3D Web events boost engagement
Press Release: Web3D Technology Boosts User Engagement for eTraining and Corporate Events: VenueGen CEO to Discuss at Virtual Edge Summit 2011 David Gardner will explore the potential of new in-browser meeting environments to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of dispersed business teams Morrisville, NC –For business to truly recoup valueRead More →
VirtualU integrates 2D, 3D conferences
Companies looking to hold virtual conferences first have to decide whether to hold a Web-based conference – normally some combination of streaming video, live chats, slide shows, and social media – or one in an immersive environment. The immersive conference allows avatars to walk around inside a three-dimensional virtual environment,Read More →
10 Things I Won’t Miss About In-Person Events
Event management is tough… really tough. In fact, if you are an experienced event planner, you are probably one of the only people in the world that knows how to ship an elephant from Dallas to Alaska, negotiate with three vendors at the same time, or find 200,000 Lego bricksRead More →
Got Free Milk? Virtual Events that Won’t Kill The Cash Cow
Despite their brave faces, the producers of live events are still frightened about the impact of virtual events to erode their attendee base and diminish their profit margins. After all, if you can get the milk for free, why buy the cow? There’s been talk about employees at some associationsRead More →
How to pick a virtual platform — revisited
Virtual environments are changing rapidly, and it’s sometimes hard to keep up with everything that’s going on. Here is a quick round up of the best options for the most common uses of virtual worlds for various types of enterprise needs. If you’re looking for a high-end, Fortune 500-caliber virtualRead More →
Hyperica Lookup HG Teleport Script
The script below works by pulling in data from the following page: http://www.hyperica.com/lookup/ Simply replace the URL at the top of the script with the codes for which region you want to go to. For example, you can use it to automatically look up the newest Retail destination, or theRead More →
Simple Hypergate Teleport Script
The following is a script you can place on any object to turn it into a hypergrid teleportation portal. If you put it on something that looks like a giant blue swirly circle, everyone will know that it’s a hypergate. But you can also use it to create teleport buttonsRead More →
Most read of 2010
This year was a big one for OpenSim. Lots of growth, lots of technological breakthroughs. But some Hypergrid Business articles got more attention than others — and, thanks to the miracle of Google Analytics, we know exactly which ones. Here are the top 10 most-read articles of 2010. 10. OpenSimRead More →
My 2010 predictions scorecard
In January of 2010, I made a few predictions about what I thought was going to happen with OpenSim this year. I was way off on most of them. The OpenSim developers will continue to call it “alpha software†This one, I got right. They’re still calling it “alpha software.Read More →
VComm releases Whisper voice code for OpenSim
Grid owners with proprietary viewers can now add high-quality voice to their worlds Not yet included in Hippo, Imprudence — users must download add-on This week, vComm Solutions of Switzerland released the source code for Whisper, a high-quality voice option for OpenSim. Whisper supports directional voice and lip synching, andRead More →
Gaming exec to helm Second Life
Press Release: Second Life’s New Leader: Rod Humble Becomes CEO of Linden Lab MMO and Gaming Industry Visionary to Bring New Life to Second Life SAN FRANCISCO — Linden Lab®, creator of 3D virtual world Second Life®, today announced that Rod Humble has become the company’s Chief Executive Officer. HumbleRead More →
Virtual language students trade TV for lesson practice
Press release: Languagelab.com students spend 15 hours a week in English City Outside of Class time. Languagelab, creator of English City based in Second Life, have found that students spend on average 15 hours a week practicing in English City excluding scheduled class time. Languagelab, creator of English City basedRead More →
UBM ‘Sustainability Now’ event available on demand
Press Release: UBM Built Environment Presents ‘Sustainability Now,’ Targeted to Built Environment Professionals and Their Clients – Now Available On Demand Virtual Event Leader UBM Studios Provided 3D Platform CHICAGO — UBM Built Environment, in conjunction with BD, Building, and Property Week Magazines, presented the fifth installment of “Sustainability Now,”Read More →
On24 announces private Webcasts
Press Release: ON24 Announces Enterprise Webcasting for Internal Communications New Capabilities Enable ‘Behind the Firewall’ Webcasts SAN FRANCISCO, CA– ON24, Inc., the global leader in webcasting and virtual event solutions, announced today that it is providing full support for webcasts used in internal communications applications. A collection of services, theRead More →
Virtual Edge Summit to be simulcast on six platforms
Press Release: Leading Providers to Create Virtual Environments Around the Virtual Edge Summit 2011 Global audiences will have access to Summit content and networking via 6Connex, Digitell, Expos2, INXPO, Social27 and Unisfair virtual experiences Pleasanton, CA –Today, the Virtual Edge Summit 2011 (http://www.virtualedgesummit.com) announced that the Summit content will beRead More →
Top OpenSim grids doubled in size in 2010
OpenSim grids hit yet another new peak this month, with 15,094 regions on the top 40 grids, an 11Â percent increase from last month’s 13,564 regions — a gain of 1,530 new regions. Meanwhile, total registered users on these grids grew 5 percent from 140,053 in mid November to 147,565Read More →
OpenSim company wins $10,000 prize
Press Release: Novell Announces Winners of First Annual ‘Dister’ Awards Radical Breeze’s ‘Illumination Software Creation Station’ and Anderware’s ‘Hypergrid to Go’ win $10,000 prizes in showcase for creating innovative software appliances WALTHAM, Mass. — Novell today announced the winners of its First Annual ‘Dister’ Awards, handing out two $10,000 grandRead More →
Generate Sales Leads With Virtual Events
The following is an excerpt from a new book, Generate Sales Leads With Virtual Events. I can vividly recall my first experience exhibiting at a trade show. It was the early 1990’s and I was fresh out of college. I worked for a company that sold Internet connections to corporations. Read More →
The Numbers are In: Virtual Events are The Real Deal
The numbers are in on virtual. After being immersed in all things virtual the last four months through my work with the Virtual Edge Summit, it was interesting to attend IAEE last week and be brought back into the world of association and for-profit trade show producers who still haven’tRead More →
Executives enjoy networking in underwear
Press Release: Virtual Events Mean Less Time at the Airport, More Time in Pajamas ON24 survey: executives extol the personal benefits of virtual events SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—Based on the results of the latest survey conducted by ON24, Inc., the global leader in webcasting and virtual event solutions, over 1,000 participantsRead More →
SpotOn3D stress-tests OpenSim in the cloud
SpotOn3D will hold a benchmark test on Wednesday, December 15 to determine the difference in performance of OpenSim version 0.7.1 and OpenSim 0.6.9 when they run in the cloud. According to SpotOn3D co-founder and COO Tessa Kinney-Johnson, the test will be conducted from 2 to 3 p.m. SLT (Pacific time)Read More →
MC Hammer to host virtual conference
Press Release: ON24 to Host Virtual Conference for Virtual Events Users ‘It’s VUE Time!’ Says VUE2010 Emcee MC Hammer SAN FRANCISCO, CA– ON24, Inc. the global leader in webcasting and virtual event solutions, announced today that the company is hosting on December 14 the VUE2010 Virtual Events User Experience. ThisRead More →
IBM’s principles of virtual design
Here at Hypergrid Business we spend a lot of time touring virtual environments, and we often find them difficult to navigate, inconsistent, and hard to use. But one of the world’s biggest corporate users of virtual worlds — IBM — is hoping to change that. With a new set ofRead More →
Why face-to-face meetings are here to stay
Sure we’re advocates of virtual meetings. But we’re not foolish enough to think a day will come — soon or ever — when face-to-face meetings go away. That’s just not going to happen. And the reasons are simple. They are absolutely the best way to build relationships and a senseRead More →
University gets $2.5 mil grant for science simulations
Press Release: Online Science Project Launched by CU Nobel Laureate Receives $2.5 Million to Enhance Middle School Science Two students tweak the ramp of a skateboarder in Energy Skate Park, sending her on a steep track that ends in a wild loop. They measure the energy of her motion asRead More →
How to Price Your Virtual Currency
One of the key early decisions to game design or creating a virtual currency platform is designing the price and exchange rate of virtual currency. Unfortunately after it’s been released, it’s also one of the most difficult to change, because the change impacts the userbase and economy of the systemRead More →
Report: Online video most wanted at virtual events
Press Release: Onstream Media and Trade Show News Network Release Findings of Groundbreaking Virtual Event Survey POMPANO BEACH, FL – Onstream Media Corporation, a leading online service provider of live and on-demand Internet broadcasting, corporate web communications and virtual marketplace technology, and Trade Show News Network (TSNN), the world’s leadingRead More →
ProtoSphere and Lync: more than voice
Last week, ProtonMedia made a formal announcement about a project I first reported on in September  of this year that ProtoSphere, the 3D enterprise collaboration and learning tool, is  now fully integrated with Microsoft’s  Lync Server 2010. The Lync server is a software product that unifies enterprise voice, instant messagingRead More →
Purdue University to build 3D research lab in OpenSim
Press release: SpotOn3D announces collaborative partnership with Purdue University The Virtual Collaboration Laboratory within the Purdue University Department of Organizational Leadership and Supervision (College of Technology) announces the beginning of a collaborative partnership with SpotOn3D — a software firm whose main objective is to bridge the gap between the 2DRead More →
Canvas: New Web viewer a breakthrough
San Francisco-based Tipodean Technologies will open its Canvas Web-based viewer next week to a select group of beta testers, but Hypergrid Business got a sneak peek this week. A test version of the viewer will go live on Monday. “We will see how big of a load it is,” saidRead More →
ReactionGrid adds groups, plans upgrade
ReactionGrid released a groups module for OpenSim this week and announced plans to upgrade to the next version of OpenSim “early next year.” According to its announcement, ReactionGrid’s group module will be rolled out to all region on ReactionGrid over the next two weeks. ReactionGrid doesn’t just run its oneRead More →
Expos2 to Showcase V3 Platform
Expos2 to Showcase V3 Platform at Virtual Edge Summit 2011 Ashland, OR – Expos2, the most competitively priced virtual events provider and industry leader based on number of events sold, today announced the company’s participation at the Virtual Edge Summit 2011, scheduled on January 12-13, 2011, at the MGM ConventionRead More →
Katalabs releases HTML 5 virtual worlds browser
California-based Katalabs has just released a free iPad and iPhone-friendly Web-based virtual world viewer, KataSpace, which works in conjunction with the open source Sirikata virtual world server software. KataSpace is built on the WebGL and HTML 5 Web standards, which means it will run in browsers without a plugin, andRead More →
Despite Cease & Desist Order, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Spirit of Innovation Lives On
The Frank Lloyd Wright Virtual Museum, which was recently granted a licensing agreement with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation (and later attained official 501(c)3 non-profit status from the IRS) was served a cease & desist order by lawyers representing the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. This is a story that hits homeRead More →
Paper: Social interaction ‘killer app’ of virtual worlds
According to a white paper released today by by U.K.-based virtual worlds solutions provider Daden Limited, virtual worlds are not the next stage of evolution of the World Wide Web — but will be the evolution of social interaction. “A Web page full of text and graphical imagery is anRead More →
ON24 receives Excellence in Best Practices award
Press Release: ON24’s Webcasting Market Share Leadership Earns Prestigious Industry Recognition SAN FRANCISCO, CA– ON24, Inc., the global leader in webcasting and virtual event solutions, announced today that it has received — for the second year in a row — one of the prestigious Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards. ThisRead More →
WonderSchool makes Alice immersive
WonderSchool, a startup formed by Els Von Tol and myself, is a portal for schools where they can build their own virtual world, or use an existing one, and give their users access to software programs. Today, WonderSchool offers live Alice workshops for teachers in the Netherlands and Germany. AliceRead More →
Unity powers 3D military simulations
Press Release: I/ITSEC: Unity Powers 3D Virtual Training Simulations for the Defense, Military, Aerospace and Homeland Security Industries ORLANDO, FL and SAN FRANCISCO, CA– Unity Technologies, provider of the Unity development platform for games and interactive 3D on the web, iOS, Android, consoles and beyond, announced that D2 TEAM-Sim andRead More →
Teleplace exhibiting at I/ITSEC conference
Press Release: Teleplace to Showcase Immersive Government Collaboration and Training Deployments at I/ITSEC 2010 Conference Attendees Will Learn How Air Force, Army, Navy, vGov Use Teleplace for Virtual Enterprise-Class Training Environments ORLANDO, Fla.–Teleplace, Inc., the leading provider of enterprise-class immersive collaboration and learning solutions, today announced it is exhibiting atRead More →
How to make virtual speaker programs work
Like many aspects of life sciences today, speaker programs are being cut due to budgetary constraints and the tightening regulatory landscape. I read a recent article by Bill Cooney in PharmaExec that highlighted this trend, reporting that speaker program activity is down 30 percent or more at most pharmaceutical companies.Read More →
Avatars key to equal contribution and opportunity
Much has been discussed and written about virtual environments achieving levels of immersion and interactivity that rival (and some believe exceed) face-to-face meetings. Much has also been written about increasing the retention of information shared in world. Interacting in a virtual environment But to many, the whys and hows surroundingRead More →
Corporate uptake of collaborative 3D spaces
Much has been said in recent years regarding the benefits and substantial returns an organisation can achieve by integrating an Online 3D Environment into their everyday operations. Indeed, examples and demonstrations of the power and financial savings 3D collaboration can bring to businesses have been researched, developed, trialed and documentedRead More →
Web-based viewer released for Second Life, OpenSim
Press Release: Tipodean launches Canvas, a Web-based viewer for Second Life and OpenSim, which is built using Unity 3D Tipodean Technologies is pleased to announce the preview launch of Canvas, a web-based viewer for both Second Life and Opensim. Licensed from IBM, Canvas is unique in that it is highlyRead More →
Thanksgiving on the hypergrid
It’s easy to get frustrated with the pace of technological change. My wish list of OpenSim features gets longer with every day that I use the platform — but I’ll save it for my Christamas wish list post. Today, I want to express how thankful I am for what hasRead More →
Virtual Mine an immersive, educational experience
Press Release: Using the Virtual World to Explore the Real World Problems of Fossil Fuels Environmental Documentary Deep Down Launches Interactive Virtual Mine in Second Life for Communities and Educators to Take Action in Solving the Power Crisis Virtual worlds can provide a comprehensive environment for education, storytelling, collaboration, andRead More →
IDIA Lab City Opens in Blue Mars
Press Release: Ball State University’s IDIA Lab launches next-generation immersive learning experience on Blue MarsMassive New Site Features Fully Interactive, Detailed Replicas of 1915 Panama- Pacific International Expo, Japanese Temple, Virtual Museum and More MUNCIE, IN and HONOLULU, HI, Nov 23, 2010 — Ball State University’s Institute for Digital IntermediaRead More →
USGBC announces virtual tour
Press Release: Greenbuild International Conference & Expo CHICAGO — The U.S. Green Building Council Education Department announced an innovative virtual tour of their headquarters. The project is in the final stages of testing and is expected to go live within the next few weeks. The renovation of USGBC’s offices wasRead More →
Avatars ‘compelling’ in nursing training video
We just found out about a wonderful write-up on the real-time animated training video we recently created for the Exergen Corporation. The magazine, Executive Healthcare Management, is a well respected trade publication for healthcare management professionals and has a two page Q&A spread with Dr. Francesco Pompei, founder and CEORead More →
OMC, I’z transactions grow on OpenSim
The OpenSim economy continued to grow this month, with both the OMC currency and the I’z currency from InWorldz growing in users and transactions. The OMC, a convertible currency from Austrian virtual currency exchange operator Virwox, is now accepted on 18 different grids — AnSky Grid, Avatar Hangout, FrancoGrid, GermanGrid,Read More →
Is your grid a safe harbor?
One of the things every grid owner should be concerned with is the possibility that one of the grid’s users will be using, selling or transferring content that infringes upon another’s copyright. While both technological measures and contractual limitations can be utilized, the fact remains that neither of them canRead More →