Betterverse: Nonprofits in the Virtual World

Using JIBE to Enhance Adult Literacy (video)

 

John Lester of ReactionGrid passes along this video that shows how one program is using the JIBE virtual world platform to enhance their work with adult learners in rural Maine.  The RSU #3 Adult and Community Education program is using a variety of techniques to support adults seeking to improve their job skills and literacy skills , including the JIBE web-based virtual world.

I am intrigued by the accessibility and ease-of-use of JIBE, which runs on the Unity 3D engine and works with most standard web-browsers without a standalone client.  JIBE seems like an attractive virtual world solution for clients in a medium- to low-bandwidth environments.

That said, it's not clear from the video how the virtual platform differs from standard web pages or other media.  Are there educators and counselors on-call or holding office hours?  Do students meet with each other in-world?  Or is it about them being able to come to the space on their own time to practice skills and reinforce knowledge gained in other ways?  

Perhaps the educators could follow up in the comments with more information about this.

First Visit to Jibe Web-based Virtual World Platform

Yesterday, I finally got my computer to access the new Jibe virtual world platform, the latest offering from the Reaction Grid company.  Jibe is a platform for creating 3D virtual environments that are accessible from the web by any computer, using the Unity3D plug-in.

Among the main features of Jibe:

• Accessible via web browser on Windows and Mac machines. The company promises iPhone, iPad and Android compatility later this year.
• Supports import of 3D mesh objects using various common extensions.
• Log-in with Jibe system or 3rd party like FaceBookConnect.
• Capable of hundreds of concurrent users.
• Voice chat support via Vivox.

That all sounds impressive, but what is it like to be in-world?  Here's a video demo of my first foray into Jibe. 

 

I must say, I really enjoyed running around this space, created by Reaction Grid community director John Lester.  The surprise and fun of running into bouncing bunnies, fire breathing dragons, and crashed spacecraft reminded me of my first adventures in Second Life and Metaplace. 

The interface was totally intuitive, from text chat, movement, avatar selection, interacting with objects, and teleporting.  The camera controls were a bit janky, but I could get used to them.  Overall, a promising first visit. I'm looking forward to exploring and learning more, and attending my first virtual gathering in Jibe.

To check it out yourself, head to Pathfinder's world at this link.

Second Life the Social Network: Find Others Who Share Your "Interests" from the Web

In the increasing "Facebook"-ification of Second Life, you can now find others who share your "interests," whatever those might be from your Second Life web profile. Here's how:

1. Go to https://my.secondlife.com
2. Log-in with your user name and password
3. Edit your profile to add different "Interests"
4. Save your profile, then click on one of your interests to see who shares it.
5. Profit!

Previously, the "Groups" functionality served as a way of identifying those were interested in various subjects, whether it be cyberpunk, Japan or house music.  Now you can signal that not only to your Second Life friends but anyone else who finds you / your avatar on the web.

For nonprofit folks, this might be a another way to find others who are interested in your cause or issue.  Go ahead and add "nonprofit" and your relevant cause to your profile right now.

The Kitely "Virtual World-on-Demand" Service: A Quick, Cheap Virtual Event Space

I spent a few minutes today checking out the new "Kitely" virtual world on-demand service that recently launched in public beta.  For nonprofits and educators, Kitely presents a new option for holding virtual events for up to 100 avatars at a fraction of the cost it would take rent similar space in Second Life.

Here are some of the principal features:

• Inexpensive: Kitely charges based on a very reasonable $0.20 per user per hour. So a 100 person event that lasted an hour would cost just $20.  A similar event in Second Life might easily cost you hundreds of dollars to rent.  There is no setup fee, and a very modest storage fee.
• Web to World: You can provide a URL to your world, that will allow most users to access it within a few minutes.
• Rapid Sim Creation: Developers can import entire sims with all of their assets using the OAR archive function, which is widely used in OpenSim worlds already.  Free and inexpensive OAR files are also available on the web for a non-expert user to import for example an entire Mayan village or a science lab.  There is also a pre-made conference facility or you can start with a blank slate.
• FaceBook Identity Verification: Avatars are linked to actual Facebook accounts, which makes account creation just a matter of allowing the Kitely website to access your Facebook credentials.  Your users can access your world using their existing Facebook account, rather than go through a new account creation process. (NOTE: there is currently an issue with Mac users where their username and password are not being passed correctly to the SL viewer.)
• Cloud-based Service:  Kitely makes use of Amazon's cloud-computing server facilities, meaning that your world should load very fast, and then get archived when it is not in use.

Betterverse Updates for March 29: $1M for Language Learning, Facebook to OpenSim, Builtbuy.me Web Viewer

I have been traveling for a few days and haven't had time to report on the various exciting developments around the metaverse. Among the notable news items:

• Online UK school Language Lab receives $1 Million in funding to continue to develop their "English City" virtual language classes in Second Life.
• The nine finalists have been announced for the Federal Virtual World Challenge.
• Tipodean has launched the public beta of their web viewer for Second Life and OpenSim virtual worlds called, oddly, Builtbuy.me. 
• Kitely, a new cloud-based virtual world platform, opens in public beta.  Users can log-in using Facebook Connect!
• SmallWorlds releases a virtual "tancho cape" as a fundraiser for Japan earthquake victims

Whew! Did I miss anything?

Trying out Flickr Gettr in Second Life: An Ethereal, Underwater 3D Photo Gallery

 

Today I got some time to play with the very interesting Flickr Gettr tool in Second Life that I blogged up yesterday. I created this short video to show what it is like to bring Flickr images into a virtual space. Flickr Gettr is one of the best integrations of Web2.0 and virtual world technologies that I've seen in a long time.

As Draxtor's video described yesterday, Flickr Gettr, created by IDIA Lab, enables you to bring Flickr images into a beautifully rendered 3D gallery space.  The clicking on the central controls brings up a display showing current flickr tags being searched on by the device.  You type in a term in the text box at the top and hit the search button, which spins around the images in the circular gallery and re-renders new ones based on the search term you typed in. Meanwhile, two voices calmly read out recent search terms and gentle chimes play as each image is loaded.

It's a beautiful and calming exhibit that gives you the feeling of the images floating around you ethereally. The fact that the entire exhibit is underwater adds to the sensation of immersion and depth.  The overall effect is hypnotic and meditative.  Definitely worth a visit, with friends ideally.

Visit Flickr Gettr in Second Life at this teleport link. Flickr Gettr was developed by John Filwalk and Jesse Allison for IDIALAB at Ball State University.

New Series on Virtual Art & Design: a 3D Walk Through a Flickr Stream (video)

 

Machinima journalist Draxtor Despres tells me that he is launching a new series on art and design in virtual worlds.  As he describes it, he will profile "individuals that make up the creative class in Second Life: musicians, designers, activists just to name a few fields of user engagement."

Here's his first installment, that focuses on John Filwalk, one of the creators of "Flickr Gettr," an immersive device that creates a rich 3D experience of a flickr stream in a virtual world. Flickr Gettr was developed by John Filwalk and Jesse Allison for IDIALAB at Ball State University.

While not directly connected to nonprofits or social causes, efforts like "Flickr Gettr" do help us all to make a case for the power of virtual worlds to inspire awe and create impact on the participant.  Imagine an online class of 20 students all looking at images of "genocide" or "love" and discussing over chat what the images evoke for them. Or installing a Flickr Gettr in your virtual nonprofit's office as a way of showcasing what your members and supporters post about your work.

Can't wait for Draxtor's next installment!

Betterverse's 2010 Virtual World Year-in-Review: Downsizing, Teen Grid Merger, Web Integration...

The year 2010 was a rocky one for virtual worlds and the public interest, with some setbacks and obstacles, as well as exciting new developments and projects launching in the government, nonprofit and educational sectors.  As the year comes to an end, let's recap some of most dramatic developments and news in the metaverse.

Major Developments in 2010:

• The Web and Virtual Worlds Get Closer: This year, there was an exciting race among virtual world develoeprs to bridge the gap between the web and 3D virtual worlds. The company Rezzable was the first out of the gate in June with a working demo of a web viewer for their 3D world Heritage Key. They were soon followed by Blue Mars and Linden Lab who both demoed more technically sophisticated web viewers. Then in November, the company Tipodean announced their "Canvas" viewer that seemed to be the most accessible of all, working with both Second Life and OpenSim worlds.

• Linden Lab Announces Merger of Teen and Main Grids of Second Life: In August, Linden Lab announced that they were "closing" the Teen Grid and migrating some of the teens and the land to the Main Grid. While there are definitely downsides to the closure of this unique youth-led virtual space, on the whole I think there are more positives than negatives in this development. We'll see soon, when the teens get brought over in early January 2011!

• Blue Mars Launches : Blue Mars, from the company Avatar Reality, was the first major entrant in the public virtual world field for some time, launching in open beta at the end of 2009.  While not specifically geared toward the educator sector, Ball State University has been using the world platform to create 3D recreations of historic sites.
  

Testing Tipodean's New Canvas Web Viewer for Second Life / OpenSim (video)

Today I got to try out the alpha version of the Canvas virtual world viewer, a new entrant in the web-to-virtual world race created by the company Tipodean that we wrote about last week.

Chris Collins, CEO of Tipodean, sent me an invite and detailed instructions advising me of what to expect.  As it happened, my friend Draxtor Despres was in-world at the same time, also testing out the Canvas viewer from his end. So we decided to meet up and test it out together.

You can see from the slightly sped up video above that it went pretty well.  We were able to communicate via IM, walk around together, zoom in on objects, and even fly. There was a not unreasonable amount of rez time for the objects in the room. 

Some unexpected things did happen.  I sat on a chair and found myself in outerspace.  Later, you see me fall out of the window and manage to fly back up to the room that Draxtor was in. Still, overall it functioned smoothly and as expected.

Chris Collins says that the viewer can be easily customized for the individual, to show various info in the widgets around the main screen. Tipodean claims that in the "Friends" area you will be able to connect with people via your intranet or from an online social network, IM them and teleport them to your location.  And you can see a "voice disabled" link in the upper left corner, implying that voice chat will someday be possible in Canvas.

Tipodean's Canvas is not going to win any beauty contests, with no sculpties, no mesh and default avatars and terrain textures.  But definitely a competitive entrant in the field. I'm looking forward to testing it more and seeing the beta version.

[More posts on virtual world web integration here.]

Canvas Viewer Promises Virtual World Integration with Web, Facebook, Intranets

Hamlet Au at New World Notes gets the scoop on the new Canvas Viewer, a project of Tipodean Technologies, run by fomer Linden Lab staffer Chris Collins.  The latest offering in what we've been calling the "web-to-virtual world race," the Canvas Viewer joins Linden Lab, Rezzable and Blue Mars in creating a web-based virtual world experience that doesn't require downloading a separate application and has a simpler user interface.

Notable among this project is that it promises to be able to "embed into your own web properties like your intranet or facebook," that it can "runs on lower end machines and lower bandwidth" and is compatible with both Second Life and OpenSim platforms. Could this be the first cross-platform virtual world web viewer? 

Targetted at the government, military, education and private sectors, the company gives a number of intriguing examples of how their Canvas viewer might be used:

• Deploy immersive training systems to train on expensive, potentially dangerous equipment without putting lives or equipment at risk
• Immerse students in a highly collaborative and engaging environment
• Conduct conferences cost effectively and quickly, and if desired, with increased frequency
• Deliver training to staff in distributed locations

No video or other independent evaluation was available as of print time.  So we'll have to wait to find out how well the Canvas Viewer actual works.  But sounds quite promising, particularly integration with Facebook.

Imagine if a virtual world was integrated with Facebook Connect, allowing any Facebook user to visit your world using their existing Facebook account, and easily pull in their own social network?  This could open up virtual worlds to literally millions of new users.

[Hattip: New World Notes and original source.]

[More posts about virtual world web integration.]