New World Notes

Open Forum: What Are Your Virtual World & AR/VR Predictions For 2020?

Happy New Year, all! Once again it's time to think about the virtual world road ahead with predictions -- the more specific, better. I'll start:

• Magic Leap will fold.
• There will be a major corporate transition by Linden Lab -- possibly a change in executive leadership, a substantial round of lay-offs, or even a sell-off of Sansar.
• We will see at least one Second Life-type virtual world (monetizeable user-generated content in an open world with collaborative content creation) reach six figures in monthly active users.

So two pessimistic predictions plus an optimistic one. How about you? Post away, and I'll feature the most noteworthy next year.

My 8 Very Favorite "Nylon Pinkney is Online" Comics of 2019

Background story here.

Much more Nylon below!

My Top 15 Most Read & Shared Posts on AI, VR & Virtual Worlds for 2019

Roughly in chronological order:

From "Afrofuturist Artist Creates Stunning Portraits Of Black Artists With Deep Dream AI Algorithms"

Watch: Machine Learning Music Composed From Re-Synthesized Fragments From 100s Of Terabytes Of LA Phil Recordings

From "Watch: Interview With Ebbe Altberg On The Future Of Second Life & Sansar"

From "Things We Lost In The Flood: A New, Massively Multiplayer Loneliness Simulator Where Players Can Only Share Messages In Bottles With Each Other -- And If Enough Players Win, Self-Destructs"

Many more below!

Cajsa's SL Flickr Pics: Favorite Virtual World Photos for Christmas Week

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

I love Shivren’s reminder that Christmas Down Under is very different from Christmas up north. It is just such a fun, cheeky photo and a perfect introduction to a look at some of my favorite Christmas screenshots from Second Life.

Nekotto gives us a kawaii Christmas with Santa’s elves and the avatar in a drum major’s uniform. I love how the subject is the focal point from which everything radiates.

My Favorite 20 Posts of Cajsa's Choices of SL Flickr Photographers for 2019

From "The Moody, Cinematic Screenshots Of RAI"

As a visual treat for the holiday week, here's 20 of my personal favorite posts this year from the indispensable Cajsa's Choices column, highlighting the best Second Life photos and SL-based images on Flickr, as curated and reviewed by metaverse maven Cajsa Lilliehook. (In no particular order.) 

• The Stunning SL Action Scenes Of Marino Sandalwood
• Leonorah Beverly Shoots Stunningly Composed Photos
• Nekotto’s Lushly Detailed Slice Of Virtual Life Images
• Evie Heights Shoots Second Life With Surprising Angles

From "The Marvelous Metaverse Still Lifes Of Melusina Parkin"

Many more below!

No, Making a Baby Yoda in Second Life Without Disney's Permission Isn't Actually Fair Use (Comment of the Week)

When I wrote about the sudden spike in Baby Yoda content on Second Life's marketplace last week, I ironically closed by saying they were on sale now "[u]nless or until Disney's lawyers deploy a totally uncool interpretation of fair use fan art". I.E., uncool in the sense that it would probably stand up in a court of law.  As reader Zoey explains:

This wouldn't be a fair use, it in no way is for a transformative purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody or even for educational use, The only purpose is for the creators to make money off a copyrighted item which is not fair use at all. This would fail in court in at least 2 of the 4 factors. Factor 1 Transformative: being the purpose and character of your use, being you are taking a copyrighted figure to make Money. and Factor 3 Substantial of the Portion Taken, its a 100% copy of the copyrighted material with no changes. It's not a totally uncool interpretation of fair use for Fan Art. The creators are profiting off or have the potential to profit by cashing out on a copyrighted character.

Fan Art is drawing your own interpretation of a character and posting it, not selling it for profit. IF I turn around and made my own Baby Yoda fan comic and sold it I would be sued to death by Disney and rightfully so. IN order to rightly create and sell a Baby Yoda product in any medium one has to get permission from the copyright holder period.

I am not a lawyer but that all sounds about right, except possibly the "sued to death" part -- a takedown request to Linden Lab (in the SL Baby Yoda case) or a stern letter from Disney's lawyers is way more likely. (Ask the creators of an SL community for Frank Herbert's Dune.) And in any event, Fair Use is not an instant bullet proof defense. As the lawyer for a major game company once told me, "If you want to end up in court, claim fair use."

Oh yeah, another slight demur to Zoey's comment: Even getting permission from the copyright holder might not protect you. Ask a YouTuber named Toos:

Cajsa's SL Flickr Pick: Leone33 Resident Creates Beautifully Varied Images

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

“Smoke Woman” by Leone33 Resident is a romantic photo with the lovely avatar becoming smoke. The black and white color scheme makes its form more dramatic. It is just one of the many striking and varied images in Leone33 Resident’s photostream which is full of experimentation.

Top 7 Posts Last Week, Including A Snowcrash Streaming Series, An Argument Over the Mistake of Mesh in SL, and a Father-Son Virtual World Bond

• Daz 3D’s Hyper-Realistic Avatars & Accessories Now Available In Sinespace
• The Most Heroic Second Life Fashionista In The Virtual World
• Radio, Remembered: Father Who Lost His Beloved Virtual Art In Second Life Finds Them Again -- Recreated In Fortnite By His Son
• Yes, You Can Buy A Baby Yoda In Second Life (Until Disney Doesn't Buy Baby Yoda Even Being There)
• Was Second Life's Move To Mesh A Mistake?
• Boneworks Physics Game Beats Beat Saber As Reigning VR Only Champ On Steam, Sells 200K+ Copies
• Snowcrash Set To Become HBO Max Streaming Series, Will Ironically Compete With Actual Metaverses For Viewers

Daz 3D’s Hyper-Realistic Avatars & Accessories Now Available in Sinespace

Screenshot taken in Sinespace with no post-processing - click for detail!

As Forbes just reported, Daz 3D, the world’s largest 3D character and outfit library, has become a developer and content vendor on the platform of NWN media partner Sinespace. (Shop page for Daz Originals here.) Used in the making of movies like Captain America and Iron Man, you may have seen Daz 3D-based character models in “Is she real or digital” viral social media posts. 

This is the first time Daz characters are accessible to consumers outside the rendering software and in a virtual world as playable, customizable avatars. (Watch the video above.) 

Daz 3D’s high poly count models (with millions of polygons) are optimized for use in a multiplayer game space. The Sinespace team tells me all clothing in Sinespace is compatible with these avatars, as they are using the world’s morph feature, which can be further customized -- also they will soon enable the Daz models’ original 4K resolution for maximum realism for screenshots, etc.  

Just for the holidays, Sinespace is offering a special 500 Gold giveaway to twenty New World Notes readers who want to buy Daz items and other cool content in the shop, such as discount items during Sinespace’s Winter Sale -- details below:

The Most Heroic Second Life Fashionista in the Virtual World