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3D-Sensing Cameras Bring Second Life One Step Closer To The Metaverse
Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 1:00 AM on April 13, 2008
Those of you who have always wanted to move around Second Life while actually moving around may be in luck. Linden Lab Chair Mitchell Kapor has teamed up with 3DV Systems to show the Zcam, an inexpensive video camera that can judge when you're leaning forward and backwards. No news yet on whether it can also sense when you're thrusting — sorry, Second Life sex fans.
The camera works by translating hand and body motions into an avatar's movements in Second Life. Tip a bit forward and the avatar will walk, tip faster and the avatar will run, tip too fast and you'll fall down (presumably). The included demo also shows the camera translating various movements into jumping, flying and landing "gracefully."
Low-priced 3D cameras, such as the Zcam, will not only make playing Second Life more immersive than other peripherals out there , it'll also completely rethink human-computer interactions, Kapor said.
Well, we'll see about that. All I know is, if years from now I'm suddenly standing in a Los Angeles parking lot half naked and swinging away at things with my katana thanks to a particularly crazy bar fight in a virtual reality world - I'll know who to blame. [New York Times]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Brock
Posted 1:23 AM 13/4/08
Too much work for stuff that's easier to do with mouse and keyboard. I'd be interested in something that reads and replicates facial expressions on the avatar.
Brock
P3nnst8r
Posted 1:20 AM 13/4/08
I didn't expect Second Life to be created and edited by a bunch of 40-something year guys. Seriously.
Also, i played Second Life for a week, and hated it. It was so slow and the flying really took any fun out of the game for me (if ur gonna get somewhere, walk!)
P3nnst8r
Monty
Posted 1:15 AM 13/4/08
Really? There is an entire world out there to go and explore, but we need technology to walk around a fake one? (Says the guy who is sitting at a computer typing on Gizmodo on Saturday morning.)
Can a teledildonics plug-in be too far behind?
Monty
bookmark
Posted 2:06 AM 13/4/08
boring..
i still prefer the old school method.. controller
bookmark
yogibimbi
Posted 2:05 AM 13/4/08
No news yet on whether it can also sense when you're thrusting - slightly sexist. I wish to include also the term 'spreading your legs' just to have this gender-equilibrated...
oK, thrusting is more of an active movement, I admit;-)
yogibimbi
DeadWriter
Posted 2:04 AM 13/4/08
@Brock: I heard that Juanita Marquez and Hiro Protagonist are working to together to code just such a system.
DeadWriter
Mongoose
Posted 2:31 AM 13/4/08
@Monty: It's been done for SL. Yay QDot.
Mongoose
XM8500
Posted 2:26 AM 13/4/08
Wow: it might be an advancement in technology but it will never get you laid, the geek factor is at 5,000 and it looks seriously ridiculous to stand in the middle of a room with your arms in the air as if being robbed.
XM8500
Mandatory_Field
Posted 3:02 AM 13/4/08
"Well, we'll see about that. All I know is, if years from now I'm suddenly standing in a Los Angeles parking lot half naked and swinging away at things with my katana thanks to a particularly crazy bar fight in a virtual reality world - I'll know who to blame."
Hiro? That you?
Mandatory_Field
Elaine Chow
Posted 3:29 AM 13/4/08
@yogibimbi: girls can thrust too, you know ;)
Elaine Chow
Jasontrainer
Posted 3:25 AM 13/4/08
Yeah but will it let you hide under a car and stab a certain Sicilian in the calf with a switchblade?
Jasontrainer
iomatic
Posted 4:11 AM 13/4/08
@bookmark: I prefer the older old school method: actually walking in a real environment.
iomatic
Mr.Wilson
Posted 5:53 AM 13/4/08
Mr.Wilson
Kareem King
Posted 5:49 AM 13/4/08
Something like this would be better suited for a FPS rather than the POS known as second life. I can walk and talk to people in real life. How fun.
Kareem King
Mandatory_Field
Posted 7:20 AM 13/4/08
@Elaine Chow: And we truly appreciate that....
Mandatory_Field
TonyTriple
Posted 7:20 AM 13/4/08
Is it me or could Kapor be a Mossberg replicant? They totally look alike..
TonyTriple
stonecoldcleric
Posted 7:33 AM 13/4/08
what a frickin nerd... all the other nerds will like this until they realize they have to get their butts out of the computer chair.
stonecoldcleric
Migo
Posted 11:22 AM 13/4/08
Second Life... seriously. How can you have a second life without a first one to begin with?
As for the technology... it's not really an innovation, it's the application of existing technology into a video game. It isn't appropriate though. So say I played Second Life and wanted to chat with someone, I'd still need a keyboard, on top of needing a large empty room to stand in. It would also be impossible to eat and play at the same time, or even have a can of soda. Lastly, how many of the overweight nerdy guys and gals can stand for long periods of time, anyway?
Migo
Bos'un's Mate
Posted 11:42 AM 13/4/08
+ Watch video
Bos'un's Mate
Dr_Blip
Posted 12:13 AM 14/4/08
@Bos'un's Mate: Awesome :)
Dr_Blip
aussie
Posted 2:55 AM 14/4/08
Second Life, how about "Get-a-life!"
aussie