Vivaty, formerly known as Media Machines, left stealth mode this weekend to announce a private beta today with an eye toward a public beta in the coming months. The company, which received $9.4 million from Mohr Davidow Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in September, got a very positive write up in the New York Times today in a feature focusing on online chat. A company spokesperson, though, wrote to explain to me that "their vision is much broader than an instant messaging or chat client...it's the same level of depth found in something like Second Life, but inside the browser."
Continue reading "Vivaty (NéeMedia Machines) Launches Private Beta for Web-Embeddable Worlds" »
Simmersion Holdings, the software company behind SimUrban, has received $1.9 million in an investment from Blue Cove Ventures, which is backed by Japanese firm Hikari Asset Management. The money will towards developing Simmersion's new virtual world, Mycosm, into the private beta mode set to begin in April. "We are tackling the core problems with virtual worlds: low fidelity, too technical, no control, no fun and no friends," Bob Quodling, CEO, Simmersion Holdings, said in a statement. "Mycosm brings the power of a compelling virtual world platform to everyday users for free."
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We reported last week that The House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet
will be holding a hearing tomorrow on "Online
Virtual Worlds: Applications and Avatars in a User-Generated Medium." The following witnesses have been announced: Philip Rosedale (Founder and CEO, Linden Lab) Susan Tenby (Senior Manager, Community Development, TechSoup), Dr. Larry Johnson (CEO, The New Media Consortium), and Colin J. Parris, Ph.D. (Vice President, Digital Convergence, IBM Research, IBM Corporation).
Continue reading "Update: Virtual Worlds Executives to Address Congress on Tuesday" »
Three Rings, makers of Puzzle Pirates, launched its newest project into open beta at the end of last week.
Whirled is a platform for users to develop casual games and share them in a Web-based environment tying together social networks, virtual worlds, and virtual goods--all of which, it seems, can also be shaped and formed by users. Also, you begin your time in the world as a happy piece of tofu and immediately wander into a room playing "Strawberry Fields Forever." From a personal aesthetic standpoint, I'm a very, very happy piece of tofu. From a content standpoint, as of this morning there were 7944 players (not sure if that's online or registered), 13,518 places, and 31 games--not a bad place to launch.
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