Meet SmallWorlds, a free browser-based 3D virtual world that integrates YouTube, Flickr, and a number of other Web 2.0 services. The site is aimed at the teen and adult markets, and is designed to be more casual than Second Life. SmallWorlds will be entering a public beta on June 2, but the first 1000 users to register herewill be able to start using the site on May 26.
Update: The first 1000 TechCrunch readers to send a request to techcrunch@smallworlds.com will get an invite within the next 12 hours.
SmallWorlds revolves around a characters’s room, which resembles a house one might find in The Sims. Users can furnish their rooms with TV sets that feature YouTube videos, posters of Flickr photos, Twitter messageboards, and stereos blasting tunes from Last.fm and SeeqPod. Then they can invite their friends over to their rooms, where they can view videos, photos, and songs together - a feature that will likely have mass appeal. The site facilitates meeting up with friends by assigning each room with a unique URL that will immediately transport avatars to their destination.
The site has a lot of potential. The virtual world looks impressive, featuring a 3D isometric perspective and highly customizable avatars. SmallWorlds is also releasing an API that will allow developers to create widgets that can be shared with friends (like games or other media offerings). The site was designed with Flex, and the company says it should work in any browser that supports Flash 9.
Users have been clamoring for a service that lets them view and comment on web media simultaneously, and SmallWorlds’ approach may be ideal for their target audience. We’ve seen a recent wave of similar services from the likes of Userplane and Videophlow, but these are basically just chat windows that sit next to a media viewer - there isn’t any of the interaction you get from a virtual environment.
On the other hand, there are already a number of well-established virtual worlds, including IMVU and Habbo Hotel, which may make it hard for SmallWorlds to gain traction.
Jason, I think you broke their server when you posted this. Site… running… slowly…
Techcrunch is getting little boring today… They pick wrong topic without covering something interesting. This looks like SIMS what else is new.
Try to come up something revolutionary.
Hm… there page don’t work in Firefox 3 Beta 5 under Ubuntu. I only see the lower part of the page
Ask mike for more Techcrunch stories….
Site is loading very slow.
4. It’s working. Just very, very slowly. It wasn’t working for me in FF3 RC at first it seemed, but now it’s fine, but slow.
I’m having problems loading the site too… They say the service runs on EC2. Apparently their webpage doesn’t?
Cool Guys….Site has just started off !
By the ways, concept seems really interesting…
Waiting to get my hands on it…
Registered for the private beta, but it didn’t give me access. Just said that an email request had been sent.
Hey guys, sorry. It looks like the beta invites won’t go out until the 26th for the first 1000 users. We’re trying to get some that will work immediately.
you are crazy, what problem does this solve_
mike, do you really think people will prefer watching youtube videos in tiny screens and enjoy posters of flickr images shrunk down to pin head size?
sorry..tiny screens skewed at weird perspective angles.
Vishal, you can view photos and video in full screen mode.
I think their site is just running slow because of all the referrals! I have seen similar blogs to this one elsewhere today and I think all the positive PR is getting to their servers!
i agree. weird to watch isometrically skewed videos in a virtual room. don’t get why that’s compelling. and if i can watch them in full screen mode…why don’t i just do that on youtube…by myself. the whole point of a social space would be to watch them together. but, doing that in a bizarrely titled world is kinda whack.
Flex does not support full 3D. The isometric view and low poly models provide a really poor and limiting experience. I’m sure you can’t navigate in 3d space and that the rooms can’t hold much content. This is more sizzle than steak.
For a more comprehensive 3D Web application check out SceneCaster (www.scenecaster.com). While you need to install a small plug-in, it offers amazing 3D experience in browser with tons of content and even access to Google Sketchup 3d models. Their Facebook application has over 1 million users according to Adonomics.
SmallWorlds is awesome!
The thing everyone is missing, is that there’s no installation required to play! THink about that. Second life or Habbo Hotel, but without having to download 100 MB and install something.
That’s SmallWorlds’ key advantage
We have just diagnosed the problem with the slow load times on the website. It turns out that our web hosting provider had a cable cut 10 hours ago and are still operating under a reduced bandwidth. If you’ve had problems getting in or registering for the beta then try again soon.
Our apologies for the partial outage earlier today. Great timing huh?
In response to some of your posts:
While the various forms of media and web 2.0 goodness are projected into the world, you can also watch/view them in normal web-like 2D mode.
As a virtual world, we are trying to emphasize social interplay while being entertained by the multitude of media available on the net today. A good example is the YouTube TV. It synchronizes what everyone is watching, allows viewers to dynamically add their own favorites to the active playlist, pass the remote around, and vote videos on or off. In the same way you can show your Flickr photo album to others while chatting about them. Everything in SmallWorlds is designed around this premise of social interaction and shared entertainment experiences.
We have also put a lot of emphasis on accessibility - no download/install, access from within corporate environments, easy to use and navigate around, works on most computers, available from anywhere. We are pushing rich virtual worlds into the reach of more web users.
SmallWorlds has been built as a extensible platform from the ground up, and in the next evolution this will become more apparent as we open it up to third party developers. Roll your own virtual world anyone?
Our architecture is essentially client agnostic, which we plan to start taking advantage of later this year with some 0D/2D mobile offerings. A full 3D client is also planned.
Anyway, take a look if you get a chance. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by what you can do when you push Flash to the limit.
YAY!!!
Congratulations - you are one of the first 1,000 Techcrunch readers to
register for the SmallWorlds beta.
We’ll get back to you within 24 hours with your personal invite for
immediate access to SmallWorlds.
Regards
SmallWorlds Team
Congratulations - you are one of the first 1,000 Techcrunch readers to
register for the SmallWorlds beta.
We’ll get back to you within 24 hours with your personal invite for
immediate access to SmallWorlds.
Regards
SmallWorlds Team
The reality is that even a moderately popular website like TechCrunch that’s just lots of text requires “multiple dedicated servers”.
Of course our machines are faster now but because of software overhead we’re barely past the level of multiplayer immersion we had back in the 80s and early 90s on dialup, with Galacticom for example. Not a lot of progress in the last 20 years if you ask me, which is why I think Second Life is 20 years ahead of its time.
The graphics seem inspired by Cyworld of Korean fame.
Wow that looks pretty nice. How is it compared to second life?
Check out http://www.planetcazmo.com! Its been up and running in beta since December and has most of what SmallWorlds has and then some! My kids love it!
Anyone know what 3D engine this is using?
I sent an email around 9 last night. The email I got said I’d get an invite in about 24 hours. I know it hasn’t been 24 hours yet, but I can’t imagine why they’d wait until the last minute. Anyone know what the holdup is? Are they not sending out the invites until 1000 Techcrunch readers send an email request for one?
Pretty Cool! I just registered!
Thanks for sharing!