Virtual Worlds News

VW Expo Preview: Open-Source, Interoperable Virtual Worlds

Want to know where open-source, interoperable virtual worlds are headed? You're in luck!  In a freshly added panel to take place at Virtual Worlds Expo we welcome four leaders in the space to discuss (and debate) the future of open-source virtual worlds.  The open-source session at Virtual Worlds 2008 was standing-room-only so we expect this session to generate just as much interest.

4:00 - 5:00 pm Thursday, September 4, 2008 in the Future of Virtual Worlds track:
Open-Source, Interoperable Virtual Worlds
Support for standardisation in Virtual World technologies has been growing steadily in recent times, join the developers of OpenSim and industry commentators as they discuss where Open Source virtual worlds are heading and the progress made towards standard protocols for interoperability.  Speakers include:
- Adam Frisby, Director, DeepThink (and OpenSim Developer)
- Tish Shute, Journalist, Ugotrade.com
- Mic Bowman, Principal Engineer, Intel
- Justin Clark-Casey, OpenSim Developer, IBM

Xivio Signs Crisp Thinking for Online Child Protection

Kids world Xivio has partnered with Crisp Thinking to provide extra protection and moderation for live chat through the latter's NetModerator technology after, according to the press release, experiencing record growth in the last 60 days. Many youth-oriented worlds provide their own, in-house safety teams,  but with so many worlds hitting the market, often as startups, I'd imagine there's an increasingly large market for third-party providers like this.

“Increased usage of social networks and virtual communities is putting web site moderators under immense pressure to identify and track inappropriate content and potentially harmful relationships. Xivio is amongst the first to recognize that this will only increase exponentially. Crisp’s NetModerator will dramatically enhance Xivio’s ability to police their site effectively,”  Andrew Lintell, Chief Executive of Crisp Thinking, said in a statement.

Who's New to Virtual Worlds - June 30, 2008, Wrap Up

Cigna is launching GET (go, experience and thrive) in Second Life to educate consumers about healthcare. More info.

Slim Jim's main website has been taken over by the virtual world/casual game Spicy Town. More info.

NaCo USA, a Latino-focused clothing brand, has launched a campaign to sell virtual clothing in and real clothing through There.com. More info.

Massively Me Announces Kids World, Kiwi Heroes

Massively Me announced on Friday its upcoming kids and young teens virtual world, Kiwi Heroes. The world, now accepting beta registrations, will feature gameplay around special powers, group and solo activities, and community features. As with several other upcoming or recently launched youth titles, Kiwi Heroes will feature a green slant and educate children about "environmental issues, wildlife preservation and other global concerns." Company founders will also launch the nonprofit Every Kid’s A Hero Foundation alongisde Kiwi Heroes later this year.

"It’s our goal through both the game and the foundation, to teach kids that anyone can make a difference in the world and that big or small, true heroes are defined by their actions,"  Mark Wadden, one of Massively Me’s founders and lead architect of Kiwi Heroes, said in a statement. "It’s about empowering kids to protect the world they live in and to reach out to others in need. The world could use a few more heroes."

Pelican Crossing Announces Blink 3D 2.0

Pelican Crossing announced today the an update for its virtual worlds development platform in Blink 3D 2.0. The new release also comes with the InDuality plugin, Pelican's browser-based viewer for virtual worlds. The alpha release, which I checked out at last year's Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo, let users browse beterrn  Club Penguin, Blink and X3D worlds, and Second Life. The current release only supports Blink media, though the company plans to expand its support with future releases.

Postbank Generated 400k Views in Habbo Hotel

Postbank shared some of the results from its campaign in Habbo Hotel at Brand and Games last weekend. The case study presentation [PDF] is in Dutch, but Digado notes that the campaign drew "a million participants at the live event, 130.000 user created ‘machinimas’ (movies) and 400.000 views." We recently spoke with Jeremy Monroe, Director of Business Development, Sports & Entertainment, North America, about what it takes to make a successful campaign in Habbo Hotel. One of the biggest aids is to simply work alongside the existing interests of the users. There's plenty of possibility, though.

"Integration of a campaign/concept in Habbo is possible for nearly everything, even banking products," concluded Postbank. "It’s about using an innovative and creative approach towards your customers in collaboration with Habbo." [via Digado]

Trilogy Studios Working on Dreamworks Virtual World

Trilogy Studios CEO Michael Pole was briefly profiled in the LA Times last week. Concluding the article was a look at thing to come: "A project with DreamWorks and a virtual world with celebrity musicians." Trilogy lists DreamWorks as one of its past clients, but I hadn't heard about future work. It's not clear what the project will focus on, but Trilogy has a blog post in its media center noting the success of DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda on the opening weekend and DreamWorks announced a toy-based online experience for its upcoming Madagascar sequel at this year's Toy Fair.

As for the music-themed world, Pole told us almost a year ago that ""Some of the ideas we have there will redefine the category. Let's just say that we think that limiting an audience to site-based locations is thinking small. We think you need to open up the site-based experience across the globe. Imagine a concert that might take place in Wembley Stadium. I don't know how many it holds, but one of our ideas is to take that concert and channel that across the world."

Christian Renaud Leaves Cisco

Christian Renaud announced via his blog on Friday that he was winding down his last day as  chief architect of Networked Virtual Environments for the Cisco Technology Center. Renaud will be starting his own company as well as helping two other startups bring their technologies to market. While still praising Cisco, Renaud explained that "It is time to Invent and Create again, however this time outside of the comfortable embrace of a large corporate sovereign."

He hasn't said what his new work will involves, so it's unclear if Renaud will be continuing to work in the virtual world. His insight has always been valuable, though. So for a look back at some of the highlights, check out his predictions from a year ago into the future of virtual worlds, his thoughts on working green by using virtual worlds, a conversation between Renaud, Reuben Steiger, and Byron Reeves about work and virtual worlds, and the audio from his keynote on the state of the industry at 2007's Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo.

CRD's Robert Lai Passes Away

I am very saddened to share that 賴志迢 Chi Tau Robert Lai (photo) died several days ago. Robert was the Chief Scientist, with the Beijing China Recreation District (CRD). From what I understand from CRD officials, he died in his sleep on June 25.  This post is both personal and news to the industry and I share it with a heavy heart.  From an industry point of view Robert has been for many the public voice of the CRD.  He was very active on a worldwide basis promoting the CRD's activities, exploring new technologies for the CRD's adoption and facilitating CRD strategic partnerships.  I did not know Robert for long. I met him last year.  But in rather short order we crosses paths several times during the year.  I was delighted to have him speak at Virtual Worlds Expo last year in San Jose.  However, I really got to know him personally as his guest in Beijing.  He as a very kind and generous host and went out of his way to make sure my first visit to Beijing was memorable and remarkable - showing me the city, the food, the countryside and the culture. Robert will be remembered for his love of life. I am sorry to have lost a friend. 

I'm Traveling for Two Weeks

Tomorrow morning I'm heading out for a bit of a vacation to Seoul. I'll still be blogging and checking email, so if you have any news tips, announcements, or anything else you need to get to me, please email instead of calling. Also, if anyone is planning on making big announcements, I'd, as always, love to hear about them under embargo, especially if you can give me a little lead time to work around the time difference.

I'll be back Stateside on July 13, though, for the YPulse Mashup, where I'll be moderating what should be a  great panel on "Brand Engagement in Virtual Worlds for Youth" with Lauren Bigelow (General Manager, WeeWorld), Teemu Huuhtanen (President, North America, Sulake (Habbo)), Craig Sherman (CEO, GaiaOnline), and Michael Wilson (CEO, There.com). If anyone wants to meet up at the show, just let me know. Until then, 안녕히 가세요 (at least according to Google).