Second Life avatars get their biggest change in years

Tags

anouncement, avatars, improvements

Today Linden Lab announced ‘Project Bento’, the biggest change in Second Life avatars in years.

One of the things Second Life offers like almost nobody else is the freedom to change and personalise your avatar pretty much without limits, now they are making this easier and are going us even more options.

I quote from the Second Life website announcement;

We are introducing extensions to the standard Second Life Avatar Skeleton that give you dozens of new bones to support both rigging and animation, and accompanying new attachment points! This extended skeleton, which is fully backward compatible with existing avatars, rigging and animation, gives creators the power to build more sophisticated avatars than ever before. The skeleton extensions include:

• 11 extra limb bones for wings, additional arms, or extra legs.
• 6 tail bones
• 30 bones in the hands (all 10 fingers!)
• 30 bones for facial expressions
• 2 other new bones in the head for animating ears or antennae
• 13 new attachment points associated with the new bones

We’ve developed all this in collaboration with many expert Resident content creators and with the developers of the most popular tools for creating avatars and animations, so there will quickly be versions of those tools you can use to help take advantage of these changes. There is also some demo content already available.

I think this is interesting news, quite a few people seem to think Second Life will be neglected now Linden Lab is working on Project Sansar, but this clearly shows they are still putting a lot of work into improving their first-born.

Another thing I like is that they aren’t releasing this yet, but first want us to testrun these new features and let them know what we think.

I quote again;

The avatar skeleton changes introduced by Project Bento are not yet final because we want your feedback, either in the Creation Forum or in JIRA. To experience the changes, you’ll need to download the Project Viewer and upload any content using the new skeleton extensions to the Aditi Beta Test Grid (most regions on the Beta Test Grid will allow this; some may be in use for other testing and not yet have these updates). Once we have finalized the skeleton extensions, we will enable uploads using them to the main Second Life grid and the real fun can begin!

You can read the entire announcement by clicking here.

And check out this enticing video made by Gaia Clary;

show #98: qarl is back!

The latest Drax Files radio hour show;

the drax files radio hour

show #98

former linden lab star qarl [creator of sculpties among many other things] is back outside of vr and all that but nonetheless mind-boggling stuff = an ai paint engine.

enjoy the conversation and share your thoughts on the end of all human art:

• the origin of pikazo = neural networks! [and an interesting motherboard article on the matter]

qarl and partner noah rosenberg at nyc founder night

•  pikazo in the news & in the news again & in the app store

the source = hannah radcliff portrait source painted by martha iller

hannah radcliff in the style of a portrait made by another painter

• qarl’s book “musements” on amazon

drax avatar with “make sl great again” hat

• pikazo speaks for itself through the pictures of its users [mostly selfies for whatever reason…]:

helen peck in the style of a nice fabric

thomas pipia in the style…

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The Drax Files: World Makers. Episode 34: Cheeky Pea

Tags

cheeky pea, drax files

Draxtor Despres has released another wonderful short documentary about one of Second Life’s residents; Cheeky Pea.
You’ll find the video at the bottom of the page.

Draxtor writes;

The mainstream media likes to point out how “living online” destroys relationships in the “real” world but for one American-Scottish couple the virtual world of Second Life became a facilitator: a conduit to finding each other’s “soulmate”.

“You can absolutely tell who someone is by meeting their avatar in SL” says 3D designer Isla Gealach , who moved in with Ewan Mureaux two years ago after having met almost 8 years ago online.

Ewan, who makes a living doing land deals and writing scripts in Second Life, points out that by allowing to freely use an avatar identity as proxy for communicating, Second Life is unique in the category of social networks: “…it can cut through societal constraints and gets more to the heart of who you are!”

Completing the Edinburgh based family is Isla’s daughter who at 9-years of age has a solid grasp of the concept of virtual goods. No surprise there, since her mother makes her income by selling home and garden accessories via the Cheeky Pea brand.

The perceived esoteric nature of her work prompts Isla to use the term intangible rather than virtual when put on the spot about her profession: “I always respond to skeptics by saying that I make environmental spaces where the experience and the memories people have with my products are real!”

“As real as anything else!” says Ewan Mureaux.

And, suddenly, there is virtually nothing more to add…or is there?

For more information on Cheeky Pea check out http://cheekypeasl.com/

+++++++++

Special thanks to Moriko Inshan whose beautiful “Cherished” sim [http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife…] played backdrop to the ending of this episode.

Dark version of a dystopian VR future

Tags

3dar, Federico Heller, virtual reality, VR

The well known (and excellent) website ‘Road to VR’ has just published a story about a video made by Federico Heller of production team 3dar that is rather interesting.

It is about the future where VR junkies are addicted to VR and their dependence on it is abused by a third party.

Go ahead and watch it here, spoilers follow below the video.

 

Spoiler alert.

I rather enjoyed the video, as someone who spend 4 years in film school and a few years making film & TV, I was impressed with how well it was made.
I can enjoy a film simply based on technicalities.

At first I felt a bit defensive, because I consider myself to be  VR junkie already, or, like many people, at least a computer & TV addict.
How many people spend almost every available free moment behind a screen?
Yet my house looks pretty decent!
And I still have a social life.
So seeing people obsessed with VR being shown as social outcasts who live in squalor and filth, made me grumble.

But that is of course not quite the subject of the film.

This story is about the state (I assume) abusing those who spend lots of time in VR as entertainment to fight their (very) dirty war.
Connecting their avatar to an actual robot warrior somewhere across the world.

I find this a very realistic scenario and would not be surprised if in the future this is something that actually will happen.
After all nobody wants to risk the lives of their own soldiers and what we do with drones today will one day be possible with robots.
Putting metal boots on the ground.

However, I fear that the state will not have to fool VR junkies into doing this.
Maybe I am too cynical and have too little faith in mankind, but I reckon that they can just recruit gamers.
If a country would offer its civilians the ultimate VR experience, a very exciting combat game that also could be considered as patriotism, doing your bit for freedom and democracy and that could involve a salary or possibly prizes and awards… people would come running.
No need to fool them, no need to mask the reality.
Countless people would enjoy playing this ‘game’ of war even if they knew the people they were shooting were real, as long as they don’t get hurt themselves.
And perhaps most shocking of all, would be that most of these soldiers would be kids.
A battle half way across the world could end abruptly as half the soldiers of one side have to go to bed as it is a ‘school night’.

Anyway, enough dark thoughts.

An interesting video.

And what do you think about the VR device?
A little nose ring…

Make sure you check out more information about it here on the ‘Road to VR’ website.

 

show #97: lab chat response

The latest Drax Files Radio hour is here;

the drax files radio hour

show #97

a brief show in response to the emotionally charged comment threads which started after the first lab chat broadcast…who would have expected that a few were of the nasty kind?

enjoy out post mortem analysis:

and just handful of links this week as we are out the door already:

• ciaran laval is writing on the issue

lab chat crowd – darn big

• and a few other blog posts [from canary and one from loki eliot] on lab chat
• the official videos of lab chat on the sl yt channel

• luca grabacr made another great video

the drax files radio hour [with jo yardley] is a weekly production of basicdrax entertainment.

the show is supported by maven homes, gizza creations, botanical, strawberry singh, abranimations, aeros avatars, kahruvel design, giant snail races every saturday, avacon, the cube republic, fatewear by damien fate, the avazines publication family, {what next}, bright…

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My Pinkney Portrait

Tags

art, Nylon Pinkney, portrait

Nylon Pinkney is a well known Second Life artist who makes clothes, skins, accessories and wonderful portraits of avatars.
Click here to check out her flickr page.

She also has a great sim called Tableau where you can go and have a look at some of her art, shop and go exploring.

When I saw the Drax Files episode about her, I was very impressed and wanted one of those portraits.
You can see the episode at the bottom of this article.

Today I received it and I love it!

If you want an original Pinkney portrait, check out her website by clicking here.
I reckon they make great presents for the coming holidays or perhaps a rezday or sim anniversary!

show #95: lab chat

A Drax Files Radio Hour show about our first Lab Chat episode!
Missed it? Hear it here.

the drax files radio hour

show #95

we are broadcasting a the premiere of a new show on this show to simply show that sl is vr and sl culture is alive and well.

enjoy and congrats to jo, saffia and ebbe for an engaging conversation:

and if you want to get your questions in for the next show, keep watching the forums, read on the official lab chat blog, like the show on fb and follow on twitter.

below a few snaps made during the broadcast [ebbe looks good in his new av!]:

torley in audience disguised as crazy cat lady

lab chat streaming in

lab chat logo hanging on battery street

audience through the looking glass

behind the scenes are glitches

another nice one from torley

torley shot this wide one

green dots

lab chat full house

lab chat logo testing for intro sequence

the drax files radio hour [with jo…

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Linden Lab decreases land setup fees!

Tags

"second life", linden lab, setup fees, tier

Today Linden Lab announced that they have lowered the land setup fees!

I quote from the announcement on the SL website;

Decreased Land Set-Up Fees and Changes to Transferring Regions

by Linden Lab on ‎11-17-2015 08:00 AM

We are pleased to announce two changes that make it less expensive to get your own Private Island in Second Life!

Price Drop for Land Set-up Fees

Effective immediately, all new Private Island set-up fees are up to 40% cheaper! Whether you’re looking to expand your estate or just getting started with your first Private Island, it’s a great time to buy.

Here are the new, reduced set-up fees:

• Full Private Island  – previously $1000, now $600
• Developed Full Private Island – previously $1029, now $629
• Homestead Private Island – previously $375, now $225
• Developed Homestead Private Island – previously $395, now $250
• Openspace Private Island – previously $250, now $150

Qualified educational and nonprofit organizations will continue to receive a 50% discount off the applicable set-up fee (as well as 50% off ongoing maintenance fees). For more information about our discount program, please visit this page.

If you have paid a region set-up fee in the past 14 days, you will receive the difference in fees back as a credit (in US Dollars) to your account balance.

I think this is a very, very good idea.
The costs of land have in the past stopped me from expanding my project and I am sure it has kept many from even starting one.

It will make things just a bit more attractive for people to take that big step and start their own sim.

I have suggested lowering and even scrapping these setup fees in the past and am happy this is now happening.

I  don’t want to be rude and look a gift horse in the mouth but I still think it is too expensive,  $600 bucks is a lot of money especially as the tier remains the same and we still don’t have the option to for instance buy half or even a quarter of a sim, or maybe sims that are only online in the weekends.
Something I’ve also suggested in previous posts here and here.

But nevertheless it is a great step in the right direction and it makes things a lot more attractive for those of us owning sims and wanting to expand and those who are thinking about starting their own sim.

And who knows, maybe more news like this will follow and other prices might start going down as well.
I for one am keeping my fingers crossed.

Let’s see if the amount of regions, which dipped below 25.000 recently, will now go up again.

 

show #94: what happened in dublin…

Another Drax Files Radio Hour episode, from Dublin!

the drax files radio hour

show #94

back from the dublin web summit, where vr was just one tiny portion of this gigantic and [for exhibitors] pricey pitch-fest.

while many “solutions” of the alpha crowd seem anachronistic and in the worst case bizarre, there were fabulous panels, great guinness and free wifi on the public bus.

there was also, ebbe linden, a sansar clip and a great browser based vw called beloola.

enjoy and make sure you listen until the very end of the show:

and now watch and read some more:

web summit at royal dublin society

• controversy [cat-fight between paddy and admins] about dublin 2015 leads to lisbon 2016 = more info from belfast paper

drax’ imagined ride to and fro the summit

drax’ rl ride to the summit

• one cool startup from israel = roadwarez [separate interview coming soon]
• video from web summit is available on the web & palmer luckey starts…

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The Guardian podcast about Web Summit, with Ebbe Altberg

Tags

"second life", ebbe altberg, ebbe linden, empathy, guardian, interview, media

The Guardian newspaper published a podcast about the 2015 Web Summit under the title; ‘Is Virtual empathy the ghost in the machine for AI?’.

The subject is quite interesting, presenter Nathalie Nahai and her guests Oren Frank from Talkspace; Rana el Kaliouby from Affectiva and Ebbe Altberg, CEO of Linden Lab, talk about;

Could machines ever understand us emotionally? How much is technology already affecting our cognitive abilities, mental wellbeing and emotional lives? And as our personal and emotional experiences migrate to alternate platforms, VR, mobile, and others, will empathy be lost in an AI world?

You can listen to the entire 35 minute podcast on the Guardian website by clicking here.
Ebbe’s chat starts at 17.30