3pointD.com

Finally had a chance to check out the video that was produced for the New Media Consoritum, showcasing their campus in Second Life. (Both campus and video were created by the Electric Sheep Company, 3pointD’s only sponsor at the moment.) The video, shot by talented SL machinima-maker Pierce Portocarrero, showcases what is a truly impressive build. The place looks great. Even at five and half minutes, though, the piece feels slightly long, and the narration definitely takes the optimistic view of activity in SL, quoting a few Linden Lab figures, including ones about how many content creators there are on the Grid — figures that don’t really tell the whole story. The video does a great job of showcasing a really professional build, though, and is well worth checking out. The one odd thing about it, to me, is that it isn’t posted on YouTube. This is the New Media Consortium, after all. Start using those new media delivery services, guys — if only because it will do a great deal to spread the word.

We’ll be on the road next week (or, more accurately, in the air), headed to the Supernova conference in San Francisco, where I’ll be moderating a workshop on the social, business and work-oriented lessons we can learn from massively multiplayer online games and virtual worlds. We’ll have two hours to fill, hopefully with plenty of audience participation, so if you’re at all interested, drop by Wharton West early on Tuesday Wednesday, June 21st. The four very cool panelists include Corey Bridges of Multiverse; Nic Ducheneaut, who’s doing awesome work scraping data on social interactions in World of Warcraft over at the PlayOn project at PARC; Jerry Paffendorf, the resident futurist over at the Electric Sheep Company (our main sponsor here at 3pointD); and Helen Cheng of Seriosity, which is studying the overlap between work and play. The rest of the conference is filled with interesting people as well, and I’m definitely looking forward to meeting a few of them and blogging what they have to say. If you’re in the area and have any 3pointD news or just want to chat, feel free to drop me a line. Keep in mind, though, that I’m actually very bad about returning my emails. In any case, I look forward to seeing who’s around next week. Should be fun.

There’s 3D all over the place these days. Its latest manifestation is Qubic Sphere, which bills itself as “the first dynamic, easy-to-use three-dimensional Web browser,” according to a press release. First? I’m not clear where the company has been for the last five to ten years or so, but it wasn’t There.com, Second Life or ActiveWorlds, apparently. Qubic Sphere president David Montour says, “While there are a few other products that enable users to open a small 3D window while on the Net, there is no other browser that allows you to be fully 3D and interactive with the Net at the same time.” Hmmmm. Qubic Sphere isn’t that browser either, but it is worth examining slightly more closely. (more…)