We have been working on getting Unity3D to run with OpenSim as we posted recently (check the 3D-virtual-area-in-the-browser in action here). We are adding some more functionality to the solution right now and hope to have a public alpha release in the next few weeks. As the technical elements are being progressed though, it is a bit confusing on what exactly to do with a larger sets of tools and how to consider new options on workflows. We have been kicking around the issues of what is the best use of each tool and how to get them to work together. Following are some wacky enough pictures showing software capabilities and my notes on the overlaps and disconnects.
We are making solid progress on migrating our grids over to the latest version of OpenSim and the first in the newer architecture 0.7x . There are plenty of reason to stay with 0.6x versions, but we want to forge ahead with the future of OpenSim and deal with the issues head-on that way. We are hoping to get a performance lift from our 0.65 installs (Justin promised actually ;0). Moving all the assets around is actually a pretty big job and we have a lot of custom code linking to our admin and control systems (via Drupal). We just got the first regions up and will start the stress testing next week.
We spend a lot of time working in or evangelizing the virtual online and the future of the 3D Web. We have already made the jump beyond the snags that catch most people. What is really holding the average person back from enjoying virtual online experiences? It is not just one hot issue that is holding back the revolution for the 3D Web. There are a set of interconnected problems blocking people from enjoying this brave new frontier online, that pretty much all need to be solved at once. Although I would say that in my list below that the first two are most urgent and solving them gives some uplift to users and might encourage them to have hope.
One of my driving interests in starting Rezzable in 2006 was to get into OpenSource Software (OSS). It is the revolution in the software industry – it is the revolution in technology. I am sure that the 3D Web will be built using new OSS, just the way web today relies upon this incredible resource.
From our view, OpenSim could become the Apache of the 3D Web serving up 3D scenes to hundreds of millions of daily users in the near future.
The 3D Web is already here in some basic form and in the next few years it will become massive. My short definition is that the 3D Web is a:
3D graphical representation of digital information that is interactive and delivered within an online social environment.
A quick machinima tour around some of the amazing places that we have live now over at the Heritage Key 3D, virtual online areas. This is just a taster of what we are doing with 3D + Interactive + Social content on our OpenSim-based grids. King Tut's treasures may have already been discovered almost 100 years ago, but your great adventure to explore the tombs at the Valley of Kings online awaits.
Even better than watching this nice video is to go and get your own avatar and wander through history yourself. Also check-out the tutorials on how to make the most of your visit to the newest frontier.
We have been looking at how best to solve "the viewer issue" for our Virtual Online Experience (VX) Areas using our OpenSim grids. I wanted to share an update on where we got to so far with using Unity as a potential solution/toolset.
We have been working on this test now for about 4 months and results are very promising. (Stay Tuned or RSS'd: also here as we will post the running Unity test shortly so you can see for yourself how it really works. )
It seems that every day, the reach and content on the Web is increasing and becoming more complex. The pace can be very intense. Yet our approach to information today is more or less the same as a half-century ago, with typewriters and paper. Buckle-in though: all of that is about to change. The jump to a better human-machine interface is coming and (in combination with fat bandwidth and powerful enough graphics cards) it will unleash a more exciting online experience that goes far beyond text on a screen. Read below (or just go to our Heritage Key area and check out how we are integrating the virtual experience into the community site).
