least on the setup side of things. The usual Facebook login also served as the Vivaty login, transferring all of my Facebook data to the application as well. This was great, as it provided for a quick entry into the app and my default scene already had some personal touches (profile pics, info, etc.).

The application loaded fairly quickly (< 1 minute) and had a graphical quality similar to SecondLife. The navigation was also reminiscent of SL, but without a 'fly' option and a little clunkier and less responsive. A small menu allows you to add to your scene from a library of pre-made objects. You can modify their size and texture, but that's about it. Avatar customization is also limited to selection from a library.

I found Vivaty to be very functional (with a few glitches - to be expected in a beta) and on par visually with the competition, but incredibly lonely! A shared virtual environment quickly loses it's appeal if there is no one to share it with. Instead of adopting a 'public spaces' policy like Lively or SL, Vivaty opts for a private 'invite-only' system. The only way to share your space with others, or visit someone else, is to invite people from your Facebook or AIM friend lists.

Ingenious marketing strategy or fatal flaw? It's a great idea to tap into a well established distribution network, but I think Vivaty is making a mistake by not facilitating some sort of public meeting spaces. I'm sure this makes the system easier to manage, but it also stops the flow of users who just want to try out the experience without getting to invested or subjecting their friends to unwanted invites.

In the end, I think the lack of social spaces puts the Vivaty beta a step below Lively. While Lively definitely needed some technical issues worked out, the experience was still engaging and available. Vivaty was interesting at first, but quickly became old without true object creation options or interaction. Perhaps the public release will open things up. If so, I will gladly add Vivaty to my regular list of virtual hangouts!

Lively Conversation

Last week Google jumped into the world of shared virtual environments with a beta release of 'Lively.' Lively is essentially a 3d chatroom where users can customize their avatar from one of a library of preset characters and create custom environments with furniture, pictures, etc.

As I was downloading the Lively web-applet (it runs completely within your browser) I found myself pretty excited, even after coming across some pretty bad reviews. Google has created some great applications in the last decade, especially involving 3d (Sketchup, GoogleEarth), so it seemed promising. But so far, I have to agree with the critics.


Right of the bat, the application seems to have a scaling issue. In any of the Lively 'rooms' with say, 10 or more people, the environment loaded incredibly slowly. In fact, in one case I left it running for 10 minutes and only managed a fifty-percent "Room Materializing" bar. The libraries of avatars and room items also had a long enough loading lag that I still haven't been able to explore them all.

As expected with user-generated content of this nature (see: SecondLife) there is already quite a bit of wading through advertising, spam, and adult content, though apparently Google is attempting to address it. Good luck!

It's tough to blast Lively too much as it is still a beta release. Hopefully Google will recognize these issues and make some improvements soon. Though it will never provide the flexibility and creativity of SecondLife, Lively could definitely become a popular hangout for chatters. The graphics are nice and have a 'youthful' quality to them. I also really enjoyed the navigation (when it worked). It reminded me of the pan feature from Google Maps - very fluid and intuitive.

All in all it was a disappointing launch that offers a glimpse of a good platform with many opportunities to become great. I'm ready for version 2.0!

ReViving Virtual Worlds

I recently received a beta-testing invitation from 'Vivaty,' a new player in the SecondLife dominated (and dragging) virtual worlds game. I'm not too familiar with the company, but based on a quick Googling, it seems to be well funded and has solid leadership. The most interesting buy-in for me at this point is their Facebook integration. If its solid, that could be a great boost for them and a neat add-in for us Facebookers.

The current roadblock to any real Vivaty appraisal by yours truly is the Internet Explorer 7.0 requirement. No Firefox or Mac support yet! I haven't had the desire to update my long neglected IE yet, but I will be sure to try out Vivaty when I do. Stay tuned for updates!

Virtual Real Estate

We've been working on an exciting new project (see screenshot) and would love to get some feedback. A demo of our new 3d Virtual Apartment simulation is up and running. Take a look! We'd be glad do hear any comments or criticisms.

On a broader note - Is 'virtual real estate' an effective marketing tool? Many industry leaders have adopted the QuicktimeVR method of virtual walk-throughs which essentially stitches together a 360 degree panorama of high-resolution photos. This pseudo-'VR' solution is a step-up from traditional static images, but does it really offer the interactive Web experience that the current wave of GenX consumers have come to expect?

In the past, speed and compatibility were big limiting factors in the success of 3d web marketing. However, the recent spread of high-speed Internet connectivity and advances in 3d Java and Flash technologies have made these concerns fade considerably. So what's holding the market back? Many marketers and business people are still not convinced that 3d matters. Hopefully the spread of 3d marketing success stories and more academic studies like this one will bring people around!

PhotoSynth

Imagine moving through a scene composed of photographs. And anyone's vacation photos on flickr can be part of the mix. That's precisely what PhotoSynth aims to do. It is a product by Microsoft Live Labs that is still under development.

This is the hottest new application from Microsoft. It does very similar things as the new Google Maps Street View and looks suspiciously like the images in Minority Report. Whatever the precident, it will surely change the landscape of lifelogging as well as augmented reality and virtual worlds. The conceivable applications of this make me go cross-eyed.

A really interesting lecture by one of the team development members is Blaise Aguera y Arcas, who gave a wonderful lecture about PhotoSynth at TED about a month ago. He also introduces some other technologies by SeaDragon, which was recently acquired by Microsoft. These also make me go cross-eyed, even more than does YouTube on my cellphone.