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Press Release: InterCall Expands Its Streaming Services Portfolio with Acquisition of Unisfair OMAHA, Neb. – InterCall, a subsidiary of West Corporation and the world’s largest conferencing and collaboration services provider, today announced the acquisition of Unisfair, a leading global provider of virtual events and business environments. Unisfair enables companies to createRead More →

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When aspiring freelance writers ask me for advice about how to get started, here’s what I always start out with: Don’t do anything that other people are willing to do for free. So if you love writing about politics, or the foibles of your pet cat, or how lousy SaturdayRead More →

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Leading virtual architect Jon Brouchoud has created Virtual Architecture 101, a 3D exhibit on Architecture Island in Second Life — and there are some nice lessons there for anyone looking to build a virtual environment for their school or company. While the exhibit is plagued by the text-on-board syndrome commonRead More →

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Virtual Edge Institute Announces First Certification Program for Digital Events Strategist Comprehensive training program to accelerate adoption of virtual meetings, events, and conferences Pleasanton, CA –The Virtual Edge Institute today announced the first educational program to formally train and certify event marketers, meeting and learning professionals, trade show and conference managers asRead More →

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OpenSim grid owners now have another option for their grid server software — Aurora-Sim. This branch of OpenSim, still in “pre-alpha” stage of development, promises more security features and better vehicle physics than mainline OpenSim, but it is still too early to tell whether it will be able to deliver.Read More →

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After ReactionGrid announced plans to patent a process for deploying and managing OpenSim earlier this month, the open source community responded with dismay. In comments on the initial announcement, and in ReactionGrid’s follow-up clarification, and in the OpenSim discussion list, open source advocates worried that patenting processes might hurt the developmentRead More →

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The non-profit NewWorldGrid will stop allowing self-hosted regions to connect as soon as the grid completes its upgrade to the latest version of OpenSim. “We are currently starting tests on the current OpenSim development releases,” grid manager Olivier Battini told Hypergrid Business. There is no firm date yet for theRead More →

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Press release: Fashion Research Institute Oversees Another Round of the Science Sim Land Grant Program with Intel Labs New York, NY  – Fashion Research Institute has been collaborating with Intel Labs since 2009, helping to push the limits of content development, and overseeing the Science Sim Land Grant Program. The programRead More →

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Austria-based VirWoX began trading Avination’s C$ virtual currency today. VirWoX is best known as a leading exchange for Lindens in Europe, and for its hypergrid-enabled OMC currency. “Given the strong growth of Avination and its clear focus on becoming a commercial grid, this looks like an interesting market to beRead More →

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They say it’s not the winning that counts but the taking part. Watson managed to do both — but perhaps the winning actually counted for less. All the indications are that Watson’s win was as much about his — or its — speed on the buzzer as for his knowledge. As competitor Brad RutterRead More →

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The non-profit, research-focused ScienceSim grid is now accessible via hypergrid teleports again, after more than a year of no hypergrid connectivity. ScienceSim turned off the hypergrid last January, due to security concerns. But new upgrades in the hypergrid technology — in particular, the ability to keep content from being takenRead More →

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Press release: ARRS Introduces a 3D Option for CME Education The American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) is taking a leadership role within their industry by offering their attendees the ability to attend their educational course not only in 2D, but in a 3D, immersive environment as well.  Their upcoming course:  ImagingRead More →

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Press release: Vivox Doubles Online Voice Chat User Base in 2010, Now Serves Over 45 Million Significant Online Audience Firmly Establishes Company as the Leader in Voice Services for the Social Web NATICK, Mass.–Vivox, Inc. (www.vivox.com), the number one integrated voice platform for the Social Web, today announced its worldwideRead More →

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Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been surveying the owners of all the public OpenSim grids about what their grids are all about. We asked about hypergrid, currencies, maturity levels — and intellectual property policies. What we found suprised us. A number of OpenSim grids now have very detailedRead More →

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The number of regions of the 40 largest OpenSim grids went down this month for the first time since July, from 15,623 to 13,069, a loss of over 2,300 regions, a result of a long-overdue housekeeping on OSGrid. But the big story was from Avination, which rocked to second place thisRead More →

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Press release: ProtonMedia’s ProtoSphere Now Integrated with Kaplan EduNeering’s ComplianceWire LANSDALE, Pa.—ProtonMedia and Kaplan EduNeering have integrated their technologies to create a new way for life sciences organizations to meet regulatory and compliance regulations. The companies have combined ProtonMedia’s ProtoSphere virtual immersive environment with Kaplan EduNeering’s ComplianceWire learning management system. With this integration, companiesRead More →

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In the past year, the OMC virtual currency has gained both popularity and usefulness, with both the total currency in circulation and the number of grids it’s available for use on growing. The OMC, or Open Metaverse Currency, is a virtual currency from Austria-based VirWoX  that can be used to buyRead More →

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Press release: Microsoft Certifies ProtonMedia with Silver Unified Communications Competency LANSDALE, Pa.–ProtonMedia has achieved Microsoft’s Silver Unified Communications competency, making it the first and only virtual immersive environment software provider to achieve this certification from Microsoft. This certification affirms ProtonMedia has met Microsoft’s silver competency credentials and customer evidence requirements.Read More →

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Changchun is a city in northeast China known for its auto plants. “We’re the Detroit of China,” said David Deeds, IT manager and teacher at the Changchun American International School. “Except that they’re still making cars here.” The school, which was founded four years ago, is affiliated with an autoRead More →

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According to a new report, virtual conferences are not longer a novelty for associations and are expected to triple in number this year. And while reducing costs remains a major driver for virtual events, organizers are now looking at ways to use them to generate revenue. Virtual events emerged asRead More →

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There are hundreds of OpenSim grids, most of them running quietly on private servers, behind corporate, school and university firewalls. The following two tables cover just the publicly accessible grids. Some of the grids are run by individuals or school groups and may not be up and running at allRead More →

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Press release: 2011 Horizon Report Identifies Six “Key Emerging Technologies” for Higher Education. Today, the New Media Consortium (NMC) and EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) jointly released the 2011 Horizon Report. This eighth edition conveys annual findings from the NMC’s Horizon Project, an ongoing research project designed to identify and describeRead More →

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OpenSim grid developers Powersynch, LLC — the folks behind the SpotOn3D group of grids — launched a certified developer program today. The program is “somewhat comparable” to the Second Life solution providers program, Philippe Pascal, the company’s developer program manager, told Hypergrid Business. “We plan to offer a certification processRead More →

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Press release: Avaya Launches Cloud-Based, On-Demand Immersive Web Collaboration for Businesses BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Avaya Inc., a global leader in business collaboration systems, software and services, today announced the launch of new cloud-based, on-demand purchasing options and features for Avaya web.alive, the company’s innovative, immersive web collaboration platform designedRead More →

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Chris Lineberry is the principal of the Florence Virtual Academy in Florence, Arizona, about 60 miles southeast of Phoenix, serving students in grades six through 12 who live in the district – or anywhere else in the state. The school currently has 23 students, and enrollment is expected to riseRead More →

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Many grids today have hypergrid turned off, for fear that content will be taken from their grid to a less secure grid, copied, and distributed illegally. OpenSim developers are working to create a hypergrid-wide permission system for content that will help abate this fear, and open more of the OpenSimRead More →

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Press release: Utherverse Announces Interactive Virtual Karaoke to its Massive 50,000 Site Virtual World Web (VWW) Network Working with Karaoke Innovator SingSnap Allows Singers to Perform for Live Audiences and Overcome Real-World Stage Fright VANCOUVER, B.C. – Virtual world developer Utherverse Digital Inc. today announced the addition of 3DTunes.com, anRead More →

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Am I being premature? Second Life has outlived its many obituaries. This is not an obit. At the same time, only the most ardent SL-cheerleaders would deny that the virtual world has stagnated. In the case of education, I expect no more than a gradual decline in participation.  Other worldsRead More →

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In early December, I wrote about the cease & desist order sent by lawyers representing the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to the Frank Lloyd Wright Virtual Museum in Second Life – which had recently been granted a licensing agreement by the same Foundation, and later attained official 501(c)3 non-profit statusRead More →

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OpenSim makes for a good, and free, tool for 3D animation work. I have spoken at conferences and webinars on the use of Second Life for creating video for branched scenario-based eLearning because it is a relatively easy tool to use. My focus has shifted to our current endeavor forRead More →

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There are three main ways today to have a 3D virtual business meeting using your browser – VenueGen, Altadyn’s 3DXplorer, and Avaya’s  Web.alive. Of the three, VenueGen stands out by actively marketing its platform with ubiquitous Internet advertising. But the company wants to be known for its ease of useRead More →

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It was an honor to present to the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life. A wide range of organizations were represented by their avatars in the central arena. There to discuss signage, I discussed tips and ideas for how they can improve their signage overall. Although most of the organizations, unfortunately,Read More →

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Press Release: Blue Mars now easier to access with launch of application for iOS devices Blue Mars Mobile Now Available for Free on App Store HONOLULU, HI– Avatar Reality, developers of the premium 3D virtual world and social platform, Blue Mars, today announced the release of Blue Mars Mobile, itsRead More →

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Online virtual worlds boast an expansive global fan base, and effectively communicating with and marketing to this diverse user base can present opportunities for professionals. At TinierMe, an avatar-based world focused around Japanese anime, we have gathered user analytics from international online events, virtual communities and the TinierMe game centerRead More →

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Colleges and medical institutions have been trying out immersive virtual environments for training and teaching for years, but one new service, CliniSpace, is trying to take ease-of-use a big step forward — into the browser. Los Altos Hills, CA-based Innovation in Learning, Inc. launched CliniSpace in September of 2010, andRead More →

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It seems like more and more marketers are looking into virtual and hybrid events. With tight event budgets and opportunity to scale reach online, virtual events can look attractive. Craig Rosenberg from the Focus Expert Network posted a question last week, “What are/will be the biggest impediments to the VirtualRead More →

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Press Release: EON Reality Develops Unique EON Icube Content for Education and Entertainment IRVINE, Calif. – EON Reality, the world’s leading interactive 3D software provider, has recently taken a strategic decision to invest in the Virtual Learning Program content development area in addition to their current software and hardware strategy.Read More →

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This year’s Virtual Edge Summit, held January 12 and 13 in Las Vegas and simulcast on eight different virtual conference platforms failed to take advantage of the social networking, immersive, and showroom capabilities of these vendors. Virtual attendance was up this year, with around 900 people attending virtually, up fromRead More →

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Press release: SAP expands reach with vcopious virtual platform at 2010 Influencer Summit Virtual environment software platform increases engagement among key SAP influencers with exclusive virtual platform Conshohocken, PA– vcopious, a leading virtual environment software platform, recently powered the first virtual platform for the 2010 Annual SAP Influencer Summit, heldRead More →

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The top 40 OpenSim grids gained 529 regions since mid-December, to reach a new high of 15,623 regions on January 15 of this month. The monthly growth rate, 3.5 percent, was the second-lowest since we started gathering the statistics in the summer of 2009, a possible indication of a seasonalRead More →

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Press release: MediaTec Publishing Creates Virtual Human Capital Media Convention Center Partners with Unisfair to expand beyond in-person event experience Chicago, Jan. 18 — MediaTec Publishing Inc., publisher of Chief Learning Officer, Talent Management and Diversity Executive magazines, is partnering with Unisfair, the leading provider of virtual events and virtualRead More →

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Every year I look forward to attending the Virtual Edge Summit online. Not only is it free to consume the content online and saves my travel budget (one of the keys for virtual events) but it also showcases some of the top vendors and trends in the virtual event industry.Read More →

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Press Release: UBM Asia Presented the Shanghai Finance Virtual Career Fair, Targeted to Professionals in the Finance Industry Virtual Event Leader UBM Studios Provided Virtual Platform CHICAGO — UBM Asia presented the Shanghai Finance Virtual Career Fair on December 10-12, 2010, targeted to professionals in the finance industry. The two-dayRead More →

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Press Release: Virtual Edge Institute Announces the Five Best and Worst Virtual Events Trends of 2010 Virtual Edge Institute released the organization’s inaugural “Five Best and Worst Virtual Events Trends of 2010” List Pleasanton, CA – In the spirit of end-of- year “best of” or “worst of” lists, the VirtualRead More →

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I’m a believer in hybrid events and the benefits of extending reach through that strategy. Associations that go down the hybrid road, and make it financially attractive, are putting their profession ahead of profit. AND they will reap long-term benefits. Why I Am Not There On Pure Virtual Events Yet However,Read More →

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Press release: Virtual Environment Leader UBM Studios Organizes for Growth in 2011 CHICAGO — UBM Studios, a global virtual service provider delivering turnkey interactive environments on the right platform, with superior service and world-class user engagement, today announced that it is organizing its team with new hires and promotions toRead More →

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On a recent trip to London, I found myself sitting in a Yo! Sushi. As I watched the colored plates winding their way around the room, I noticed a poster on the wall advertising “Blue Plate Mondays” (any sushi plate for £2 as opposed to the usual £3-5). Since gameRead More →

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Altus Unveils the First Hybrid Event Solution to Increase Engagement and ROI for Corporate Conferences and Events Altus Event MyStro(TM) Bridges the Gap Between In-Person, On-Line and On-Demand Events CAMPBELL, CA — Altus, a leader in enterprise on-demand rich media solutions for conferences, sales enablement, and knowledge sharing, today releasedRead More →