New World Notes

Watch: Drone Footage of Real World Converted Into Virtual World Through Gaussian Splatting

Remember HoloBike from Saga, a new indie project which recently launched a Kickstarter, raising 4x its target goal? It basically integrates a virtual world with an exercise bike -- without needing a VR headset. 

Courtesy founder/lead engineer Samuel Matson (who last worked in Google's VR division), here's some video which shows how Saga intends to create that virtual world. What you're looking at above was actually first captured by a drone in the real world, with an algorithmic process which converted it into this virtual scene:

 

RP1 Metaverse Browser Demo Happening Live Now -- VR Not Required!

Happening right now, enter here. I believe it'll be live until 1pm PT, so hurry! You can enter via your web browser and get the full spatial audio effect with a headset.  (I just did that myself, as did about a couple dozen other people that I saw.) The graphics are rudimentary, but the live social audio and the scale is impressive.

They're calling it an "AWE Afterparty", because it's a live demo of what they showed off at the Augmented World Expo a few weeks ago. As I wrote then:

The Metaverse Only "Failed" For Those Who Don't Understand the Concept

I just had a long and fascinating interview with Matthew Ball, who has a greatly updated version of his book The Metaverse, now subtitled Building the Spatial Internet, coming out on on July 23. I'll publish that soon, but meantime, here's Matt's interview with two people who've been building the foundation of the Metaverse since the 90s -- Epic's Tim Sweeney, and of course, literal Neal Stephenson.

There's much too much too summarize in a post here, but one highlight is how much the actual conceivers of the Metaverse, both as an idea and as an actual product, are confident about its underlying thesis. The only thing that's "failed" since the recent backlash against the term is the straw man version that had little relation to what was actually described back in 1992.

As Sweeney puts it:

SL Mobile App Downloaded Over 20,000 Times In First 3 Weeks, Reaching Roughly 1 in 3 of Total Qualifying Users

That was fast.  Since launching on June 25, Second Life's mobile app for iOS and Android has been downloaded well over 20,000 times. That's a safe estimate, because Google Play now lists the Android version of the app as having over 10,000 downloads, and smartphone usage between iOS and Android typically skews 50/50, very roughly speaking. Based on previous reporting, I'd estimate iOS/Android ownership among SLers skews about 60/40, so estimating 20,000+ is on the conservative side.

Notably, that's double the Google Play downloads from only last week.

Also notable: Only Premium/Premium+ users can currently use the app, so quite a lot of them have installed the mobile app:

 

Stunning Second Life Landscape Photos by Sandy Philipp -- And Teleport Links to These Locations!

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

Sandy Phlipp’s “Misty Mountains” is a stunning picture. I love how the sun shines through the clouds and the between the long needles on that evergreen that has grown sideways under the pressure of constant mountain winds. I love the detail of the birds flying above the tree, into the sunlight. Though this is a more rugged scene, the clouds and the light in this picture remind me of John Constable’s landscapes. But you can go an visit this place. [To teleport, click here]

Thanks, Domitalia Jinx, for recommending her. If other readers have recommendations, please let me know. 

For more fabulous landscapes, click here:

Open Forum: What Amazingly Artistic SL Flickr Creators Should Cajsa Cover in Her Column?

After covering hundreds and hundreds of the very best, most artistic Second Life image creators on Flickr for nearly 10 years, Cajsa Lilliehook is looking for new creators to feature on her regular New World Notes column. (New, or new to her!)

Question is, who? Ideally we're looking for creators who haven't been featured in Cajsa's Choices over the last year or so (if at all) and who have created new images in recent months. We're definitely not looking for images which fit somewhere on this SL Cliché Bingo card.

Please recommend and link to your favorite Flickr creators in Comments below! And yes, your favorites can include yourself. Also take a look at Cajsa's favorites on Flickr for a sense of what she's looking for (some featured below):

Top 5 Stories Including: How to Deal With Virtual World Oligopoly & Second Life's Mobile Edition Passes 10,000 Downloads

• Watch Me Talk Making A Better Metaverse With XR Reality's Dominque Wu
• Many Second Life Merchants Say The Virtual World Economy Seems Oligopolistic; How Should Linden Lab Intercede?
• Second Life Mobile App Downloaded Over 10,000 Times In First 2 Weeks -- Probably Much More!
• RSVP To See If RP1 Really Has Created The Canonical Metaverse -- They're Doing A Live Group Demo On July 17!
• Sannyのおすすめバーチャルワールドニュース : 2024年6月 Sanny Reports For Virtual Japan

Equimake Adds Prim-Like Shapes to Its Web-Based, Real-Time, Multi-User World Creation Platform -- Try It Now In My Sandbox!

Here's a pretty cool update to Equimake, the free indie platform for live, multi-user collaborative 3D building on the web (and a proud sponsoring NWN partner):

You can now create with primitive-like shapes! They're available in the Objects menu on the left (see screenshot above). Once you click a shape, it's instantly "rezzed" into the world, with options to move, scale, and rotate it in the top middle menu.

Try it out yourself! Lead developer Alex even opened a special sandbox for New World Notes readers:

Go here to create wildly and freely with friends.

I'm in the sandbox now and for much of today, so if you stop by, say "Hi" in world chat (top left menu). We're curious to see if any amazing creations will pop up over the weekend!

Here's a tutorial on getting started, and if you have questions for Alex, post in Comments or on the Equimake Discord.

SL Fashion Friday Blog: Remy Arnaud's The Neat Jinx

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

Remy Arnaud [RykerZeke.resident] calls his blog The Neat Jinx. Looking at his pics, I’m pretty sure he picks the towels up off the floor and washes the dishes. In his most recent post he donned a woman’s body to warn us, Don't you come at me green with an attitude. Who would dare? Whether he is presenting as a man or woman, he takes no prisoners. 

Now, normally I’m not fond of too much side or under-boob, but this is just a top that appears more revealing at first glance because the bright light makes all but the outline of her top flare out. It’s a clever trick of the eye that made me laugh. It just goes one step further in the My-Way sweepstakes that Remy is winning. Anyway, the top includes that mini-shawl and shorts for a lovely must-have summer set. Info on everything else is in his blog post. 

• Aloe :  Narissa Set @  Anthem ends July 30th

For a masculine Remy, click here:

Watch Me Talk Making a Better Metaverse With XR Reality's Dominque Wu

Here's a fun recent chat with Dominique Wu of the XR Reality Pro podcast, on Making a Metaverse That Matters. Dominique herself is a recent author (Spatial Design) and was recently a developer on Horizons Worlds, so we're able to delve deep into the weeds on what works and what doesn't with Metaverse platforms.

Actually I put my camera at a weird angle (or maybe my head has a weird angle), so you might prefer listening instead:

• Get it on Spotify
• Get it on Apple Podcasts

Here's some timecoded highlights: