Sick of using an obscure set of keyboard strokes to control your
avatar? Have no fear, the 3D camera / semi-haptic interface for
Second Life
has arrived.
Developed by Mitch Kapor,
technology investor and Chair of Linden Lab, and Phillipe Bossut, the
new
interface allows you to use your actual body, much like on
Kamen’s Segway, to move your avatar through
virtual space. Simply lean forward to move forward, lift your hands
to elevate and fly, place your hands behind your back while
descending for a graceful landing.
Check out this demo to see the new interface in action:
Clearly these are just the very first steps for this novel
interface that promises to make avatar navigation more intuitive,
opening the door to non-technical people of all demographics,
lowering the complexity barrier to virtual worlds adoption (much
like the Nintendo
Wii controller). (cont.)
Just imagine the new games and activities people will be able to
participate in: virtual athletics, distance dance parties that
actually make you dance, magic duels with real hand movements
required, etc. The possibilities are truly endless.
In the near-term, the developers are hoping that the 3D
interface will help to catalyze are more normal social virtual
experience.
“Our body is also an essential part of who we are,” says Bossut,
“I have the intuition that using ones body in world will reduce the
social tension and misbehavior one can see pervasive right now: you
won’t push and shove people and behave rudely if you need to
involve your body to do this, at least, not as easily. Your social
being will surface through your muscle memory and the disappearance
of the frustration one can feel when stuck on this darn keyboard
will smooth things out a big deal.”
Sounds logical to me. Hopefully the cam will hit the market
within 1-2 years as I’m now dying to try it out.
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Comment Thread (1 Response)
Actually, Second Life made a big step in their new release candidate by adding support for the Space Navigator, and I believe joysticks generally. Just using a joystick is so much easier than keyboard and mouse that I suspect it will see more use than a full camera rig for some time.
