Year: 2016

Dinosaurs, steampunk, the metaverse and a preview

Posted on by Inara Pey
Dox Quiote - part of the upcoming Seanchai Library Crazy Eights series. See below for a preview
Don Quixote – part of the upcoming Seanchai Library Crazy Eights series. See below for a preview

It’s time to kick-off a week year of story-telling in voice, brought to our virtual lives by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s Second Life home at Bradley University, unless otherwise indicated.

Sunday, January 24th, 15:00: Selections from Flight to Brassbright

Caledonia Skytower read from Lori Alden Holuta’s 2015 novel  at a special session at SL Goth Magazine’s steampunk themed TIMEKILLER II Festival.

Brassbright

In 1895, Constance is orphaned at the age of 12, she finds the local authorities ready to impose their own kind of upbringing on her previously somewhat wild life – a part of which involved nightly break-ins at the local library so she could lose herself in the books and stories there. Determined not to let things be so, she runs away to – where else? The place everyone in fiction runs to: the circus.

But six years on, and a young woman, Constance finds the circus life draining, and longs to be free from it. An escape plan is hatched, and as a free woman, she wanders the landscape of Industralia, home to creative eccentrics, brilliantly cracked inventors, dazed automatons and more. Here are kindred spirits aplenty. As she wanders from town to town, Constance finds herself making friends and caught in an unfolding story as she seeks a place she can final call home.

Monday January 25th, 19:00: Snow Crash

We all know Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash as one of the inspirations behind Second Life. Now Gyro Muggins concludes his reading of this modern classic.

Snow CrashIn the 21st Century, Los Angeles is no longer a part of the United States, but is instead run by a variety of corporate and other factions, which much of the city divided into sovereign enclaves. Mercenary forces via with private security firms; drugs and the private vehicle reign supreme and where hyper-inflation is rampant.

Within this strange and complex world exists the Metaverse, an omnipresent 3D “Internet of everything” in which people can roam as avatars. It is in this world that the aptly named Hiro Protagonist (and former pizza delivery driver) operates as a sword-welding heroic warrior and bounces between the virtual and physical worlds as the self-styled “last of the freelance hackers.”

However, when his friend and fellow-hacker Da5id, falls victim to the mysterious new drug Snow Crash, which exists in the virtual world as a computer virus capable of infecting machines connected to the Metaverse and in the physical world as a viral infection which attacks the central nervous system, Hiro sets out to learn the truth of what is going on. Working with his virtual business partner, the 15-year-old Y.T., Hiro digs into the truth behind Snow Crash, leading him (and Y.T.) to the doors of fibre-optics monopolist L. Bob Rife and his acolytes and minions, including the highly dangerous Raven.

Tuesday January 26th 19:00: Pearl

PearlFaerie Maven-Pralou continue her reading of the first book in Lisa Pinkham’s the Doll Collection series.

Everything changes for Addy on her 12th birthday, when she receives a mysterious gift of a collection of dolls and an opal necklace imbued with magical powers.

Soon, Addy finds herself transported to a beach where she meets a mermaid, Pearl, and where she can swim with and talk to underwater fairies and enjoy the company of min-reading dolphins.

But all is not as safe as it seems; when Pearl vanishes and Addy’s magic necklace is stolen, Addy is left with no way home and without a friend – and she must confront the thief on her own, trusting that the magic which resides in her is enough to put things to rights.

Wednesday, January 27th, 19:00: Silence of the Loons

While writers from the southern American states turn to tales of crime, inevitably the broiling heat of humid summer days is an ever-present backdrop. But when the stories of criminals and their ways are moved northwards to Minnesota, it is the brutal cold of hard winters which offers a frame for many of the tales.

In this collection, 13 of the state’s top crime writers present a series of tales of mystery, all of which are linked by the same 8 clues, which lead the reader through their dark twists.

Join Kayden Oconnell as he reads from this fascinating anthology.

Thursday, January 28th: 19:00 Time Travel Stories

With Shandon Loring – Also to be presented at Seanchai Kitely and Seanchai InWorldz. Check session post during the week for specific grid locations).

Rivers of TimeThis week A Gun for a Dinosaur from Rivers of Time by L. Sprague de Camp.

Reginald Rivers runs a safari business. Not just any safari business, mark you. His is of the time-travelling variety, and his clients are after a particular game: dinosaurs. It’s obviously a dangerous business, and not suitable for any client who comes along, whether or not they can afford the price.

Nor are they helped when one client’s arrogance leads to the death of another, causing the surviving client to determine he must kill Rivers  – and must do so in the past. In doing so, the client breaks one of the rules under which the machine used to carry Rivers and his safaris into the past must operate, with devastating results.

Seanchai Library at LEA Starting Sunday, January 31st

Sunday, January 31st will see Seanchai Library open the Crazy Eights, a region offering six different storytelling venues, all connected by the Story Forest. Here, over the coming months,  Seanchai library will be presenting and hosting a range of special story telling events and readings from classic literature and series.

I’ll be previewing Crazy Eights in full in due course; but here is a foretaste of what is to come:

Sunday, January 31st, 13:30: Don Quixote – Words and Images:  Derry McMahon and Bear Silvershade present selections from Miguel de Cervantes’s classic and much-loved tale at the Crazy Eights Eastern Meadow. Accompanying the reading will be Derry’s own images from her 2014 Fine Arts Tour exhibition, Don Quixote, which I reviewed at the time. Guests are invited to sit beneath the windmill and listen to the tales of The Gentleman of La Mancha, and wander among Derry’s images, several of which were not included as a part of the 2014 exhibition.

Starting Thursday, February 4th, 19;00 – Featured Stories: Shandon Loring, Seanchai Library’s Chief Storyteller, opens this series reading from Tracey Garvis Graves’ New York Times bestseller On The Island, within a 360-degree environment Shandon has created, inspired by Graves’ work, filled with links and scripted surprises.

Starting Sunday, February 7th, 13:30 – Tea Time at Baker Street: Seanchai Library’s ever-popular visits to the rooms of 221B Baker Street commence a special run at Crazy Eights with stories from The Return of Sherlock Holmes, starting with the first story in that collection, The Empty House. The Baker Street area of Crazy Eights includes the Holmes & Watson Gallery, a book shop with links to Conan Doyle’s canon, and references to other Holmesian locations around the grid.

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Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule.

The featured charity for January / February is Heifer International, working with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth.

Additional Links

Return to an enchanted Cauldron in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Cerridwen's Cauldron; Inara Pey, January 2016, on Flickr Cerridwen’s Cauldron (Flickr) – click any image for full size

I adore Elicio Ember’s work. As a craftsman of works of fantasy, he is one of Second life’s finest, as anyone who has had the delight and pleasure of seeing his work at Fantasy Faire over the years will know.

His in-world store of Cerridwen’s Cauldron is a stunning delight as well, and it is easy to spend a fair amount of time there, simply wandering, climbing the Dream Tower, riding a dragon around the towers, spires and outcrops of rocks and over the gardens, or walking its halls and chambers.

It’s been a while since I’ve actually written about Elicio’s home region, so when he recently informed me he was starting work and redeveloping the ground level (on which I blogged about far, far back in the mists of 2012), I was keen to see what he had done, although time played a little against me. So when he IM’d me to say he was making some additional changes and sent me an invite and Landmark to see things for myself, I knew I’d had to make up for lost time and hop over with Caitlyn to see.

Cerridwen's Cauldron; Inara Pey, January 2016, on Flickr Ground level – Cerridwen’s Cauldron (Flickr)

The Landmark Elicio sent me when extending his invitation for us to visit, delivered us directly to the Emerald Lounge. This lies within a huge cavern, seemingly hewn from the living rock, and through which water gently glides while crystal lamps hang from high ceilings.

Here, in a place I personally feel is best seen under night-time lighting, is a bar serving wines and ale and slices of delicious fruit, a space paved by great hexagonal blocks open to dancers before it. Nearby, on the dusty sand close to the entrance to the cavern, or just across the shallow waters, can be found places to sit, softly lit by the glow of crystals and some of Elicio’s beautiful plants.

Cerridwen's Cauldron; Inara Pey, January 2016, on Flickr Ground level – Cerridwen’s Cauldron (Flickr)

Steps lead the way upwards from the waters inside the cavern, allowing the visitor to go by glass-topped walkways and platforms up to the plateau overhead, revealing the incredible beauty of this island. The plateau sits like a table on stout rocky legs carved by the sea and sheltering the cavern within their midst, while beaches, exotic plants and an ornate water temple  gathered around their feet, while water tumbles from above.

Atop the plateau lies a beautiful realm of water, light, plants and open-sided structures with a distinctly elven feel to them.  Walk through the fluorescent plants at your feet, and slivers of phosphor drift into the air around you; walk under the great natural arch of a gigantic tree of life and witness the huge decorated skull of a long-dead dragon; climb the stairs to a broad hexagonal platform and find seating and refreshments awaiting you. Everywhere you turn, there is something waiting to be discovered.

Cerridwen's Cauldron; Inara Pey, January 2016, on Flickr Ground level – Cerridwen’s Cauldron (Flickr)

This is a place to be explored with local sounds enabled and your speakers / headset active. Like many regions throughout Second Life, Cerridwen’s Cauldron has an ambient sound scape, one beautifully crafted to add considerable depth to any exploration over the plateau and through the spaces beneath. It is one which really should be experienced in it fullest when walking through the fluorescent grasses or wading the shallow waters or standing beneath the slowly turning fae orb.

For those who prefer, a teleport system is available to scoot you around various locations – and up to and around Elicio’s store; but to use it exclusively in favour of exploring on foot would, both Caitlyn and I agreed, be a mistake.

Cerridwen's Cauldron; Inara Pey, January 2016, on Flickr Ground level – Cerridwen’s Cauldron (Flickr)

Cerridwen’s Cauldron has always been a magical, mystical place of harmony and beauty, and this latest design at ground level further reflects this fact. Indeed, looking at it from a distance sitting above the sea, it offers a harmonious echo of the store itself as the latter floats  in the sky atop its own islands, and extends beneath them with its stairways and stone halls, just as the garden sit atop their rock plateau and the cavern of the Emerald lounge sits beneath them.

SLurl Details – Moderate

SL project updates 16 3/2: Server, viewer, Bento and CEF + Flash

Posted on by Inara Pey

The Keys; Inara Pey, January 2016, on Flickr The Keys (Flickr) – blog post

Server Deployments, Week 3 – Recap

As always, check the server deployment thread for any updates.

On Tuesday, January 19th, the Main (SLS) channel received the server update package previously deployed to the three RC channel. This comprises:

  • Feature Request: llGetObjectDetails() constant OBJECT_TOTAL_INVENTORY_COUNT – when targeting an object, OBJECT_TOTAL_INVENTORY_COUNT will return the total of all inventory types in each link of the linkset. See BUG-10575 for further details
  • Feature Request: llGetObjectDetails() constant OBJECT_PRIM_COUNT – provides a means to get a worn attachment’s prim count (rather than just returning 0).  See BUG-10646 for further details.
  • Simulator crash fixes.

On Thursday, January 21st,  three RC channels received a new server maintenance package comprising a simulator crash fix and a further feature request: llGetObjectDetails() functionality to get the parent_id of any task in the region (OBJECT_REZZER_KEY). This returns the parent_id of any task in the region. If the object came from an object rezzer it returns the ID of the parent object, while If it was rezzed by an avatar, it returns the agent ID of the avatar. The function only works for those objects rezzed in-world after the code deployment (objects in-world prior to deployment will return NULL_KEY).

SL Viewer

The HTTP updates Vivox RC viewer updated  to version 4.0.2.310097 on January 19th, while January 20th saw the Quick Graphics RC viewer updated to version 4.0.2.310127, and the Project Bento (avatar skeleton extensions) viewer updated to version 5.0.0.310099.

Project Bento

I missed the greater part of the Project Bento meeting on Thursday, January 21st, so my apologies for not having a full report.

Cathy Foil demonstrates what can happen when an avatar using a mesh incorporating the new Bento bones deforms ...
Cathy Foil demonstrates what can happen when an avatar using a mesh incorporating the new Bento bones deforms …

Deformed Avatars: The lab is still asking for examples of avatars deforming as a result of using a mesh uploaded with different joint positions. If people have examples, Vir Linden requests that both the .DAE file and a copy of the mesh model are forwarded to him so that the Lab can test items for themselves.

Elizabeth Jarvinen (polysail), also points to some discussion on the Bento forum threat on how to possibly correct the problem when it occurs. see: here, here and here).

.BVH and .ANIM uploaders: It was noted at the meeting that the .BVH and .ANIM uploader have different capabilities. The .BVH uplaoder is viewed as being not as robust as the .ANIM uploader, although it does include optimisations for animations which are not present in the .ANIM uploader. Oz Linden suggested that it would be nice if both uploaders shared the same level of robustness / capabilities.

Vir pointed out that the .BVH uploader has various optimisations which are not present for .ANIM uploads. So how parity between the two is achieved is unclear. fore example:

  • Is the optimisation code removed from the .BVM uploader or added to the .ANIM uploader?
  • Are the updates server-side, or should they be viewer-side, with the ability to preview animations prior to final upload to ensure they are playing correctly?

It is also open to question whether any such work, were it to be undertaken, would form a part of this initial Bento project.

Bento Bone Survey

I was absent (as noted) when this particular item was discussed, so I may have the details wrong. However, it appears that, as previously reported, the Lab are going to put out a survey asking for creators and animators to indicated their preferred additional bones out of those which have been suggested. The survey is liable to be published via the Bento forum and / or the Bento user group wiki page.

World Makers Filming

There will be a final Bento filming session for the upcoming Drax Files World Makers special on Monday, February 1st. Creators and animators who have examples of content using the Bento skeleton extensions and are willing to take part in the filing should contact Draxtor Despres in-world for further details.

Aditi Inventory Syncing

The code for merging main (Agni) inventories into beta (Aditi) grid inventories is still subject to final testing before being deployed to Aditi. As previously noted in these updates, when this does happen, it will mean that logging-in to Aditi will trigger an automatic merge of your Agni inventory with your Aditi inventory as a part of an overnight (PDT) process. This means that items unique to people’s inventories on Aditi will no longer be lost as a result of their Aditi inventory being overwritten by their Agni inventory (as is currently the case). Once deployed, this update also means that a password change will no longer trigger an inventory sync between the two grids.

Suggestions have been put forward that rather than merging Agni inventory directly into the Aditi inventory structure, the incoming Agni items are delivered to a new top-level folder (perhaps called “Agni” or “Main Grid”) during the merge process, so that people can easily distinguish between unique versions of items they’ve been editing on both Aditi and Agni.

Adobe Flash on CEF Viewers

As has been covered in this blog and others, the Second Life viewer, version 4.0.0+, and all v3 TPVs using that code now makes use of the Chromium Embedded Framework for supporting rich media, including Adobe Flash.

However, for the latter to work with the viewer, it requires a specific version of Flash to be installed on your system. For those interested, Jeremy Linden has provided a knowledge base article on what needs to be installed for the official viewer, and how. With thanks to Willow Wilder for the pointer.

 

Wareable examines Project Sansar

Posted on by Inara Pey
"Project Sansar" promotional image via linden Lab
Project Sansar promotional image via Linden Lab

In Virtual worlds reborn: Can Second Life’s second life democratise VR? Sophie Charara, features editor at Wareable, examines Project Sansar, using in part Ebbe’s comments from an on-stage discussion they had, together with Ken Bretschneider of The Void during the December 2015 Web Summit. I’ve embedded the video of that discussion at the end of this article.

While the piece in Wearable doesn’t offer much that’s new to those who have been following the Lab’s conversations to the press and SL users about their hopes for the new platform, the article does offer some interesting insights to what the Lab is doing and some of their thinking behind Sansar.

Sophie Charara
Sophie Charara

Starting out with what we already know – the Lab is pitching the platform as “WordPress for VR”: an environment where people can come in and create virtual environments without the need to be a software engineer, coder, etc. – the article covers a lot of ground, with comparisons to Second Life, references to other pioneers in VR (Chris Milk, Nonny de la Pena and Jeremy Bailenson) and a further look at hoped-for time frames with “Sansar”.

The Lab has, on numerous occasions, indicated that initially, Sansar is being targeted at some very specific verticals where immersive VR has practical application. Education, healthcare, simulation, business, design and architecture have all be very specifically mentioned in this regard. So a point of interest for me was reading the specific example cited by Ebbe as to how Sansar is already been used, albeit on a test basis, by an architect:

An architect named Diego, who works for a big firm that is completing a major medical centre project, built the entire building in Sansar as an experiment.

“When he experienced it in virtual reality for the first time, he walked into the lobby and said ‘Damn, it’s too big,'” said Altberg. “It took him one second to realise that something was off and he’d been working on this project for a long time. That had value instantly.”

In this instance, the power of virtual realisation is clear, and having a platform which allows companies and individuals easily leverage this kind of visualisation, connect with other and have them shared in such visualisations / experiences / models is clear. In the example above, it is only a short step from Diego witnessing the flaws in his design (and being able to correct them as a result) to him being able to invite his clients into the model, so they can witness first-hand what his company’s vision for the project is. It also potentially allows his company to retain the model as a part of a virtual portfolio of projects they can showcase to future clients.

That the Lab had identified architecture as a suitable environment where Sansar could offer significant value for clients can also be ssen in the fact that the first public demonstration of the new platform took place San Francisco’s month-long Architecture and the City Festival in September 2015.

VR capabilities have a huge potential for various vertical markets, such as architecture and design, and these are markets the Lab have indicated they are targeting (image archvertical.com)
In 2014, Jon Brouchoud demonstrated the potential of architectural visualisation using the Oculus Rift and Unity 3D (image archvertical.com)

Hence why “Sansar” could, potentially, be a very powerful platform with the sectors the Lab has identified, particularly if it really does allow clients the freedom to create environments which can be standalone or interconnected, and / or which can be accessed directly through a closed Intranet, or open to all via direct web portal, according to individual needs.

Picture, for example, a university using Sansar to build a virtual teaching environment, access through its own Intranet and using it’s exiting log-in and authentication process so students and staff can seamlessly move into and out of the virtual space. They could then open a public portal to elements of that space, and / or link-up with other education institutions, enabling students to share in their virtual learning spaces, building-up their own “world” of connected experiences.

Second Life has proven itself and the value of virtual environments in education. "Project Sansar" could present opportunities to significantly build on the foundations laid by SL
Second Life has proven itself and the value of virtual environments in education. “Project Sansar” could present opportunities to significantly build on the foundations laid by SL

Not that Sansar is purely about these niche environments. The potential social power of virtual spaces and virtual opportunities has long been established by Second Life, and the article does make it clear that as things progress, the Lab does see Sansar as potentially being able to replicate a lot of what Second Life can already do and offering it to an audience as a much more accessible medium.

This obviously is something of a worry for those of us deeply rooted in Second Life – much has already been made of the potential for the “cannibalisation effect” Sansar might have on the current Second Life user base. It’s actually a valid concern, and something we should perhaps be prepared for at some point down the road, if Sansar proves to be a success and starts to pull SL users away from this platform. But frankly, it’s not something which should be held up as a reason for the Lab not to press ahead with Project Sansar.

Continue reading “Wareable examines Project Sansar” →

Lab Chat: January 21st, 2016: 10:30 SLT

Posted on by Inara Pey

Lab Chat LogoDon’t forget that recording for the second instalment of Lab Chat takes place on Thursday, January 21st, at 10:30 (am) SLT , at the LEA Threatre in Second Life.

The guest will once again be Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg,through his alter ego, Ebbe Linden. He’ll be answering questions selected from the 80+ submitted to the Lab Chat forum. The selected questions include the following topics:

  • Project Bento
  • Notifying users in-world about technical issues occurring with Second Life
  • SL credit processing
  • How is “Sansar” to be regarded – a place to live, or a place to visit?
  • Sansar avatars
  • Sansar in-world and out-world building tools.

In addition, and time allowing, there may be questions on things as diverse as land, art, sailing and aviation in Sansar, permissions systems and (inevitably!) Oculus Rift.

Ebbe Linden takes questions from jo Yardley and Saffia Widdershins during the first Lab Chat discussion in November 2015
Ebbe Linden takes questions from jo Yardley and Saffia Widdershins during the first Lab Chat discussion in November 2015

So, make sure you get a seat during the live recording. You can access the LEA Theatre via any of the following SLurls:

If you can’t make the recording, videos of the show will be available in due course, and I’ll have a transcript of the Q&A both here and on the Lab Chat website iASAP after the show.

Congratulations to Bryn Oh on Arts Council grant

Posted on by Inara Pey
Bryn Oh by Tara Cetti
Bryn Oh by Tara Cetti

Second life artist Bryn Oh recently announced she has received a grant from the Ontario Arts Council.

Bryn, whose work is known and appreciated by many in Second Life, is one of 17 recipients in the latest round of grants awarded by the Council, and this marks the third such time her work in the virtual medium has received funding via a Canadian government grant.

The funds will in part be used to re-assemble and film The Singularity of Kumiko, and to create a first life exhibit using the Oculus Rift and Stem system. In addition, Bryn also notes the grant will additionally be put towards various other projects and activities, including marketing, voice acting, music, and travel.

From the thrust of Bryn’s post, it seems she is hoping the film project will help further her work in seeing immersive virtual arts gain wider appreciation, understanding and acceptance within the arts community as a whole. In making her announcement she notes:

I have spent a long time working in this area now and have witnessed the resistance of some curators to see outside their comfort zone.   Many curators have spent a life learning how to evaluate and understand painting, sculpture, film etc and to be honest, I think some of the resistance is from being intimidated by the prospect of having to learn something completely new and difficult for them.

The truth is that to understand an immersive artwork then one must become immersed, so the simplicity of pictures and text don’t apply to the Immersivist artwork and a curator just can’t hope to evaluate our artform by looking at pictures or even watching machinima.  They have to experience it and it’s not easy to do so.

Using a VR HMD with 360-filming would certainly help those unfamiliar with immersive, virtual art better understand the creative potential without the added complication of them having to need to understand the use of avatars, the viewer, and so forth.

The opening scene of The Singularity of Kumiko
The opening scene of The Singularity of Kumiko

The Singularity of Kumiko, which I reviewed here, originally opened in February 2014, and takes the form of a an immersive narrative which takes the visitor on a journey of discovery, focus on the exchanges between Kumiko and Iktomi (the latter communicating by means of letters placed inside bottles the visitor must find, while Kumiko uses a mixture of bottled missives and the spoken word.).

The journey the visitor must take, as with the flow of conversation between Kumiko and Iktomi is not always linear, further drawing the visitor into the piece and making them a part of the unfolding story. If you didn’t managed to visit it the first time around, I hope Bryn will leave it standing for visitors to enjoy for a while after she has completed filming.

In the meantime,her current work at Immersiva, The Gathering (which you can read about here), will remain open, Bryn says, for another month, after which it will be packed away to make room for The Singularity of Kumiko. so if you’ve not yet witnessed The Gathering, now is the time to do so!

Many (and belated) congratulations to Bryn on receiving the award!

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