New World Notes

Ask Isabelle & Me Anything About the Metaverse & Second Life -- Answers in Our Next Vlogcast!

Thanks to everyone who watched the first New World Video vlogast with SL YouTUber Isabelle Cheren last week! (Watch it here). We're preparing for our 2nd episode next week, and it will include a viewer Q&A mailbag. So if you have any burning question about Second Life, the Metaverse, and related topics, no matter how wild or goofy (and civil), please post in Comments below! We'll get to as many as possible. Please include your avatar name or social handle for credit, or make it anonymously as you prefer.

Open Forum: What Are Good, Non-Heavy Laptops for Running Second Life?

Just got a good question from reader Cathleen Lunasea that's an ideal open forum question before the long Labor Day Weekend here in the US: "Do you have any recommendation for a not too heavy laptop to play SL?"

The "not too heavy" qualifier is an important one, because you can run Second Life quite well on a massive and pricey beast that's really a laptop in name only. 

Please post suggestions? Unfortunately I can't really recommend the one pictured above, my trusty and affordable Dell G5 15 gamer laptop, for Second Life, even though it works great for high-end AAA games like Deathloop. That's me visiting the region “Wo Qui Non Coin” [teleport here] which Cajsa covered last year, and it definitely does not look* as excellent on my laptop as it does in her post.

Anyway, please post recent recommendations in Comments, and I'll feature some of the best in an update next week!

Mid-Week Open Forum: What Topics Should New World Notes Cover More Often?

As my material self is on a short Summer trip this week, the microphone is yours. What topics would you like to read and see more of on New World Notes, and why?

What Should I Ask Matthew Ball About His Book The Metaverse: And How it Will Revolutionize Everything?

Matthew Ball's much-anticipated book The Metaverse: And How it Will Revolutionize Everything is launching on July 19th, and my preview copy finally arrived. (Links to buy it below.) I've already started delving into it, and even after just a couple chapters in, have roughly two dozen follow-up questions I can't wait to discuss with him. 

Speaking of which, I'm interviewing Matthew about the book next week amid his huge press tour. (He's appearing in LA on July 20 with Mythic Quest/Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Rob McElhenney, for instance.)

What questions should I be sure to ask to Matthew Ball? Post in Comments, and I'll include as many as possible in our Q&A.

Here's video from my conversation with Matt last year, on the metaverse platform Breakroom, along with several store links:

Linden Lab Spotlighting Talented SL Avatars - Who Would You Nominate That's New-ish to the Virtual World & More People Should Know?

Here's a cool Linden Lab project to give creative SL users some social media love and attention. Beyond the Usual Subjects we're already familiar with, who would you nominate that's recent-ish to the Second Life community (i.e. the last few years) -- or at least recent-ish to you?

Here's five I myself would nominate that spring to mind:

Open Forum: Is There a Recent SL Project as Ambitious as VRChat's Udon Tycoon That I Should Be Covering?

Writing about Udon Tycoon in VRChat last week, it occurred to me that I haven't covered a Second Life-based project of similar ambition and scope in a long time. (Beautiful sims, to be sure, we got that covered, along with light roleplay game experiences in SL.) But Udon Tycoon has user-created, physics-enabled, save-able coaster building that's rideable and instantiated in the same world at the same. Is there a recent SL project (say within the last 3 years) with roughly comparable inventiveness? 

This is not a concern troll post, I'm genuinely curious -- it's quite possible (as has happened many time before) that there's some amazing project quietly being built deep in the heart of Second Life that the creators don't bother to promote, since they're not concerned about publicity per se, and enjoy the creation as an act in itself. Which is great for them, but the world should know too. (Well, I sure would.)

Mic is open below -- let me know! Please include links and contact info wherever possible.

Open Forum Question: Could Second Life Work on a Touch Screen / Tablet Optimized for Seniors?

We know that many seniors like the late Fran Serenade (above) have found great value in using Second Life, both as a social/creative platform and (as in Fran's case) even finding therapeutic value in them. However, many seniors have difficulty learning or using the SL viewer for Mac/PC.

But what if the virtual world was accessible via a touchscreen? 

Caltech astronomy professor George Djorgovski, director of the university's Virtech campus in Second Life, recently put it to me this way:

Many seniors who would benefit from the social opportunities in SL are not very computer-savvy.

They may be comfortable with an iPad, but not a standard laptop/desktop. iPads and similar devices simply do not have the hardware power to deal with something like SL, and whatever apps do exist (and are still available or maintained) are little more than messaging apps.

There are, however, notebook/laptop machines that have a touch screen, which someone who is used to a tablet may find easier to use than a laptop proper. Also, I know that it is possible to boot Linux on at least some Chromebooks, and use a Linux SL client, but I don’t know about the performance thereof. Any experiences or recommendations along these lines would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, George and I discussed the late-lamented Lumia app for Android devices, but that's no longer officially supported (far as I can tell), and as great as it is for established SLers, wouldn't work well for the target audience he's talking about:

What Are Your Favorite Virtual World Locations for Great Ambient Sound?

You'll likely need to wear your headphones to hear it, but on a recent visit to my office in Waterhead in SL, I noticed the location was starting to sound really lovely. Not just due to my artificial tide, but recently a neighbor added one of those lonely pier bells, while another had installed a clocktower chime. So lovely, in fact, when I went back to RL work, I kept the virtual world running in the background, so I could keep hearing that soothing ambience. Most locations in Second Life are pretty scant on atmospheric audio, so I'm lucky to have this for my own location. 

What are your favorite virtual world spots for ambient sound? Post in Comments so we can give a listen.

Oh, and about my shrine to Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash:

Open Forum: What Should New World Notes Feature This Week?

Events, announcements, products, videos, social trends, research, anything roughly related to virtual worlds and VR, Second Life and its many official and unofficial spinoffs -- and definitely also great Flickr feeds for Cajsa's column -- please post details and links in Comments!

Here's My Predictions for Virtual Worlds & VR in 2021 -- What Are Yours?

Image credit: Klaus Reinherz, "Socially Distanced New Year 2020/21"

Here's mine:

• There will be a departure in Linden Lab's C-suite, i.e. CEO/COO/CFO/CTO.
• Both VRChat and Rec Room will finally surpass Second Life in peak concurrency numbers.
• Related to the above, either VRChat or Rec Room will be acquired by a major platform/company.
• Second Life's long-awaited "mobile app companion" will launch but see a disappointing reception, failing to earn over 100,000 downloads on Google Play.
• Sales of Oculus Quest 2 in 2020 will under-perform expectations: Despite a major marketing push, under 2 million. Slow sales will continue through 2021, with an install base under 3 million.
• Unreal and/or Unity will announce an official metaverse platform.
• Bowing to public and government pressure, Facebook will discontinue mandatory Facebook log-in for its Oculus headsets.
• Roblox will announce $1 billion in revenue for 2021.
• Core will announce a major platform partner or be acquired outright, with Epic the likeliest suitor.
• Apple will not announce its long-rumored AR headset in 2021.

Share yours in Comments below and I'll share my favorites next week -- the more concrete and easy to verify, the better.