The Kitely Revolution: An Easy, Cheap, Cloud-Powered Virtual World Hosting Service the "WordPress of OpenSim"

Kitely, a new OpenSim-based virtual world hosting service, is now available in Beta, and it's impressive and potentially transformative for a number of reasons:

• It's extremely quick and easy to use. Facebook Connect creates your account in seconds. A small plug-in downloads in a few more seconds, then when you want to enter a Kitely-hosted world, one button launches a Second Life-compatible viewer (or in my case, an official SL viewer.) I was able to create and enter the mini-world pictured above in under 3 minutes.
• It's very cheap. Kitely hosts and deploys OpenSim-based virtual worlds on Amazon's cloud service, which means for most use cases, it's many times cheaper than buying and running a Second Life sim. As a cloud-based service, you pay only for use, now billed at 20 cents an hour per user. So, for example, if you ran an in-world event for 50 people for an hour, that'd cost you just $10.
• It's easily shareable: You can share worlds as easily as you would a URL. So for instance, you can click this Kitely link and go directly to Andrek Lowell's world. (Where he has already figured out how to upload meshes.) Essentially, it's now as easy to share and enter an OpenSim-compatible world as it is with Second Life SLurl links.
• It's compatible with OpenSim files. When you create a world on Kitely, you can upload an OpenSim Archive (or OAR) file and instantly make that your world.    "[I] uploaded an OAR and was standing on my own sim in under 2 minutes," architect Jon Brouchoud tells me.   "I'm not aware of any other service quite so fast and easy for setting up a new sim... It's like being able to turn to a fresh page in a sketchbook any time you want to start brainstorming a new idea or project, with no waiting period or technical know-how required."

Brouchoud, who is a leading innovator in using virtual worlds for architecture, tells me he thinks Kitely is a big deal indeed:

Andrek Lowell uploads meshes into Kitely, as Bettina Tizzy looks on (Image source)

"I think this could be a good thing for the wider OpenSim ecosystem/community," Jon tells me. "I heard quite a bit of back-chat from people who had previously been somewhat intimidated by OpenSim, but were now able to set up their own sim and invite friends over in a matter of minutes. In that way, it seems like Kitely somehow demystifies, simplifies and speeds up the sim creation process, which I think will, at the very least, serve as a kind of gateway toward driving even more interest toward greater OpenSim adoption in general."

This isn't to say Kitely is the ideal solution for all instances. If you have a highly popular, well-monetized Second Life sim, for example Kitely is probably not for you (least not yet.) Jon Brouchoud puts it this way: "If hosting providers are the GoDaddy of OpenSim, it seems like Kitely is like the Wordpress. You can get a sim up quickly and easily, but if your project requires more back-end access and control, or you wish to incorporate your sim into a larger existing community/grid, then you're probably better off going with a hosting provider that can offer more personalized support and assistance."

I've often thought that OpenSim was a niche of a niche, but with Kitely, that may not be the case. It's easy to see more and more Second Life users willing to try OpenSim via Kitely -- or even move over to it from SL entirely. That in mind, I imagine New World Notes will be writing more about Kitely soon. Meantime, read this in-depth interview with Kitely CEO Ilan Tochner, from Hypergrid Business, and more analysis from SL/OpenSim developer Ener Hax.

Hat tip (and hug): Bettina Tizzy.

 

Comments

[Tinsel Silvera]

I agree with Jon, this is a big deal. Open Sim is now just a couple of clicks away. I cannot imagine the sim-on-demand possibly getting any faster or easier.

[Laetizia 'Tish' Coronet]

"Facebook Connect creates your account in seconds."
No it won't. I don't do Facebook.

[Ann Otoole InSL]

Where is your trademark white suit Hamlet?

[Ann Otoole InSL]

BTW I won't downplay the importance of this. But before it is really there we need intergrid content compatibility beyond mesh. Intergrid teleport would be nice too.

[Adeon Writer]

Awesome, except for the Facebook part. But this is cool enough that I'll violate their ToS and make an account under an alias. :/

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

Welcome to the pre-Beta shoals, Hamlet :)

/snark

Thank you for covering this. Given the OAR-upload ability here, it provides something I've only seen in the Openlife world, where they call it "scene flip." That feature lets a sim owner load up to 5 different versions of a sim with a one-button operation. Perfect for RP settings.

With Kitely, I could imagine an educator having several different OARs for different settings in a literary-studies course, then load a different one for each part of an assignment and have the actors and students meet.

So instead of "The Fall of The House of Usher," I could do Poe's Arthur Gordon Pym in all its cannibalistic glory, from the scenes on the ships to those in Antarctica.

I now see a reason to log into Facebook more than once every other week.

As for your trademark white suit, this new avatar is more Bryan Ferry than Tom Wolfe. Get your glam on, mister.

[Bavid Dailey]

It looks interesting , except for the facebook setup. I have asked on the website, if there is an alternative ...

[Arcadia Codesmith]

VERY interesting.

But if you've got a concurrency averaging 50 users for 24 hours, that's $240 a day.

One account botted 24/7 would cost $144 a month. It wouldn't take a lot of malice (or love, for that matter) to drive your bill into the stratosphere.

I don't foresee widespread adoption unless maximum charge per user per month would drops to $5-$10, with the infrastructure to collect a subscription fee/microtransactions/other revenue stream.

I see clear and wonderful applications for events at the current price point, just not a persistent virtual world.

[Rin Tae]

Those are the advancements that make me see more future in the OpenSim grid structure then in a walled garden like SL. The potential and also the market is much bigger and the application described here is one of the steps needed to make it wide spread.
It is however only a step on the long way to get there and it will need the ability to shared content and hypergrid like teleporting to really kick it of as a important part of the future internet. And to be honest ... I think that when this happenes, then it wont be a part of facebook, but facebook will be a part of it.
This might sound utopian but such virtual worlds (combined with foreseeable technological improvements) offer so much that there is a chance for a fundamental change in how the internet is being used.

On the other hand ... predictions are difficult. Especially about the future.

[Galatea Gynoid]

"I see clear and wonderful applications for events at the current price point, just not a persistent virtual world."

Precisely. It'd be a great for hosting meetings and setting up demos like some projects I've worked on in the past that would have been better off hosted on something like this than on a Second Life sim. A great place to work, but... not really a great place to *live*...

[Gabe]

Another huge step forward for virtual worlds.

The anti-Facebook crusaders of SL have devolved into a parody of themselves.

[Pathfinder]

I agree with Jon. This is a big deal for Opensim. Very impressive.

And if they eventually add hypergrid connectivity, then you've got something even *bigger*.

[Ciaran Laval]

Facebook connect makes it a no go for many, but the bigger issue is metered billing, that's going to put plenty of folk off, realistically for any sort of reasonable use by an organisation it's not going to be a lot cheaper than Second Life, if at all.

It is an interesting development but it needs more options.

[Laetizia 'Tish' Coronet]

Yeah Gabe, that is why Kitely is considering other connections instead of just Farcebook, right?

[AldoManutio Abruzzo]

Uhm, that metered billing is if you create and maintain a world...the visitors are not being billed.

This is a very intriguing possibility for those of interested in creating environments for exploration and experimentation, something that SL seemed to forget as they continued to make it difficult for serious art and education to take place?

[Arcadia Codesmith]

Facebook connectivity to an outside app can be achieved without exposing the Facebook identity.

I don't know if the Kitely worlds offer that option, but it has been done with some Facebook games.

I'd love to host a small world from my Facebook page that my friends could drop in on with no fuss or hassle, play some board games or just hang out and chat. I might give it a spin, if I can lock out access when I'm not there.

But I wouldn't build a general-access virtual world without pseudonymity... and without a reasonable flat-fee structure.

[Ananda]

This is pretty fascinating - I imagine they have figured out how to do what LL should have done *ages* ago - host sim environments only when there is someone to occupy them? That's definitely a step in the right direction. I don't see how this could be considered "cheap" in any sense, more like it would encourage people to treat it like a cellular phone service and hang up the call as fast as possible. If you had people hanging around after hours it would rather quickly end up a lot more expensive than Linden Lab hosting.

[Corcosman Voom]

Well, this did answer one obviouse question I had when I looked at Kitely's home page. Yes, you can have more than one avatar at a time in there. That wasn't obvious on their home page.

[ColeMarie Soleil]

Thank you Gabe. Its kind of sad really.

[Ilan Tochner]

@Arcadia Codesmith

When you want to share your virtual world you can click Edit and select which group of your Facebook friends are allowed to enter it. Once you want to stop allowing people to enter it you simply need to click Edit again and change access back to "Just Me".

[Arcadia Codesmith]

Ah, okay. I'll have to look into it. I have a project in mind that might be a good fit for this platform.

[Ann Otoole InSL]

$6000+ a month for a busy sim in Kitely. (40 users 24*7) What a laugh. I predict massive investor fail.

[Robustus Hax]

That actually just shows you the quirks in the Linden system as currently set up. In SL everyone shares the costs for the one out of every so odd sims that actually has 40 people on it day or night, as opposed to people who use their sim lightly. If you are a light user you are not going to be paying more than SL tier.

[Hunt]

Been reading a number of blogs on this and there seems to be more than the charges that need making clear.(when you look at their credit page it has two user prices - $0.75 users per minute and $0.45 per hour, but $0.20per hour on the front page. Confused)
No contact information on their website, no Terms of Service. Even though by using their site you agree to the ToS.

"By using this site, you signify your acceptance of this policy and our terms of service. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our site. Your continued use of the site following the posting of changes to this policy will be deemed your acceptance of those changes."

How do you agree to something that is not there :-P

Also with no contact details how can you be sure your content is safe, how would you do a DMCA or report inappropriate behavior? Can other viewers be used?

The Facebook login doesn't bother me too much, apart from what are we giving Kitely access to?

[Ilan Tochner]

Hi Hunt,

Our pricing is the standard "if you buy more we'll give you a better rate".

The specifics are explained in the table from which you quoted:
Pay 5$ get 600 KC (i.e. it'll cost you $0.45 per hour)
Pay 20$ get 4,000 KC (i.e. it'll cost you $0.30 per hour)
Pay 100$ get 30,000 KC (i.e. it'll cost you $0.20 per hour)

You’re right, our business, operations and development are not ready for prime time yet. We’re just 2 guys working from home who had just made their public website available and were swept by some very welcome traction waaaay sooner than they had expected. We were sure we would have a lot of time to take care of all the missing pieces before anyone noticed us and now that we’ve gone viral we’re trying to do a million things at once and a lot of urgent tasks are still pending. I’ve already included the spirit of our terms of service in our FAQ but you’re right that that is not our legal agreement.

I appreciate your privacy concerns but more than 600 million people share the Facebook information you mentioned with the millions of websites that use Facebook Connect without ever installing anything from us. Every time someone presses a “Login with Facebook” button anywhere on the net they are sharing that information and sometimes a lot more.

Our account creation process only asks that you give Kitely access to your basic profile information so we can automatically create your account. We ask for access to your groups information so we can allow you to select which one you wish to give access to a world.

As for DMCA takedown notices, I practically live inside our support forums and have been answering people’s questions and requests for days. If you want to find me then that is where to do so. Our support page enables you to send me private messages. I know that is not the legal requirement for DMCA. We’ll get to it once we have a proper office in place.

We are currently subsidizing everybody’s usage, if our free service isn’t appealing enough for you to use then continue using what does suit your needs and, hopefully, you’ll be willing to give us a try once we’ve taken care of everything your cautious about.