3D Arlington - Leading the Way

A recent article in the Washington Post highlights efforts by Arlington County government to bring the region into the flourishing world of interactive 3d. Resident John Feather is volunteering his time to get these advanced technology initiatives off the ground and making sure they get the attention they deserve.

Much of the article is devoted to area presences in Second Life. Feather (avatar name: Theatre Magic) leads reporters and other interested parties on guided tours of some of these spaces, making sure to show the power and flexibility of the environment:

One recent evening, Theatre was shepherding a reporter toward the county's online office space for a tour when he sent a text message suggesting a detour. "Want to go swimming?" he wrote. He then teleported to a lake surrounded by Japanese maples and did a summersault from a cliff with an animated Buddha nearby. It was a long way from the Arlington office, but what better place to ponder the future of government?

We need more people like John! It's great to see people in previously untapped areas of life getting the interest and enthusiasm for interactive 3d that us pros have been shouting about for years. I found the following note most interesting:

In November, he started working on a 3D map of Arlington's major buildings. Touching images on the map calls up Web pages about them, and he and his colleagues want to add real-time rent data and detailed visuals from architects and developers so that "when you click on that building, you go in the door."

This sounds like a great idea that even non-techies can see the benefit of. Incorporating spatial data (buildings and locations) with other info (rent data, etc.) will allow people to explore data in a new and relevant way while helping them to answer important questions (where should I live?).

Keep it up John! We applaud your enthusiasm and hope that it inspires others. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help!

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!

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!