3D virtual worlds

Second Life

Second Life is a virtual world where anyone can lead a so-called “Second Life” in a world completely created, inhabited and shared among its users worldwide. The 3D environment proposed by Second Life enables any resident to create their own clothes, change any physical aspect of their body and even creates other objects like houses and vehicles. The beauty of this virtual world owes everything to its regular residents who have each one contributed to the assumption of Second Life which is today regarded as the leader in the 3D-world’s market. Somehow, the key to Second Life’s success has been the freedom its offers to its residents. Users have the right to create and customize objects like buildings, vehicles or clothing that they can commercialize afterwards with the whole community.

The only limit in this 3D world is in fact your own imagination. It’s very easy to get started; all that is needed is a quick registration which will be followed by downloading the software on your personal computer. In the next step that follows, even though some people might have managed to create a Virtual Avatar nearly close to their real-life physical appearance, a simple effort from you would be enough to personalize and complete your very first Avatar. Real-time statistics revealed that more than 50000 residents are connected at anytime in Second Life. Many real-life businesses and intuitions are getting involved in this 3D world more and more nowadays. We can take the examples of Accenture Consulting Ltd which has implemented itself in Second Life and has successfully used Second Life as a way to interview several candidates for jobs that are vacant at Accenture.

Moreover another example would be that of BMW which has used Second Life to judge the success of a newly launched car prototype not available in real-life. And now, even education possibilities are available in Second Life. Many universities (one example is Harvard) have already integrated themselves into this virtual world and offer many services like career guidance, online courses and promote their services through their virtual campuses. All of the above mentioned are just a few from the wide range of businesses that has stepped into this 3D world.

The Linden Dollar is the official currency of Second Life. It is to be noted that it is possible to covert Linden Dollar into real US Dollar and vice-versa. Moreover, the actual scripting language of Second Life known as Linden Script Language (or simply LSL) allows users to control objects and their avatars behaviors and includes XML functionalities that enable data to be exported to websites. The table below shows the recommended settings one should possess to be able to use Second Life.

Recommended settings for Second Life:


However, it’s important to point out that without a connection of at least 512 kbps (preferably 1mbps) it would simply be practically impossible to use Second Life. That is one big of the disadvantages of Second Life as compared to IMVU which can be accessed with a dial-up connection itself.

IMVU

IMVU is a 3D messenger which can be considered an alternative to Second Life. Much simpler and lighter in size, IMVU is practically on the same path as Second Life. IMVU has all it takes to overcome Second Life at some point in time but is presently somehow limited in its amount of public rooms (unfortunately only a few public rooms are available). Founded in 2004, IMVU has nearly reached 20 million of registered users, 100,000 registered developers and generating approximately $1 million monthly in those four years of existence. The rapid success of IMVU surely has something to do with the fact that it provides members with the same facilities as in Second Life, for creating, buying and selling of their own stuff. To get started with IMVU is very simple with just a quick registration and just by downloading the software. IMVU allows users to create their own objects ranging from an easily-made 2D sticker to some much more complex 3D items.

What makes IMVU a friendly place is that you can even meet other people through collaboration and by sharing one of your virtual products with them. By just clicking on your Avatar, you can easily perform various actions to express your mood or make a special move like shaking hands with another avatar. IMVU, in this way offers a wider range of actions that can be performed by an avatar which is not the case with Second Life which is a little bit too complex for beginners to get along. Furthermore, IMVU credits are used for buying and selling purposes in IMVU. These credits can either be obtained from exchanging your real money into IMVU credits or simply by earning them through the various paid-contests that exist on IMVU. One example of a contest is MetaRL which pays a user to simply play games and metapoints are earned in return and cash in for IMVU credits at the end.

IMVU has been designed to work on just Windows PC that was purchased this side of the millennium. **NOTE: IMVU IS CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE ON MAC. A Mac version is under way. Minimum specifications require Windows 98/2000/ME/XP, 800 Mhz Pentium 3*, 128 Mb of RAM, 50Mb of disk space. Works with dial up, broadband recommended. Works with any video card, 3D video card recommended, *If your PC does not have a 3D video card then you will need a processor of 1.5 Ghz or greater.

Lively

Lively is the newest recently launched 3D virtual world application created by Google. Currently available in beta-testing version only, Lively is rather more of a web-browser dependent application than an independent downloadable software like Second Life and IMVU. Those who have used Second Life and IMVU would find nothing special about the possibilities that Lively’s virtual world is offering apart from the fact that it can be integrated in any website. Moreover, Lively has been built on a much simpler algorithm and offers its users the possibility to quickly get used to the 3D environment it offers. However, since it is currently available in English language, it’s very important to have a good English level to be able to navigate through Lively at your ease.

Any new user will not find it hard to create their very first avatar. Lively offers a great selection of Hair Styles, Clothing, Colors, and other customizable physical attributes to your avatar the way you want it. Just by clicking on “Shop for more”, you would be able to have access to the wide range of clothes, shoes and objects that Lively is currently offering for free to its users The next step forward then is to find a room to chat, the most commonly visited chatrooms are named “Goog, la girl's room”, “High Dive” or “Tree Top”. One problem with Lively is that once these chatrooms reach their maximum capacity in terms of users, they cannot intake any additional users. However, on the other hand, you would be able to create your own 3D space where you would be able to add in your friends for a chat. All you have to do is to choose an environment and customize it to your preferences like set up the rules and restrictions in your chatroom that can for example grant other users access to some objects in your room or simply assigned yourself as the administrator of the room. Then the next thing you would do is add your room to the “Room List” and the work is done.


Lively also allows users to bring in their own music files (which should not exceed 512 kb in size) and displays their photos from their Picasa’s account if ever they have one. Avatars can perform several actions like kickboxing, clapping hands and even say “Good Morning” to someone in the room. A vast majority of users probably do not have time or desire to learn a new scripting language, then a browser-based virtual environment may be all they need.


To be able to use Lively, you’ll need to have a good graphic card with at least 32 MB of memory, running Windows XP or Vista (currently limited to Windows XP and Vista only) with admin privileges. Here is a list of other specifications required: PIII 800, 512 MB RAM, DX 9, 32 MB GPU (GeForce 2 or better), Flash 9 or higher, Broadband internet connection.