Category: Linden Lab

Linden Lab and Motown: a new approach to user on-boarding in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Motown Experience: contained within a Welcome Hub estate

On Tuesday, June 20th, 2023, Linden Lab officially announced the launch of a new partnership experience, this one with Capitol Music Group through their Motown Records label (see: Motown Records Enters the Metaverse with Exclusive Events and Immersive Second Life Experience – corporate press release – and Motown Records Debuts New Music Experience in Second Life – official Second Life blog post).

Of course, such partnership between the Lab and external entities are not new; nor, it is not unfair to say, have they perhaps been the most successful of ventures, as might be said to be the case with Film Threat and Zenescope Entertainment Inc (see: The Zenescope Metaverse in Second Life), and it is more than likely that this announcement will cause some rolling of eyes / raising of eyebrows in an “oh no, not again” style of reaction. However, this time, it is actually different, for a reason I’d like to focus on here and which I’ll get to in a moment.

At first glance, the Motown Experience might appear to be along the same lines of the likes of Zenescope – it is offered as a themed region, in this case intended to evoke Detroit and the home of Motown music, and is designed with music events in mind, hosted by a pair of venues, one indoor and the other out on the streets. Within this setting and through the involvement of STYNGR, Second Life residents and visitors to the platform can explore Motown’s rich music and roster of alumni, the music being provided through STYNGER’s unique expertise in licensing and right management and their ability to generate and provide curated playlists of music for stream into platforms and games.

STYNGR is the gaming arm of the recorded music industry, collaborating across all major labels and publishers to give you access to music and artists. With the largest catalogue of music in the gaming ecosystem, STYNGR partners with you to increase engagement, LTV, and visibility for your platform.

– from the STYNGR website

The Motown Experience HUD includes (l) small and hard-to-read instructions on enabling media for both the official viewer and firestorm; (c) the current track on the current playlist; (r) a list of available tracks, accesses by a small button sitting alongside the play/pause and skip buttons at the bottom of the HUD. Speaking personally, I found the HUD slow to respond (before the region even got busy), with the buttons frequently require 2-3 clicks

This is done via a dedicated Motown Records radio station, curated by Motown and STYNGR, and which can be accessed through an auto-attaching HUD (above), which provides access to the various streams the station provides (at the time of my visit, 5 were on offer, per the above images). These tracks can be accessed via a dialogue box triggered by clicking on a HUD button, with buttons also being provided to start / stop / skip tracks during media playback. In addition, visitors can obtain “Styngs”, which might be described as a “digital badge” that can be attached to an avatar and plays  snippets of their favourite Motown songs, and the region will be host to various events and activities.

All of which, admittedly, sounds like standard “partnership” fare; so what’s so special here? The clue is in taking a look at the map and / or camming around when in the region.

The Motown Experience sits within a nine-region estate built out as a comprehensive Welcome Hub that will in the new future be opened as a Community Gateway to receive incoming new users signing-up to Second Life. As such, it is designed to address what many people have felt has been missing from SL: a fairly engaging environment where incoming users can not only learn about the platform, the viewer and find out how to do the basics – they can actually get involved in activities and (allowing for the popularity of the Motown Experience as a music venue) actually get to meet other users and have some pleasant fun with them.

The Second Life Welcome Centre sitting adjacent to the Motown Experience

The heart of this hub – which is staffed by people signing-up to the recently announced new Second Life Mentors programme – is the Welcome Centre, where incoming new users will arrive, once the gateway aspect of the Hub is officially opened. This follows lines similar to the Welcome Island I first looked at in 2021 (see: Poking at the new Welcome Islands) and more recently, the BelliHub (see: A look at the new Belli Rub – I mean BelliHub – in Second Life), albeit with its own unique look and feel, which might be defined as semi-sci-fi. Here, as well as as taking lessons either directly or through Second Life Academy videos (isn’t that Second Life University elsewhere?), it s possible to try a game of bumper boats, or try taking to the air in little “robot-driven” flying cars.

Bridges from the Welcome Centre connect variously with the Motown Experience, a sandbox region (allowing visitors to discover the magic of prim-rezzing and banging them together), a sampling of Linden Homes (with open rezzers so the different styles of the available themes can be seen) a shopping district presenting something of a cross-section of content for sale from various creators (no idea how they were selected), and three games areas.

The Welcome Hub includes a Linden Homes region where many of the Linden Home themes currently available can be viewed, with the rezzers open to allowing visitors view the styles of home within a theme

The first of these is innocent enough, presenting an opportunity for people to dip a toe into combat-style gaming via a game of laser tag. This can be reached on foot directly from the Motown Experience region, or via the Shopping region. The remaining two games settings take the form of a Skill Gaming region tucked into one corner of the hub, and a copy of the (still) controversial Lab-developed “social casino” (which I still have yet to actually blog about, as my original piece lapsed into the realm of “meh-dom”). The latter met with (not entirely unjustified) negativity in the forums when the first one opened, and I admit I still cannot get my head around why it ever came to be seen as a good idea.

The Skill Gaming region – reached via either the Linden Homes region or the shopping region – I can understand; it may not everyone’s cup of tea (including me), but Skill Gaming is popular in Second Life. True, I’d rather see the space used as a broader show of what can take place in SL, but that’s a personal opinion. And that said, one thing that is showcased within the hub and via the cinema occupying its ninth region, is the potential for Second Life for producing quality machinima. For the opening, the cinema appears to be showing Waarheid, but I assume other films by residents will also be shown; although that said, I’d certainly not be averse to sitting down and watching “the truly fictious story of the battle of Dirty Hill” – We Were Moles!

The Welcome Hub cinema

Taken as a whole, this approach to providing a comprehensive hub environment with an active experience does represent a new take on a gateway experience for Second Life, and something that is going to be iterated upon and broadened through a rather of partnerships, as Brett Linden, the Lab’s VP of Marketing noted to me.

What you see now is our first test version [of] a new welcome hub we are testing.  It hasn’t fully been turned on yet to newcomers (and [it] will be tested along with other community gateways), and  but we expect to iterate and partner more with the community (and occasionally outside partners) for future iterations. We’ll be tracking things here closely and play-testing with newcomers to see what works and/or needs improvement for version 2.

Brett Linden, June 20th, in conversation

Given this launch, it is likely the new Hub and experience will be subject on comments and feedback during the upcoming SL20B Lab Gab sessions (of which more in an upcoming post), particularly given new user acquisition is a focus for the Marketing Team under Brett, and he and StyFy Linden from the team are featured in one of the upcoming shows sessions.

More broadly, this expanded tyle of Gateway / welcome facility for incoming new users does seek to address many of the critiques directed towards the on-boarding process: it is staffed by mentors who can provide a personal level of assistance; it covers the “first five (or fifteen) minutes” of in-world experience whilst offering a good opportunity to get to grips with the viewer and discover more about what Second Life is about; there is the opportunity to explore more broadly via the teleport portals (or should than be canons?!); there are local shopping and gaming opportunities; and – most importantly, and assuming the Motown Experience succeeds as a music venue / attraction for existing users as a well as new users – it presents the opportunity to meet people. In this, it might be suggested that how well it succeeds in helping incoming users to “stick”, once the gateway is open to incoming new users, is going to be down to how open, friendly and welcoming the established users visiting the Experience and its surrounding Hub are towards those newbies.

Certainly, I enjoyed my afternoon exploring the Hub regions – and my thanks, as ever, to Brett for his time in talking through aspects of the hub with me , and I will endeavour to keep tabs on what is happening with it over the next month or two; if not directly in relation to the Motown Experience, then certainly with the Welcome Hub as a whole.

SLurl Details

A look at the new Belli Rub – I mean BelliHub – in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
BelliHub landing area and new user tutorial

On Wednesday, April 19th, Linden Lab announced the launch of BelliHub and New User Tutorial regions – a new location within the Linden Homes Continent, open to all, which is intended to – quoting from Patch Linden’s forum post – provide:

A place where they can go to find information regarding Bellisseria, meet up with residents living in Bellisseria and have all of their questions answered. BelliHub features:
  • Information: Links to pages with details on things like how to get a home, Premium membership, using the land tools, the Bellisseria covenant, etc.
  • Bellisseria Events Centre: where members of the Bellisseria Performers Group can mark their events on the calendar for all to see.
  • Demo Homes: Finally a place where residents can rez and walk around all of the currently released home themes and models.
  • Hangout: A games area for residents to hang out and interact.
The BelliHub and BelliDemo regions are a resource for everyone who wants to help prospective new Linden Home owners, or just hang out and discuss all things Bellisseria.

– Patch Linden, April 19th, 2023

BelliHub: Linden Homes demo area

I will admit to reading the place name as “Belli RUB” at first glance, hence the title of this piece – I just couldn’t resist; however, the write-up and the Destination Guide entry left me curious enough to hop along and take a look just as soon as Fantasy Faire and completing setting-up my new PC allowed.

Sitting as a part of the New User Experience (NUX), BelliHub shares elements first seen at the new Welcome Islands I explored back in July 2021 to provide a tutorial area for new users and an introduction to Premium subscriptions, Bellisseria and Linden Homes. In particular, the kiosk-style approach to information areas seen within the Welcome Islands is repeated here, together with the garden-like layout and footpaths meandering between the different locales. However – and while I have not been back to the Welcome Islands to see how things may have changed since 2021 (makes a note to try to do soon in the near future), there are improvements here over that layout as originally reported.

Signage, for example, is much improved and less in-yer-face, giving progress through the various areas a more relaxed feel. Outside of the initial tutorial area / landing point, people are invited to touch the various signs to receive information, rather than having it shouted at them by detailed signs which can feel a little overwhelming. And talking of prior Welcome / Learning Islands, those with particularly long memories might want to to give a gentle pat on the head to the parrot at the Communications area, as he once again offers a call back to the Orientation Islands of old (all we need now is the old ball-and-table – which I think I’ve said at least once before!).

BelliHub new user tutorial
Progress is also assisted by the use of blue directional lines laid out along the footpaths, giving a needed sense of order to progress. In the 2021 version of the Welcome Islands, learning was a little more random as people could wander past kiosks without necessarily taking notice of them; here, the trails lead directly to the kiosks and through the areas to which they are linked, encouraging attention be paid to the information boards without any sense of being led by the nose.

Very good use is made of video media throughout as well – complete with auto-detect volumes which trigger videos when someone crosses them / stands on them (instructions are also provided on toggling video media manually in the viewer). The videos range from those produced specifically for the NUX (hi, Abnor!) to videos produced as a part of the Lab’s Second Life University series.

The path around the hub eventually reaches a gateway titled Bellisseria, after passing a Landmarks area where those who wish to do so can continue their explorations elsewhere in Second Life. The archway marks the end of the the “basic orientation” section of the hub, and the focus turns to the ideas of land holding – both Mainland and Private – and on Premium options, with links (including a globe of the Second Life world where those wishing to do so can upgrade to a Premium subscription (the globe itself a further link to the Welcome Islands).

BelliHub: Linden Homes demo area

Given the title on the arch of the gateway, it should come as no surprise that beyond it is a focus on All Things Bellisseria including an events area which includes the ability to book the various community centres for an event by Bellisseria residents (click on the name of any community centre to open the World Map to teleport to it). I’ll admit, reading one of the calendars, I was a little concerned that the last time Abnor Mole ate anything appears to have been April 13th…); and information on the Bellisseria Covenant and what is or is not allowed in the Bellisseria continent. Beyond this, the path ends at a Where Next? kiosk with a link to the Destination Guide and some further focus. Alongside of this end-point is a small dock where a sailboat can be rezzed for those wishing to take to the water: a nice touch.

North of the tutorials / information area and within a second region, and a looped path offering the chance to visit demos of the released Linden Home themes. Visitors can either walk the path or grab a bicycle from the rezzer at the start point and ride around the path. Again, in a nice touch, the house controllers for the demos are open to the public, allowing people to view the different styles of the various themes. Just keep in mind that if you use a bicycle from the rezzer and opt to hop off to look at a house, the bike will poof.

For those looking for a little socialising, BelliHub offers a number of seating areas, some of which also include the opportunity to play chess or draughts, whilst the beach adjoining the tutorial area also offers beach volleyball, 10-pin bowling and other activities.

BelliHub new user tutorial

Overall, the BelliHub is well designed and considered, presenting an engaging and interesting visit for established and curious established Second Life residents as well as those coming into SL who might be directed to it, whilst for those who have invested themselves in Bellisseria and its various communities, it offers a further opportunity to socialise and – possibly – meet and help incoming new users to Second Life.

SLurl Details

VWBPE 2023: Grumpity & Patch Linden – What’s Up at the Lab? – a summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
via VWBPE

On Thursday, March 23rd, 2023 Grumpity Linden, the Lab’s Vice President of Operations and Patch Linden, the Lab’s Vice President of Product Operations, both of them members of the company’s management team, attended the 2023 Virtual Worlds Best Practice in Education (VWBPE) conference to discuss Second Life.

The following is a summary of the session covering the core topics raised. The notes provided have been taken directly from the official video of the session, which is embedded at the end of this article. Time stamps to the video are also provided to the relevant points in the video for those who wish to listen to specific comments.

Notes:

  • This is a summary, not a full transcript, and items have been grouped by topic, so may not be presented chronologically when compared to the video.
  • Timestamps are included to allow a direct jump to a subject / comment.

A Little Background

Grumpity Linden: heads up Second Life Product team, where she has overseen a shift to growth, a stronger, more balanced economy, movement towards better community cohesion, and an overall forward-looking approach. She originally started at LL whilst working for The Product Engine, and was involved in the development of Viewer 2 (as designed by 80/20 Studio), prior to joining LL full-time in 2014. As the Vice President of Product, she is responsible for coordinating the various teams involved in bringing features and updates to Second Life, liaising with legal, financial and compliance to ensure features and capabilities meet any specific requirements in those areas, and so on; work which can involve looking at specifics within various elements of the overall SL product, such as UI design and layout, etc.

Patch Linden: originally a Second Life resident and business owner who joined the platform in 2004, and became a Linden in September 2007. He worked across a number of teams within the company – notably within the support and product spheres, and is responsible for developing the Land Operations team, and more recently setting-up the company’s support office in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 2019, he has been Vice President, Product Operations.

The Environment at the Lab and Use of SL

A general discussion on working at L:inden Lab – the environment / atmosphere -, on how often Lindens log into SL (and how some specifically do so using alts as well as their Linden accounts), etc. Please refer to the first 15  minutes of the video for details.

Product Development Path

SL Mobile

[Video: 15:42-23:40]

See also: Lab Gab summary: Grumpity, Mojo & Patch – SL Mobile, land, bots & more, March 2023.

  • A re-iteration that LL are working on a fully immersive Mobile solution for both Android and iOS.
  • Limited feature set beta in development, aimed primarily at existing users rather than trying to support the New User Experience (NUX).
  • The first release will be “broad but shallow” – rendering the world, teleporting, using chat, with the focus on getting as high a quality of rendering as possible.
    • Dealing with user-generated content (in-world and worn on avatars) which is largely unoptimised for a run-time environment like Second Life has been a challenge on the rendering side.
  • Capabilities such as complex interactions with in-world objects, the inclusion of Voice and similar will be added over time as the app is iteration on and enhanced. However, streaming audio (music) is liable to be implemented ahead of any Voice support.
  • However, while the capabilities will be iterated on over time, Mobile is not intended to offer full parity in terms of functionally as the full viewer.
  • [Video: 47:38-48:36] The initial BETA release of the Mobile app will likely not be before the last quarter of 2023.

NUX and New Starter Avatars

[Video: 23:48-28:40]

See also: Lab Gab summary: Grumpity, Mojo & Patch – SL Mobile, land, bots & more, March 2023.

  • LL is working on improving the whole user on-boarding and new user experience (NUX) path for those coming into SL for the first time.
  • This work includes new “full mesh”, one piece (head, body, hands, feet) avatars (previewed at SL19B), which will be supported by a full complement of clothing and accessory options
A preview version of the new, single mesh (head-to-toe) avatar, which will use by mesh clothing and Bakes on Mesh, and be open for creators to design clothing and accessories
  • The NUX process will involve smoother on-boarding from the web (sign-up, etc.) and include viewer-side changes to make getting started with SL easier and more intuitive, and making it easier for those coming into SL to get a good start.
  • The first part of this work to surface is likely to be the updated sign-up workflow and on-boarding from the web (including selecting one of the new avatars and carrying out some customisation at that point – thus avoiding the need to get into the complexities of using Inventory, etc., within the viewer).
  • The second part of the work “later on” will simplify the avatar customisation process within the viewer, and it is hoped the third-party viewer community will build on this work as well.
  • The new avatars, coupled with the new on-boarding path, are seen as a mean for communities leverage / user SL to develop their own on-boarding paths using the RegAPI to bring their particular audiences / users into the platform.
    • This could potentially extend down to the level of communities providing specific outfits / clothing for the users they are bringing into SL (e.g. a selection of uniforms or similar for a military role-play group; t-shirts and hoodies with a school or college logo on them for an educational group, etc.).
  • This will be leveraged by Mobile so that users coming into SL via the Mobile option will be able to customise their avatars through the on-boarding process.

PBR Materials and Puppetry

[Video: 31:41-35:40]

See also: Lab Gab summary: Grumpity, Mojo & Patch – SL Mobile, land, bots & more, March 2023, my Content Creation User Group meeting summaries and my Puppetry Project user group meeting summaries.

  • The next set of capabilities to be deployed will be the Physically Based Rendering materials capabilities and reflection probes.
    • The core of this work is to support a new approach to material maps / surfaces either directly on products developed for SL by content creators or which can be used modify personal items and creations. They are designed to give objects a sense of physical world lighting and reflection, drawing on the Khronos glTF 2.0 specification.
    • This work represents a significant technical step forward in graphical rendering for SL (in the order of 10 years), and will take a step towards facilitating things like dynamic planar mirrors which can reflect avatars in-world (with some constraints around the capability).
    • Documentation and materials in support of the PBR Materials and reflection probes is in the process of being developed.
  • Animation imports is a project that is in the pipeline, but is currently more an offshoot of the Puppetry Project.
  • The Puppetry Project is in progress, but has expanded beyond the original outline, and can be regarded as “coming soon™”. This work includes motion capture from devices as basic as a web camera, as well as potentially supporting more capable hardware, and broadcasting / streaming the results in-world in real time (so you can wave you avatar’s hand, beckon someone – even potentially reach out and pick up an object, etc.).
  • More information on the PBR work and what follows it, and the Puppetry Project will be made available as this work continues.

SL20B – The 20th Anniversary

[Video: 29:15-31:40]

See also: SL20B: theme, music festival & performer applications, March 2023.

via Linden Lab
  • SL20B is anticipated as being a “very large event”, given it is the 20th anniversary, with the event regions almost doubling in number.
  • When the exhibitor applications are opened, communities and groups from across SL are encouraged to apply and take part in the event.
  • As well as performances and entertainment, SL20B will open up for panels, talks and discussions, applications for which will also be opening soon.

Upcoming / Future Work

[Video: 36:08-42:32]

Translation tools

LL note that the current translation tools within the viewer are getting long in the tooth, so there will be a project to make sure they are properly supported. After that, it is hoped a project can be put together to move translation server-side. The specification for this work is still being developed internally at the Lab, and more details may be available for public consumption in the future.

Family Names

  • Linden Lab has long run a Custom Name Programme, allowing qualified users to pay for personalised avatar names.
  • This is being expanded to allow the introduction of a new subset of custom last names: Family Names.
  • Family Names will allow a user to purchase into a last name, and then elect / allow a certain number of accounts to use that last name.
  • This capability is something that has been requested by users, and is seen as having a number of use-cases.
  • Further information on Family Names will be made available as and when the capability is ready to be released.

Streaming Solution Option

  • Aside from the Mobile app, LL is looking at a streaming capability for Second Life (that is, running a viewer instance on a cloud server and streaming the results to a browser).
  • If developed, it would “come in at a more reasonable price-point” than past efforts (SL Go and Bright Canopy).
  • Even so, it would not be intended to be a means for day-to-day access to Second Life, but more something that could benefit specific communities / events / activities.
  • LL may well take further steps to solicit wider feedback on this idea.

General Q&A

[Video: 42:40-46:36]

  • Will there be a payable “lifetime account” option? “Maybe. Time will tell”.
  • Is the Education Discount still available – Yes.
  • Will the new features being developed prevent users on older hardware from using SL? Not necessarily – although very , very old hardware may not be able to run some of the newer features, so may have to rely on “legacy” modes (where available).

Lab Gab with Grumpity and Patch – summary notes

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab
On Friday, October 21st, Linden Lab streamed a special session of Lab Gab featuring Vice President of Product, Grumpity Linden and VP of Product Operations, Patch Linden.

The session was built around questions submitted by users in the wake of the announcement of the session, together with those asked via You Tube chat during the live stream.

Notes:

  • The following is a summary, not a full transcript of everything said.
  • A glitch during streaming meant the session extends over two videos. Both are embedded in this summary.
  • Timestamps to each video are included within each topic / sub-topic.

 

 Table of Contents

A Little Background

Grumpity Linden

  • Heads up Second Life Product team, where she has overseen a shift to growth, a stronger, more balanced economy, movement towards better community cohesion, and an overall forward-looking approach.
  • Originally came to Linden Lab while working for The Product Engine, a company providing end-to-end consulting and software development services, and which supports viewer development at the Lab, and she was initially involved in the development and viewer 2 (as designed by 80/20 Studio).
  • She became a “full-time Linden” in 2014. Her current position involves coordinating the various teams involved in bringing features and updates to Second Life (e.g. Engineering and QA), liaising with legal, financial and compliance to ensure features and capabilities meet any specific requirements in those areas, etc. This work can involve looking at specifics within various elements of the overall SL product, such as UI design and layout, etc.
  • Prior to working for Linden Lab, she was involved in a number of industries, including technology, higher education, and oil & gas. She enjoys exploring worlds both virtual and physical and takes pride in building bridges – personal and professional.
  • Holds a Master’s in Computer Science and a Bachelor’s from same in Computer Science & Psychology, both from Johns Hopkins University. She finds leading the Second Life product a joy because it allows her to draw on both areas of study.

About Patch Linden

  • Originally a Second Life resident and business owner who joined the platform in 2004, and became a Linden in September 2007.
  • Initially worked as a support agent and then as a support liaison. From there he moved to the Concierge team, eventually becoming that team’s manager.
  • Shifted focus to the role of Operations Support Manager for a year, then moved to the Product group, the team responsible for defining the features, etc., found within Second Life.
  • At Product he developed the Land Operations team, which includes the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW).
  • In 2018, he established the company’s support office in Atlanta, Georgia, and in 2020 he oversaw the move to larger office space in Atlanta, interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • In 2019 he was promoted to Vice President, Product Operations.
  • Together with Grumpity, Mojo and Brett Linden, he forms the leadership team overseeing Second Life’s continued development.
  • In his management team role, Patch continues to oversee all of the Lab’s user support operations (some 5 teams), including the LDPW.

New Announcements

[Video 1 – 1:13-5:23]

Land Economy and Pricing

  • Lower-priced Premium option to allow more access to Mainland for users.
  • The amounts paid for the different Mainland tiers are to be reviewed with a view to drawer them closer together.
  • Premium Plus will be able to hold a Homestead regions without having to pay for a Full region (so Premium + subscription + $109 a month tier for a Homestead).

European Premium Subscriptions

  • It was hinted that Premium (P+) subscribers in Europe will hopefully get some good news in the near future (removal of VAT from all subscription options?).

These are all to be formally announced in November.

Recent Announcements

[Video 1: 5:35-15:35]

Tilia and JP Morgan Payments

  • As per the official announcement from Tilia, plus my own blog post, Tilia has received a minority investment from JP Morgan Payments.
  • This partnership will allow Tilia to expand its services (again, see my blog post).
  • This does not change the relationship between Tilia and Second Life, and Second Life users’ data remains as secure as before the partnership JP Morgan Payments do not gain access to this data.
  • In the future it may also lead to further benefits to SL users in terms of payment / cash out options for obtaining L$ or processing L$ amount to fiat currencies.

CasperTech Acquisition

  • LL have had a long relationship with CasperTech, and the services and tools offered fit with a lot of the Lab’s needs as well as being heavily relied upon by a lot of users an businesses.
  • The acquisition was therefore seen as both a means to help grow the CasperTech business and ensure its continued longevity and stability.

Premium Plus and Speedlight

  • At the start of October, LL announced Premium Plus members can make use of a special tier of access to the Speedlight Second Life client.
    • This benefit is purely as a result of an agreement reached between LL and the Speedlight team (Speedlight remains a third-party viewer in terms of its definition).
    • Speedlight is not part of the Lab’s own mobile development efforts.
  • Within the own Mobile plans, the Lab is working on an option that gives “as high as” visual fidelity as can be obtained on a desktop system.
    • There may be some in-progress teasing of this option “in early 2023”.

Puppetry Announcement

  • Originally referred to as “avatar expressiveness”, this project is still in the early phases of development.
  • IIt essentially allows a user’s head / arm movements to be captured via webcam and translated into avatar head / arm movements (but not facial expressions at this time), and more capabilities may be added as the protocols and functions are added.
  • The project is in very early development, and is being worked on in concert with user-developers within the Puppetry User Group.
  • Those interested can join the Puppetry User Group meetings or can follow development via my Puppetry Project summaries.

New User Experience (NUX)

[Video 1 – 15:00-19:38]

  • LL ran a survey among users who have joined since 2018 with the aim of getting feedback from a good cross-section of users who have joined and stayed with the platform in more recent years.
  • The feedback from this survey is being used to help guide LL’s thinking WRT the NUX and going forward.
  • A specific question in the survey was (paraphrasing) “what was the one thing that almost saw you walk away from Second Life when you first started?”
    • Performance issues was one of the most frequent responses to this question, and it is hoped that the Performance Improvements recently deployed, and those coming upon the Performance Floater / Auto FPS viewer (at Project status at the time of writing) have and will help overcome these shortfalls.
  • Alongside of this, popular reasons for almost quitting were (presumably in order): avatar customisation, finding things to do and getting to meet people.
  • As a result, LL will soon be rolling out “some big improvements to a first-time avatar customisation process”.

New Starter Mesh Avatars

  • These were previewed at SL19B. and are now very close to being released – which may happen “in the next couple of months”.
  • There will be an initial ecosystem of hair, clothing, skins, etc., that will be available when the new avatars are launched.
  • In advance of the release, a developer kit + documentation will likely be made available to creators who also want to get involved in the NUX avatar ecosystem and develop clothing and accessories for the line, which they can sell.
  • These avatars and their accessories might even form a special element within future LL Shop’n’Hop events.

New Viewer and Simulator Capabilities

[Video 1 – 1938-end]

PBR Materials + Reflection Probes

  • This is an in-progress project which I am covering in my CCUG meeting summaries.
  • As noted by Grumpity, this work will include reflection probes, which are not dynamic mirrors in the way that most people will think of mirrors when that word is used.
    • However, it has been suggested that a  future enhancement to the work might be used to provided some limited degree of planar mirrors (i.e. like those you might hang on a wall) – but contrary to the video, this work is not part of the initial PBR / reflection probes work.

Linkset Data

  • See https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LSL_Linkset_Data.
  • Allows data to be stored within objects within a linkset, which can be read by scripts within that linkset.
  • This could revolutionise create types of in-world object and vastly improve the lives of scripters.
  • The back-end support for this work will hopefully be deployed to RC channel simhosts on Wednesday, October 26th, subject to LL’s QA.
  • I hope to have a special Gust Article explaining this capability in this blog shortly after the RC deployment.

General Topics

Second Life Search

[Video 2 – 1:14-4:21]

  • SL has a number of Search instances:
    • The web search (powered by Elascticsearch) at search.secondlife.com and which appears as the first tab in most viewer search floaters.
    • Marketplace search (also powered by Elasticsearch).
    • People Search.
  • Web search was recently updated, notably with a search relevance engine, with the intent of making returns and results more accurate.
    • Relevance in particular should continue to improve due to the “learning” nature of the AI-driven relevance engine.
    • This work also folded-in adding a full range of Boolean search options.
  • A decision has yet to be made on how often web search should be indexed. This currently occurs twice a day, but more frequent updates would allow more recent additions – stores, etc – in-world, to be recorded.
  • Similar work is now in progress with the Marketplace search, and it is hoped these changes will be deployed before year-end.
  • People Search uses a different back-end system, and there are currently no plans to make changes to this.

Marketplace Updates

[Video 2 – 4:21-4:54]

  • For the latest on Marketplace updates, please refer to my monthly Web User Group summaries, which include current status and promised updates such as listing variances (aka Styles), etc.

Linden Home Updates

[Video 2 – 6:03-7:11]

  • Plans are still “on track” to get new floor plan these released for some of the existing Linden Home designs before the end of the year.
  • The First Premium Plus selection of Linden Homes will be the Ranch theme, and are being targeted for a possible end of 2022 / start of 2023 release.
  • There will be more themes for both premium and Premium Plus.

Mainland

[Video 2 – 7:13-9:33]

  • Improvements and updates to the Mainland roads is part of the on-going general work of the LDPW.
  • Allowing users to provide intersections between LDPW roads and private roads is a good idea – but overseeing / inspecting the work when carried out by residents can take time away form other work, and so is something that may be considered in the future.
  • The LDPW already provides switches, branches and connections between resident-owned rail lines and those of the SLRR. However, these are easier to handle as they are a lot fewer.

HiFi and Second Life

[Video 2 – 11:41-12:21]

  • As I reported at the time, at the start of 2022, High Fidelity Inc. invested in Linden Lab and Second Life.
  • The investment took the form of cash, expertise (several members of the High Fidelity team moves across to Linden Lab) and patients.
  • The latter sparked speculation (including by myself) that some of High Fidelity’s work is full spatial audio could be coming to SL.
  • This is something that has been discussed internally at LL, but would require a lot of changes being made if SL and the viewer are to support the HiFi audio. As such, it is something that is still “under consideration”.

VR Headset Support in SL

[Video 2 – 12:29-14:05]

  • VR has traditionally been limited by the requirement for sustained high frame rates (around 60 fps with modern headsets). This has tended to be problematical for Second Life, although the current and upcoming performance improvements go some way to alleviating the issue.
  • VR headsets are also very much in the minority in terms of general computer use, and their usage still represents a small sub-set of SL users, and headsets are certainly not as ubiquitous as mobile devices.
  • As such, while moves have been made to “bring SL to VR”, it is not a priority at this time and is certainly not an active project.

Closing Comments

[Video 2 -14:20-end]

  • Please refer to the video.

Tilia LLC gains strategic investment from J.P. Morgan

Posted on by Inara Pey

Tilia LLC, founded by Linden Research Inc., as a wholly-owned subsidiary specialising in virtual currencies and providing money services business solution to virtual platforms, has announced it has gained strategic investment from J.P. Morgan Payments, a part of the world’s largest bank (by market capitalisation), JPMorgan Chase.

Tilia has been running Second Life’s US $650 million dollar economy for the past seven years, handling over US $86 million is payments to users in the last 12 months alone. Tilia’s services have also been used by the likes of Sansar, Upland and Avatus, and leverages in partnerships with Unity (allowing Tilia’s API and services to be made available to Unity developers as an integrated end-to-end payment solution) and Applovin.

E. Drew Soinski, Senior Payments Executive, Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Payments joins the Board of Tilia LLC

While an (unspecified in dollar terms) minority investment, J.P. Morgan Payment’s involvement is liable to allow Tilia to increase pay-out methods and the number of currencies it can support, thus allowing it to provide a pay-out in local fiat currency for creators to pretty much anywhere credit cards work.

The deal has been in motion for almost a year, with effort being put into ensuring Tilia’s services are interoperable with those of J.P. Morgan Payments as well as structuring the overall financial elements of the deal. With its completion, E. Drew Soinski, Senior Payments Executive, Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Payments, has  joined Tilia’s board of directors, serving alongside Brad Oberwager, Raj Date and Aston Waldman, who is also the company’s CEO.

From Tilia’s perspective, the partnership means the company will be even better placed to serve the emerging stream of “metaverse”-related companies, providing a wide range of currency services.

Tilia is money into the metaverse. It’s money moved into the metaverse and money moved out of the metaverse. And why this is so important is because you cannot have this concept of the metaverse without a social economy. It is both the social aspect and the financial aspect. Those two things must work in harmony. To do money, you need some virtual token to make money work. Money has to be rock solid. That is JP Morgan. That’s the partnership. What’s the value of Tilia? You can’t build a metaverse without user-generated content. You can’t build a metaverse without social interaction. You can’t build a metaverse without some sort of financial token that allows people to build a world.

– Tilia Director (and Linden Lab Executive Chairman) Brad Oberwager to Dean Takahashi in Gamesbeat

He further noted that in strengthening Tilia’s ability to provide these services to platforms, J.P. Morgan Payments are helping to both fuel new economies that directly benefit creators participating in them, allowing such economies to step away from the route of revenue generation through the invasive use of data farming and advertising.

“This is a good thing when creators can make money. There are people around the world who make their living by building things in Second Life …  Here’s why I think it’s so important: these universes are social economies. If you don’t allow people to make money, if you don’t allow this economy to happen, if you don’t support creators, you’re going to have to rely on an advertising model to make your world work. That is a disaster. That would be the worst thing that could hit our society — an advertising-based metaverse.

– Tilia Director Brad Oberwager to Dean Takahashi in Gamesbeat

A great strength with Tilia is that it utilises virtual tokens rather than blockchain-powered crypto-currencies. This means that it is better placed to offer day-to-day virtual currency stability. Crypto-currencies are all too often treated as a speculative securities; they are therefore vulnerable to market volatility, going up and down in value by the day. Such volatility can potentially damage the foundations of any social economy using them.

Add to this Tilia now having such a well-regarded name within the financial markets / payments environment as a strategic partner further enhances Tilia’s standing and reputation – with Oberwager noting that new clients are already “lining up”. At the the same time, the partnership provides J.P. Morgan Payments with access to a market sector that might otherwise prove difficult to access.

More on the partnership can be found in the links below:

SL19B MTL – the Moles (new starter avatars + Linden Homes)

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

Friday, June 24th, 2022 saw the final Meet the Lindens special events take place for the SL19B(irthday) celebrations, featuring Patch Linden and the Moles of the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW).

Unlike previous articles in this series, this is not a detailed summary of the session, but focuses on information relating to the New User eXperience (NUX) and the upcoming new Starter Avatars, and on plans for Linden Homes for Premium Plus and Premium accounts. Also provided is information on who the Moles are, and how to apply to become one, if you believe your skill sets are suitable.

New User Experience / Starter Avatar Project

[Video: 12:27-20:56]

  • NUX is a multi-phase, multi-faceted project that is fairly constantly in motion.
  • Currently, the focus is on the new user starter avatars, given the current avatars are a mix of the original system body and mesh attachments.
  • This project is intended to replace all of the starter avatars with fully mesh offerings. These will utilise the Bento skeleton and sliders, support Bakes on Mesh (BoM) and be an all-in-one, head-to-toes avatar, complete with new animation overrides.
A preview version of the new, single mesh (head-to-toe) avatar, which will use by mesh clothing and Bakes on Mesh, and be open for creators to design clothing and accessories
  • These avatars:
    • Will be provided with an “array” of outfits/looks/ethnicities from which new users can choose during the sign-up process, with everything being an unisex as possible, so as to work across the full gender spectrum and the avatars themselves also available through the system Library.
    • Won’t necessarily be as robust and extensible as some of the “best-in-class” bodies and heads, but are seen as a means to help those coming into SL get started and ease them into the wider creative ecosphere.
    • Will be supported by developer kits so that creators can produce clothing and accessories for them, and again further encourage new users into the broader commercial ecosystem.
A closer view of the preview avatar head / face. Note this is not necessarily indicative of the final versions of these avatars; the project is a work-in-progress.
  • The work is still very much at a pre-release status, with the preview shown at the event not necessarily represent the finished product; there is a lot more to come with the project before it is ready for release.

Linden Homes – Premium Plus and Premium

[Video: 36:31-44:55]

  • At the time of the Moles MTL, 34,845 Premium Linden Homes had been made available and 1,913 regions released, with a further 172 “under construction”.
  • Premium Plus Linden Homes:
    • Entirely new “ground up” themes with a new approach to implementation.
    • The “ranch” theme Patch mentions at his MTL session [video ; blog summary], is one under consideration, although exact style, etc., is still TBA.
    • The fact that ideas are still in development is why Premium Plus Linden Homes will not be appearing until the end of 2022 “at the earliest”.
    • The increased land offering (2048 sq m) means more opportunities to use different parcel sizes.
  • Premium Linden Homes:
    • Both the Traditional and Victorian theme will be getting a refresh with “open-plan” variants on their styles.
    • Houseboats to get four new floor plans.
    • Updates will include a pass to bring the control panels up-to-date with the most recent home releases.
    • All of this will be rolled out before the end of 2022.
  • New large-scale community centres for Bellisseria are also in the works.
  • No plans at this time for a “city style” theme with apartments and the like.

About the Moles

Who or What are the Moles?

  • Officially called the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW), originally formed in 2008, Moles are residents from all over the world hired by Linden Lab as independent contractors to undertake specific tasks.
  • Their work was originally focused on the Mainland, adding the infrastructure – road, bridges, etc., and the landscaping, as noted in the official LDPW wiki page, although they actually do a lot more than this.
  • Notable major projects carried out by the Moles include:
    • The infrastructure within Nautilus City.
    • The development of Bay City.
    • The Linden Homes continent of Bellisseria (including all topography, flora, infrastructure and housing).
    • The facilities for events like Shop & Hop, the Second Life Birthday, town hall events, the turn-key regions available for businesses, starter avatars, etc.
    • The Lab provided games such as Linden Realms, Paleoquest, Horizons and the grid-wide Tyrah and the Curse of the Magical Glytches – all accessible via the Portal Parks.
  • They also provide support / input for / to technical projects (e.g. Project Bento and the avatar skeleton extension), and work with marketing, QA and other LL teams.
  • In keeping with their name, Moles were originally given a mole avatar, complete with hard hat. However, over the years, most have moved to having a more individual and personal look, although some say with their Mole look.
  • As well as being paid for the work they do, Moles also receive and allowance from the Lab, which is primarily intended to go towards the cost of uploads (texture, animations, mesh objects, etc)., but which can also be put towards developing their individual looks.

How to Become a Mole

  • Positions in the LDPW are open to application by residents who believe they are qualified to work in the team, and the team may also approach specific residents and ask if they would consider joining them.
  • Applications are made by dropping a résumé (note card or email) of qualifications / experience (including links SLurls, Flickr, You Tube, etc.) to Derrick Linden (derrick.linden-at-lindenlab.com) or to Patch Linden (patch.linden-at-lindenlab.com).
  • Applicants have to go through a former interview process.
  • Successful applicants get to pretty much choose their hours of work – providing agreed tasks are completed on time.
  • As they are from around the world, this can allow some projects to move forward on almost a round-the-clock basis.
  • Those who are more fully-rounded in skill sets  – content creation, scripting, etc., – are encouraged to apply, but LL will also take on specialists.
  • Motivated, outgoing, communicative people with a passion for SL and willing to self-teach themselves new skill sets are particularly considered.