Access OpenSim Worlds By Web Browser -- Here's How (Updated With English Language Link, Additional Info)

What you're looking at above is the latest iteration of a groundbreaking technology: It's version 1.0 of the 3Di OpenViewer, which displays content from an OpenSimulator server grid on a standard web browser, either Firefox, or as above, Internet Explorer. I wrote about an early version of OpenViewer last September, and earlier this year, the Japanese firm developing it released a commercial version. I'm checking with my Japanese translator, but it looks like the OpenViewer is being used to demonstrate and sell real world retail products in a web-based environment. [Update: Not exactly, see Update below.]

However, evidently you can use OpenViewer to access any OpenSim server. That is, if you're willing to endure the tricky installation process. Zonja Capalini has all the details on Rezzable's blog, heavily referencing the instructions just published by "Zaki", who on his blog describes himself as a senior engineer working for 3Di. (He posted a pretty thorough write-up on developing OpenViewer here.) At the moment, the log-in process is rudimentary and not very pretty to look at (as this screenshot from Zonja attests), but the truly innovative thing is a viable means for using OpenSim without a large and separate client install. A working web browser version of OpenSim (or for that matter, Second Life) will almost certainly make the the mass adoption of the metaverse more likely. What's more, Zaki reports that the browser plugin will be "fully compatible" with OpenSimulator soon. If you do try it out, please report your experiences back here.

[Update below]

Update, 10:25AM: Here's 3Di's English-language page, describing the services promised by the OpenViewer browser plug-in, including education, real estate showcasing (as at left), and perhaps most interesting to the OpenSim community, import of 3D Studio Max files and server hosting: "3Di OpenSim is virtual worlds server software for the company or educational institution that wants to host their own virtual world." If and when an English-language version of the browser is successfully added, this will likely a gigantic leap for OpenSimulator development, and general interest in it. Thanks to my translator Sanny Yoshikawa for the tip, who translates the above video: "[A] customer avatar visits a virtual furniture shop and browses and then chats (greets) with a probable shop staff avatar.

Comments

[Opensource Obscure]

It appears to be a Windows-only solution.

Anyone has more information about Mac and Linux availability?

[soror nishi]

why am I not surprised...??...no Macs....

[Maria Korolov]

According to Zaki, the textures are currently pulled from 3Di's server, not the OpenSim region servers, so we're not seeing any textures come up. All avatars also show up as puffy clouds. You can't access inventory or do hypergrid teleports.

However, local chat and local, in-grid, teleports are already supported.

I'm optimistic about this one because it's got a company behind it that has a business model that depends on getting this working (they help companies set up virtual showrooms and facility tours). Having a working, public viewer should get them quite a bit of publicity -- and a ready user-base for their corporate customers.

-- Maria

[Valiant Westland]

I predict the 3Di Virtual World Web Plug-in is going to usher in a Tsunami of Virtual World adoption! I believe it also represents the single greatest competitive threat to Linden Lab’s Nebraska offering.

Although it is unlikely serious Virtual World users / “publishers” will adopt embedded technology as a replacement for a dedicated client anytime soon, it’s going to be a different story with corporate and casual users alike. Corporate clients who have been deterred by the onerous implementation and support challenges associated with dedicated VW client software will see a slip-streamed plug-in as a solution for Intraworld (Intranet + Virtual World) as well as customer-facing deployments.

Since most people are already comfortable downloading plug-ins like Flash for browsers, the barrier (”cost of entry”) to Virtual Worlds will be significantly reduced. The biggest challenge facing plug-in adoption will be server capacity. Any web site hosting a virtual world destination, risks crashing the target sim with a flood of web-directed plug-in-enabled visitors. The “perfect storm” for the adoption of browser-based (plug-in) 3D/Virtual World clients will happen when the plug-ins are simple to install and point to servers that can host multiple hundreds or even thousands of simultaneous connections.

Despite the 3Di announcement, the dream of having a ubiquitous, industry standard web interface for virtual worlds remains just that, a dream. My hope is that this announcement puts the competitive spurs to Linden Lab, Mozilla, Microsoft, OpenSim and the rest of the Virtual World industry, to develop and support this technology.

[Maria Korolov]

The 3Di OpenViewer is already available with an English interface - though it's in Japanese by default. I used it in English this weekend to visit OSGrid from the Web.

-- Maria

[Dusan Writer]

Valiant - you're kidding about support for THIS technology right?

The far bigger threat doesn't come from being able to access virtual worlds through the browser...that's simply an extension of the in-world experience. The bigger threat comes from 3D built IN to the browser, no plug-in required.

Why would you create a 3D experience using openSim or Linden Lab when you can build a similar experience natively? The virtual furniture showroom of the future will be facilitated because 3D is part of the browser architecture, not because you've built something on a sim somewhere and then let people basically stream it after downloading a plug-in.

Having said that, the idea of extending the experience of virtual worlds through different modalities of participation has merit - but plug-in free - video streams, Flash, whatever.

And finally - I don't think this is the competitive spur those guys need, frankly. What they need is "click here to broadcast" functionality not some sort of remote proxy log-in that does nothing to solve the concurrency issue.

Sorry - I'm just really skeptical that a plug-in is a solution - you still need to download something and so there's still a barrier to entry. I don't buy the argument that somehow a Web plug-in makes people feel any better than downloading a client - although was intrigued to see that the Lab has "light clients" on their agenda with their new VP of Web Experiences or whatever it is.

(P.S. Half the plug-ins I try to install on Google Chrome or Firefox take all kinds of extra steps to actually get them to work - even Acrobat gave me incredible trouble in Chrome. Not to mention that plug-ins do nothing to bypass the IT guys in enterprise, so it's not like you'll be accessing OpenSim from work because many IT departments won't allow random plug-ins in any case).

[Hamlet Au]

Conversely, however, the Flash plug-in has a 95% penetration rate across all PCs in the world. That and a few others like Quicktime are pretty much standard to the browsing experience.

I don't think plug-ins are the *only* solution, myself, we're seeing good adoptions for Free Realms, which is a download, but it's made not to *feel* like a download, because it loads and installs in the background while you're on the site creating your avatar and social network profile.

[Richard Meiklejohn]

I agree with Dusan, I still don't get the perspective of 'It runs inside the frame of the browser so it's OK' - if you tried surely you could turn the SL client into a browser plugin? However, if this plugin also proxies everything through port 80 then it would be a big step - it's still the case that companies keen to adopt VW technolgy have to tell their employees to use their shiny new virtual environments from home to avoid firewall issues.