Sanny’s Recommended Virtual World News: December 2023 Sanny Reports For Virtual Japan
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SAnnie Yoshikawa covers the virtual world monthly.Highlights of New World Notes for Virtual Japan.
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New essay: Tells VentureBeat the failure of the “metaverse”
What went wrong with ‘the Metaverse’? The article, An insider’s postmortem, is a guest essay Wagner contributed to VentureBeat. Here are some of them.
Two years have passed since Facebook changed its name to Meta. The SF concept of ‘Metaverse’ suddenly seemed like an inevitable leap forward in the next technology, and although it was only for a short period of time, there was an enthusiastic atmosphere. However, for most people in technology, the term has since lost its luster and seems to be replacing all products labeled with “artificial intelligence.”
The true story of how the metaverse became commonly known is not simply the short life cycle of a buzzword, but is more complex and interesting. And it reflects a collective failure of imagination and understanding.
Wagner says gender bias, which he believes is costing the industry, especially Meta, tens of billions of dollars.
What’s most painful is that Zuckerberg and his CTO, Andrew Bosworth, promoted the metaverse idea centered on quadruple headsets. To do this, when the company acquired Oculus in 2014, it was necessary to overlook compelling evidence raised by senior Microsoft researcher Danah Boyd that women were more likely to experience nausea when using VR.
When contacted in late 2022 while she was writing Making a Metaverse That Matters, Dana said no one at Oculus or Meta had followed up on the research questions she raised. Over the years, I’ve asked several of Meta’s senior staff (original or current) about this. Naturally, the estimated installed base of Meta’s VR headset “Quest 2” is only about 20 million units, which is considerably less than the number of customers for major game consoles. A product that makes half of the population feel nauseous is difficult to say for the mass market, much less a reliable basis for building a metaverse.
This essay is heavily quoted in Making a Metaverse That Matters, but Wagner hopes that people in the wider tech world will understand the basic gist of the metaverse and how the concept has been wildly misunderstood.
New essay: We tell VentureBeat what went wrong. "metaverse"
Epic expands platform into all-in-one metaverse experience by adding LEGO, racing game, and rock band-type music game to ‘Fortnite’
Epic supports the promotion of user-created islands created with Fortnite, an expansion of the LEGO game, Rocket Racing (by the creators of Rocket League), and Fortnite Festival, a rock band-type multiplayer game mode by the franchise’s creators, at the core of Fortnite. It added to the experience. (See video above).
Longtime gaming industry reporter Stephen Totilo covers Fortnite with his newsletter “Axios”Reached 100 million active players last monthIntroducing work. Stephen gave Wagner a chance to explain how this fits into Epic’s attempts to evolve Fortnite into the metaverse.
“The goal is to empower the world’s best teams across genres to develop games within Fortnite,” said Saxs Persson, head of the Fortnite ecosystem at Epic.
Introducing new games that stimulate player creativity is key, Wagner James Au, author of “Making a Metaverse That Matters,” tells Axios. “The introduction of the game supports our user base beyond our core fighting mode, Battle Royale. It will help encourage our user community to build even more diverse experiences through the platform’s powerful creation tools. That means we will be able to bring Fortnite to Team Sweeney. evolves it into the full-fledged metaverse it has been dreaming of for decades.”
What I feel after talking to creators in the Fortnite community is that the existing audience is overwhelmingly expecting a battle royale type game, so they are stuck with creating islands that fit the genre. As Epic expands its core experience to include LEGO, races, and multiplayer music, the community ecosystem will also expand.
For more information, subscribe to Axios Gaming.
Epic is adding LEGO, racing, and rock band-style music games to Fortnite, expanding the platform into an all-in-one metaverse experience.
The Android version of VRChat is free to play –supports VOIP/text chat, and has already reached 50,000 downloads!
VRChat for Android is now free on Google Play.
If you have android try this app.
The app has already been downloaded more than 50,000 times, despite being a closed alpha version and only available to paid VRChat+ members. (Currently, there are more than 50,000 paid members of VRChat+. If you include VRChat+ members who own iPhones, I think there are at least twice that number.)
The Android app supports VOIP and text chat. Since PC and VR are better suited for immersion, exploration, and content creation, I think the main use of mobile will be chatting.
VRChat staff also told Wagner that the Android app is primarily for social interaction.
“Most people using VRChat today are passionate VRC users (because they need VRC+). I’m using it to easily find out when my friends are nearby. That’s right.
But now that anyone can use the app, usage patterns may begin to change. You won’t be surprised if chatting in-world using mobile apps is the most popular. Especially since VRChat has a large community that enjoys sleeping while logged in in real life.
VRChat for Android is now free. Supports VOIP/Text chat and already has 50,000 downloads!
The Epic vs. Google decision will help the metaverse become more Android-centric.
Reminder: Epic vs. From Google ruling (.pdf here)
The impact of Epic’s win over Google may not be felt immediately, but unless there is a reversal, the metaverse will likely become more Android-centric in the coming years. Epic’s Tim Sweeney, who sees fighting the domination of Apple and Google’s mobile app stores as the key to the metaverse’s future, can do as he believes. Early 2024 seems clear.
We don’t yet know what Epic won. Judge James Donato will decide what the appropriate relief will be. Epic never sought or appealed for monetary damages, but instead asks Android to ensure that all app developers have complete freedom to introduce their own app stores and proprietary charging systems in court. there is. The parties are scheduled to meet with Judge Donato in the second week of January to discuss possible relief.
Major metaverse platforms, including Fortnite and Roblox, all offer mobile apps for Android, while midsize players Zepeto, Rec Room, and VRChat (which only recently launched an open beta for their Android apps) are also popular. I’m proud of it. OG influencer Second Life is expected to launch its own mobile app (both iOS and Android) this year.
The big barrier so far has been the 30% commission that Google and Apple take on mobile purchases made on their platforms. In fact, this serves as a direct excuse/reason for companies like Roblox to pass on only a small portion of the revenue they earn from its platform to community creators. However, depending on Judge Donato’s relief, this situation could change significantly.
In any case, Epic lost a similar lawsuit to Apple and the App Store, so Apple can still set its own terms. Therefore, Android is becoming the first option for the metaverse platform.
Epic Vs. Google ruling should help make the metaverse much more Android-centric
Video: Seamlessly jump between worlds in the Virtual World Museum
Watch The Virtual Worlds Museum’s (media sponsor of this blog) video introduction to the XR wing! It may be a trade-off, but it’s pretty cool to see team leader Julian Reyes seamlessly jumping from one virtual world to another without a loading screen or login page.
This is made possible by Arrival Space, the XR platform Julian uses to create this area of the virtual world museum. Arrival Space aims to be something of an immersive Wikipedia site for the entire virtual world/metaverse ecosystem from past to present.
For more information, see VirtualWorlds.Museum. Please also consider donating to crowdfund this project.
Incidentally, the virtual worlds visited in the video’s 6-minute tour are:
Arrival.Space (World Home)
Frame VR
HyperFi
metatraversal
nowhere
OnCyber
ozone
Space IO
VR Land
There are currently a large number of virtual world platforms in the XR sector. We would definitely need a single resource on the internet to keep track of them all.
Watch: Seamlessly jump between worlds in the virtual world museum. First live group tour scheduled for January!
Video: Wagner Talks 2024 Metaverse Comeback Driven by “Fortnite” and “Roblox” at Yahoo Finance
The appearance scene starts at 1:35:20!
Wagner woke up early at 6:15 a.m. to appear on Yahoo Finance and talk about the Metaverse attempting a comeback in 2014. This topic has inevitably been assembled around advanced AI, but as explained in the introduction, it is not yet clear how far advanced AI will extend.
Click here for articles, videos, and transcripts from Yahoo Finance.
The above video is a complementary introduction to New World Nots’ post about generative AI in the metaverse.
- AI probably won’t destroy the creation of 3D worlds, argues veteran game artist
- Will NVIDIA’s AI-equipped NPCs make games fun? The designers of Star Wars Old Republic are concerned.
- How will artificial intelligence change the metaverse platform?
He also spoke about the importance of metaverse platform Rec Room partnering with Apple on Vision Pro. We also introduce a Q&A memo sent to Yahoo Finance producers in preparation for the program.
What is the metaverse like? Will the metaverse make a comeback?
The metaverse has never disappeared. The market and media were just too focused on the meta. Meta has never been a mainstay in this space. In 2024, market attention will focus on companies that are actually leading the development of the metaverse, especially Roblox and Epic’s Fortnite, which currently have over 300 million monthly active users.
Additionally, Epic’s victory over Google is likely to spur further expansion into mobile versions of the Metaverse platform in 2024. Several new metaverse platforms are scheduled for launch, including ‘Everywhere’ from the developers of the massive franchise ‘Grand Theft Auto’. The total market of the Metaverse platform is modestly estimated at 600 million people currently and will approach 1 billion next year.
Major high-tech/"Magnificent 7” Prospects for famous brands. Can we expect them to regain supremacy?
NVidia and Amazon’s momentum certainly isn’t stopping; It’s going to be a good year for Meta, but it’s not about providing a metaverse, it’s about X/Twitter collapsing. That being said, I don’t know what the future holds for Tesla due to the ongoing troubles with Tesla’s self-driving technology, the decline in brand strength, and Elon’s involvement.
Google and Apple are expected to come to terms with the Google vs. Epic lawsuit and the end of the two companies’ monopoly in the App Store market. However, Apple will launch the long-awaited headset ‘Vision Pro XR’ in 2024, creating market enthusiasm and a new ecosystem.
Please tell us which “winners” and big brands investors should watch for in the new year.
Roblox is definitely a popular brand to watch as its active users and features continue to grow. In particular, companies focusing on smartphones will be able to earn more profits in the wake of the Epic vs. Google lawsuit. And I’d like to note Epic’s long-rumored move to go public in 2024 after a successful lawsuit against Google.
Nvidia’s growth will not stop as it dominates the market for 3D graphics needed for gaming and metaverse platforms and AI demand for computing power is high.
As a side note: Wagner’s audio/video was provided on Zoom using an iPhone 11. The laptop’s camera wasn’t good enough to convey the message.
WATCH: He talks to Yahoo Finance about a 2024 metaverse comeback led by Fortnite and Roblox.
Second Life users await Firestom’s PBR implementation. The problem is that PBR broke some features of Firestorm (but that will be fixed)
The addition of PBR to Second Life has greatly improved the graphics of the virtual world. However, according to a recent survey, the majority of Second Life users seem to be waiting for physically-based rendering to be added to Firestorm, a very popular third-party SL viewer (TPV).
Firestorm Developer BeqAs he writes in the comments section, PBR and Firestom don’t work well together yet:
Because PBR destroys many of the features users love, we have to fix them or find alternatives if necessary. You also need to make sure it fits your user base, which includes hardware ranging from high-end gaming machines to very cheap and affordable laptops. In fact, our lead developer Ansariel spent months identifying performance issues that many people had not noticed. It can be said that this only affects ‘low-end’ machines, and these machines have the most unacceptable performance degradation.
When LL released the PBR viewer, we were still collecting data points from testers. The good news is that Ansariel has identified and fixed the issues so that not only can everyone in our preview group test them, but soon they will be part of the next Linden Labs maintenance release, bringing benefits to the wider community. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there.
For this reason, PBR integration with Firestom will have to wait a while until it is available to the majority of Second Life users who prefer TPV. And there is also a problem with PBR in the official SL viewer. However, this is expected. Beq wrote:
Linden Lab has published what they themselves say is not yet fully ready to create an ideal world. But it opened up space and raised the profile of the project. It was the right thing to do. This will allow you to use your product in real time and provide feedback that was previously stagnant among your audience.
In any case, it’s surprising that major improvements to the graphics of the lucrative virtual world of Second Life are effectively relying on the efforts of Firestom, the real-world development team it services.
Beq writes that Firestorm is also quite aware of this paradox, and that tackling this fundamental problem is left to Linden Lab.
The chicken-and-egg situation we face is nothing new, but Firestorm takes it seriously. Google is responsible for the broad audience it serves, not just a small number of early adopters. You can’t please everyone (since this is Second Life and one of the most diverse communities out there), but it’s important to at least try to make the viewer usable by most users.
But as pointed out, a lot of the pressure and responsibility falls on our small group of unpaid volunteers. However, it would be disingenuous in the extreme if we did not acknowledge the reality that most of the remaining roughing areas will be addressed by the continued efforts of the Linden Lab team, not the Firestom team. Of course, we also have a role to play. We can interact with Linden to help us or even clean our house.
If you’d like to give PBR a try and see what all the fuss is about, or just want to help us and LL until it’s ready for widespread consumption, check out our Second Life group "Phoenix-Firestorm Preview Group "Sign up to find early access builds of Firestom PBR. (Editor’s Note: There is a link on the Firestom blog – WJA).
There is only one rule. Do not share links within the group with other users in World. This is not a supported viewer. So, you need to get into the group and stay in the loop of problems and advice. If you can’t bear the problem, go back to the launched viewer and try again later.
Isn’t there a better way to modernize Second Life that doesn’t rely on a team of unpaid volunteers? At the very least, Wagner says, Linden Lab should keep the Firestorm team stocked up on PBR (a beer called Pabst Blue Ribbon).
Second Life users waiting for Firestorm to implement PBR. The problem is that PBR broke some Firestorm features. (However, modifications are planned.)
Linden Lab announces that “Spicy Bedroom Secrets for Adults” will appear in Second Life in 2024. A sign of changing times!
The short sentences in Linden Lab’s 2023 ‘Year Overview’ and 2024 Second Life previews were surprisingly read twice, says Wagner.
In 2024, Second Life will turn 21… To celebrate, we’re turning the spotlight on the spicier side of Second Life with a bold, innovative new effort for adults. An evil surprise emerges in the near future… In this mysterious endeavor, we’ll remove the sheets and reveal more bedroom secrets… Stay tuned!
spicy! This short sentence probably seems like a straw man to most people. But it’s very groundbreaking.
Over the first two decades of Second Life, Linden Lab has forged a difficult relationship with adult content in the virtual world. While the user community strives to ensure that all sexual simulations can be enjoyed by consenting adults, we also strive to avoid labeling Second Life as an unattractive “weird world of sex” for outside brands and organizations. An attempt was made to downplay the content. (Needless to say, most consumers don’t like having irritating pixels hit their face without any tactile feel).
But now Linden Lab is about to make Spicy Bedroom Secrets official content!
This is a big change. Given the vast, vivid, and often diverse array of sexual content created by biologically incapable users that already exists in Second Life, Netflix may be considering uploading R-rated movies to Pornhub. Well, that would be nice too.
The fact that this is happening now probably has little to do with a company called Linden Lab, but rather a reflection of how much the world’s pop culture has changed over the past few decades.
In 2006, an executive at Linden Lab said in a meeting that 30 percent of Second Life’s user-generated content was “obscene,” leading to his immediate dismissal.
It may seem like an exaggerated overreaction (and it was), but at the time, many news media were running completely scandalous Dallas stories featuring naked avatars with their genitals mounted on each other bumping into each other and stopping by. It was a collision of simple, incorrect assumptions that were language confusion because Second Life was “just a game” and games were “for kids”! That’s what the world felt like when Linden Lab was trying to launch a mainstream product.
But what about 2023? In this era where the song “WAP” is popular and OnlyFans has commercialized spicy things, pixel sex seems quite old-fashioned.
Either way, Linden Lab is here to catch up with the rest of the world. IMVU has had an adults-only access pass for years, and even Roblox’s CEO was promising an adults-only dating app experience a few months ago. Considering the competition in the market and the difficulty of enjoying UGC’s sexual content in Second Life (just installing a digital vagina on your avatar is like editing a 3D Maya graphics file), it’s simpler for the company. It makes sense to offer a plug-and-play option.
It’s hard to say whether pixel sex will increase the number of users on the Metaverse platform. Perhaps it is no different from now that it is a passionate and niche activity. However, as the social morals surrounding online sexuality become more accepted, it will become one of the options necessary for the Metaverse platform to thrive.
Linden Institute says "Spicy Adult-Friendly Bedroom Secrets" Coming to Second Life in 2024. It’s a sign of changing times!
Stay tuned for next month’s recommended virtual world news!
Snapshot location: NEO KABUTO CITY