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Web in world or world in web?May 21st, 2007 |
My commentary on MyMiniLife seems to have prompted a few responses on blogs. The question at hand, basically, is whether the virtual world of the future will be an immersive 3d environment which includes web content on surfaces within the world, or whether it will be new capabilities for the Web, displaying worlds within web browsers.
I think it’s safe to say that the former is more the classic view of the Metaverse — more like Snow Crash, more like the vision that folks like Linden Lab are working towards. Indeed, with acquisitions like Windward Mark, we see Linden continuing to emphasize their vision of being an immersive simulation environment. They’re not alone; over at Delzo’s Avatarian, we see this case being made:
I, however, believe that while Flash clients may be where the internet is heading next, it will not stop there. When you look at computing history, you see games evolving from Spade Invaders in 2D, to Half Life in 3D. Windows went from 2D Windows such as Windows 3.1 to Vista which has now has 3D spinning windows.
It’s just human nature to evolve our computing and entertainment tools to be more like real life. I don’t think it’s far off track to assume that the web itself will someday be presented in full, glorious 3D.
But 3d is a red herring here. The question isn’t really whether the interface will be 2d or 3d (I think it’s safe to say that there will be elements of both). The question is actually whether it is the web that subsumes virtual worlds, or whether virtual worlds subsume the web.
At heart, this is a question of whether the virtual world, or the eventual metaverse, will be immersive or not. And I have to say, as someone who enjoys roleplay, who has worked on building immersive worlds, who reads like crazy — immersion is losing. Most of the supposedly immersive worlds are not, and as VOIP usage continues to rise, we can expect these worlds to get even less immersive.
In practice, we’ve seen plenty of things that have made incursions into the supposed immersivity of virtual worlds, over the years. A large part of this pressure has come from the fact that most virtual worlds were games, and therefore we have seen tons of external tools that violate the sanctity of the game’s illusion.
The flip side of this is to embrace the lack of immersion. Stuff like Whirled and of course, all the other worlds that I jabber on about endlessly here lately, are embracing the web side, and not trying to be immersive-eat-your-desktop sorts of apps. Instead of the web being a window inside the world, the world is a window inside the web. This means you still have access to your iTunes, your Trillian, your email, and so on. And of course, many platforms like this will likely have the web in a texture within the world (that is a window on the web).
For an example, check out the 3d engine demo over at Outsmart Labs, which shows a 3d chat room with avatars done in Flex, with the ability to put Flash and Flex on the walls. Over on their blog, they speak of “rich Internet experiences” and their goal is to release something called OSVirtualVillage, for use in business apps.
When the pressure is on game developers to make sure that their apps run in windows rather than full-screen, I think it’s safe to say that users value having all the rest of the Internet available while they traverse their virtual worlds. The most natural way to do that is in the browser, without even a client install, or as little of a download as possible. And I think that’s a huge part of what the lightweight Flash MMOs are tapping into (and a point that Kaneva, with its 180MB client download, missed).
Mobil Avenue puts it well:
As with many developments to come in the 21st century we are entering a yes and era leaving either or thinking rightfully where it belongs – firmly rooted in the past. Virtual World’s are no exception. It is healthy to see the growing competition that exists for attention between both camps. Each have a place and a role to play within the third wave of the web.
The wildcard in all this, of course, is mobile devices. But that’s a post for another day.
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Web in world or world in web. He brings up a good point about the 3D Web. We’re all concentrating on the idea that someday soon we’ll be staring into an immersive world, getting real work done, leaving behind all our of terrestrial Internet apps. But the evidence suggests that
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