Comments on: Google’s Metaverse

By: Hiper | Google News

Hiper | Google News — Sun, 04 May 2008 01:42:38 +0000

[...] a investida do Google no mercado “Matrix” ainda é apenas um rumor espalhado por um dos investidores de Second Life. Segundo ele, Google está trabalhando para tornar [...]

By: RealityPrime » Google’s Virtual World, Redux

RealityPrime » Google’s Virtual World, Redux — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:48:34 +0000

[...] Rumors persist that Google is in the process of turning Google Earth into a virtual world. Well, I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but GE already is a virtual world. It’s a virtual earth. It has all of the features of a virtual world (spatiality, point of view, presence, information modeling), minus a few we’ve come to expect from a game or socially-oriented space (seeing yourself, seeing other people, and directly interacting together). [...]

By: gf Blog » Google progetta un proprio Second Life grande fratello point

gf Blog » Google progetta un proprio Second Life grande fratello point — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 09:14:37 +0000

[...] di Google Earth in una sorta di mondo virtuale alla stregua di Second Life avevano già fatto capolino sulla rete all’inizio dell’anno e ora, ciò che sembrava solamente una supposizione, [...]

By: FACTorFAKE.de

FACTorFAKE.de — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 18:14:16 +0000

Google Third Life?…

Googlewatchblog und ZDNet berichten von einem Projekt an der Arizona State University, bei dem Studenten für ein „großes Webunternehmen“ einen Prototypen für 3D-Modellierung und Video-Gaming testen. Weil die Uni in der Vergangenheit hä…

By: Google MyWorld als mögliches Google Pendant zu SecondLife » Suchmaschinen Blog

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:31:38 +0000

[...] im Januar gab es diesbzgl. erste Gerüchte auf TechCrunch zu lesen, welche sich auf Aussagen von Michael Eisenberg beziehen, Partner von Benchmark Capital, dass [...]

By: Google Prepping A Second Life Competitor? « Social Networking meets Gaming meets Virtual Worlds

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 07:45:14 +0000

[...] of a Google powered virtual world based on Google Earth surfaced in January; today there is word that Google may be testing their virtual world at Arizona State University [...]

By: Google to Buy Adscape for $23 Million

Google to Buy Adscape for $23 Million — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 01:04:21 +0000

[...] is an interesting development considering Google’s acquisition of Sketchup and suspected virtual world in the [...]

By: MartinJ

MartinJ — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 21:31:55 +0000

At times it may seem like there is no way to get out of debt. That the bills will keep coming and the credit card debt continue to mount.

But there is a way out.

And whatever your situation, however bad things seem to be, we can design the best debt solution tailor-made to your needs. A solution which not only takes care of your immediate problems but provides a long term programme to help you regain control of your life.

By: Rex Belleville

Rex Belleville — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 01:58:49 +0000

It seems to me that there is just too much reality for a real google earth to work. I mean the world is changing so quickly, to simply take a snap shot of today and then have everybody make it into 3D? After pouring a hurcules effort into making one city into 3D what happens when the real world starts to diverge from it? How will real world updates affect all the virtual 3D?

A ficticious world makes much more sense to me. Every business or game or theme park has an island, continent, or even planet to explore just like Myst. Anything you want to explore in the real world can be duplicated into a ficticious world.

By: Aibek esengulov

Aibek esengulov — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 17:58:00 +0000

hmmmm, this sounds contradictory to Google’s effort to concentrate on existing products and shut down of Google Answers.

By: Rajoze

Rajoze — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 11:41:17 +0000

Looks more like Google “PR-verse” to prop up sagging goog stock price.

By: Andre SC

Andre SC — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 06:43:42 +0000

Me thinks Google’s virtual currency won’t be all that virtual, and you will play from your local mall via mobile

By: Jonah Reynolds

Jonah Reynolds — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 06:21:50 +0000

This will happen - its already in the works. But think of its as a generic platform. The first instance would be a virtual earth, where you can explore a vacation plan virtually, talk to the hotel, virtually hike to machu pichu, etc. This is the generic platform - Then, then next step is to bring in WOW and others… not into this generic platform - but based on this platform - moving the software onto the net completely as well as the virtual world. The internet IS the OS…

Its gonna be an exciting next few years!

Go google…

ps: don’t forget that the CEO of google sits on the board at apple…

By: betamod

betamod — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 06:11:35 +0000

SecondLife is merely a better marketed platform than ActiveWorlds was, and the core technology is basically 15+ years old. It will never do more than it does now. It’s basically a 3d MUD with avatars and chat. We have seen this a million times over. Who cares? Google will end up with the same kind of VR cludge-ware unless they change the paradigm, radically.

I want a VR platform that is based on open source software, open standards and does not rely on artificial scarcity as its driving economic model. In fact, this platform should be the internet and the personal computer since what is called for is an operating system with distributed computing computing capabilities. (See: http://www.gamasutra.com/featu.....tch_05.htm)

My money is on Open Croquet, by Alan Kay et al, the folks who brought you the personal computer, object oriented programming, the GUI, and who put the TCP in TCP/IP: http://www.opencroquet.org/

All the rest is fools gold!

By: Edster

Edster — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 05:28:33 +0000

too bad they’re not making a google WoW — then they’re really start making money…

By: Kerry

Kerry — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 04:09:43 +0000

Google + Social Networking = Scary

I like the simplicity of CityPixel.com or Faketown. Sometimes the big boys come on too strong

By: Justin Cook

Justin Cook — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 03:41:58 +0000

Guess it’s time for me to actually download Google Earth!!!

By: Jarett

Jarett — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 23:05:57 +0000

Heh, and just today, Google put out a competition for college students to model their campuses in SketchUp: http://googleblog.blogspot.com.....in-3d.html

I like modeling in SketchUp better than I like dragging around and mutilating prims in SL, anyway.

By: Madame Maracas

Madame Maracas — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 22:47:55 +0000

What Google Earth does is really fantastic, and informative and great gangbusters full of fun to use, but it has NOTHING to do with what makes Second Life interesting. Second Life isn’t a little map world for walking around in, it’s a platform for personal interaction, creative freedom and what I call “an ID run riot”. Yes, it’s a (sometimes) “adult” environment. Yes, there’s sex and gambling and other non-pg type activities. And yes, Virginia there’s a ton of other things going on there.

Fundraising for cancer research, social skills building for folks with autisim, freedom to interact without barriers for folks with mental, emotional and physical differences/disabilities, too. People come into Second Life and seem to find the unexpected. They find out that they can code, or build or do graphics work. Some go there and make money, but the majority come “in world” to have a good time, meet folks from all over the world and (dare I say it) TALK to each other.

Yes I hang out in Second Life, and I’ve been in there under one name or the one I’m siging off with here for about 2 weeks shy of 3 years. I didn’t hop over there on some big media bandwagon, and I can tell you, as much as I love Google Earth, and I do, I don’t see the two meeting up in the middle.

Second Life is about a world that is nearly 100% resident-created content. Linden Labs (the parent company) puts out land, water and building tools, its up to us, the residents to make it what it is. Do you see Google Earth allowing the constant re-forming of its content? I don’t, although it could be fun! (cue maniacal laughter)

By: Allen Sligar

Allen Sligar — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 18:46:37 +0000

Good for Google, if anyone can innovate correctly into this space with a great UI and awesome usability its Google

By: Brownian Emotion

Brownian Emotion — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 18:44:19 +0000

Google’s Virtual World, Redux…

Rumors persist that Google is in the process of turning Google Earth into a virtual world. Well, I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but GE already is a virtual world. It’s a virtual earth. It has all of the features of a virtual world (spati…

By: directory

directory — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 17:48:36 +0000

Myspace and facebook need a kick inthe teeth, if nothing more than to force them to make their products better. A virtual world, community, all tied in with all of the other G services could force this to happen sooner than later. That would be nice.

By: Morgan Ramsay

Morgan Ramsay — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 17:36:00 +0000

The little company that could has been created a monster. I’d hate to be the marketer in charge of defending the Google brand from dilution.

By: steve

steve — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 17:16:43 +0000

This would make sense. Google’s real mission is after all “to organize the world around advertising”. If it’s true that Google is about to acquire game advertiser Adscape, a virtual world would seem like a logical next step.

By: whomprat

whomprat — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 16:26:33 +0000

I’m not sure that Google would want to do exactly what second life does. The nice things about SL are that it allows users IP control over what they create (relatively unique), that they want users to create pretty much everything in the world, and users are there to express creativity/be social.

Google Earth is a map of reality, which most SL’ers probably want to get away from. Three is nothing better about being in the real Chicago vs. being in a totally make-believe land, from a SL’ers point of view.

On the other hand, Massive did put virtual ads into Microsoft’s Virtual Earth, and if Google buys Adscape, we might expect ads powered by this tech to appear in Google Earth.

What might be exciting is if Google’s ad engine combined with SketchUp’s ease of use combined with a plausable ecomomy (the hard part, IMHO) and made a virtual MySpace social networking place that caught on. Fact is, SL is a little too edgy for most people. 90% of the economy is tringo and porn. So what disney did for times suqare in NY, Google might to for a SL-type virtual experience. That would be interesting.