Davey Winder
Wednesday, 09 July 2008 15:21
Business IT -
Networking
Page 2 of 3
It is almost as if Second Life had never been invented,
that nobody knew what an avatar was, that virtual worlds were a Google
invention. "You can also express your own personality by customizing
your avatar's look" Wang enthuses "showing people who you are without
having to say a word."
You can also play YouTube videos on virtual
television sets in your virtual room, although don't be surprised if
Viacom know what you are watching.
The truth is that, having spent a little while playing in Lively, that
it's less Second Life and more IMVU in that it seems oriented entirely
to 3D chat. The freedom to explore an immersive 3D virtual world such
as Second Life or There.com is immediately missed. The ability to
interact is pretty much limited to a handful of animated actions.
Like Second Life, Lively requires a software download to get you
started. Unlike Second Life, Lively does not allow Mac users to play.
So if you are not a Windows user you will miss seeing "how much more
poignant it is to receive an animated hug" than read the word 'hug' on
the screen. I am sure you are devastated at the news.
The real problem with Google Lively is that it serves no real purpose
within the Google brand of products. Pretty much everything else has a
functional reason for being, has filled a gap in the market or taken an
existing service and made it better.
So can Google Lively succeed? Read on to find out...
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