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Google has rolled out a challenge to virtual world giant Second Life
with free software that lets people create their own online 3D
worlds that can be embedded on websites and melded with other online
functions.
Lively by Google lets people place virtual
"rooms" on websites, customize "avatars" to be
online proxies, and decorate their fantasy worlds with photos or
streaming videos from YouTube, Picasa or other online sources.
The offering is a challenge to Second Life and
other animated online worlds that require memberships and don't let
people take their creations elsewhere on the Internet.
"I'm wondering if this isn't a bridge too
far," analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group said of Google
expanding into virtual worlds.
"They are facing an awful lot of
competition. It could be Google is anticipating the next wave on the
Internet. We are not in the place where 3D is the way to render web
pages, but we are heading there."
With Lively, a user can adapt his personal
online realm to his own imagination. Examples shown include hip
flats, sprawling ranches, and rooftops backed by cityscapes.
Lively users can invite friends' avatars over
for visits by sending them online room addresses via email or
instant messages, according to Google engineering manager Niniane
Wang.
"If you enter a Lively room embedded on
your favorite blog or website, you can immediately get a sense of
the room creator's interests, just by looking at the furniture and
environment they chose," Wang wrote in an online posting.
"You can also express your own personality
by customizing your avatar's look, showing people who you are
without having to say a word. Of course, you can chat with each
other, and you can also interact through animated actions."
Lively code is available at www.lively.com
and an application has been customized for the social-networking
website Facebook.
--AFP
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