American Idol And Habbo Bring David Archuleta To The Virtual World
Earlier this year we (v irtual world news) reported that American Idol was coming to Habbo through an exclusive license. The deal can’t officially bring in representations of the current cast or judges–or it least it doesn’t require participation–but it did put Habbo in a good position to reach out to the American Idol stable of singers. Now David Archuleta, runner up in the seventh season, has come to Habbo. Last week the singer held a well-attended in-world chat. Now Habbot is prepping to release an exclusive video of the live interview and virtual activities.
A rep explained that the in-world American Idol Theater holds about 80 avatars at one time, but a view-only option allows an additional 800 users to watch the interview without being in the room. The room was flushed about every five minutes to let new users in. As such, the company couldn’t say how many total attended, but did note that the room was full the entire time.
The video of the in-person interview and virtual activities will go live tomorrow on the Habbo Archuleta fan page along with free wallpapers and special badges for being a part of his group.
Led by Victoria Coleman and Sibley Verbeck, representatives from IBM, Intel, Samsung, Stanford, Sun, Web3D Consortium, and other companies discussed the roadmap for the group and broke into working groups to focus on future applications for virtual worlds. The groups focused on applications for the health industry, entertainment, enterprise, and museums.
Sony Pictures and CineStar have teamed up to bring THE SPIRIT to Twinity, the 3D online world developed and operated by Metaversum. From 2 February, before the official movie release of this comic strip adaptation, Twinity’s community can look forward to a host of themed events, a competition, and the chance to win some exclusive prizes. A particular highlight is a THE SPIRIT mask, which enables its wearer to see virtual Berlin in the look of the movie.
Berlin, 29 January 2009 – It’s the turn of a new masked superhero to enter the 3D online world Twinity: THE SPIRIT, the latest movie to be promoted by Sony Pictures and CineStar in Twinity’s virtual CUBIX cinema before the official movie release.
For the very first time, the Twinity 3D community can get into the spirit of the movie outside the cinema as part of the THE SPIRIT promotion. Wearing a THE SPIRIT mask transforms the entire online world into the look of the comic strip adaptation – in black-and-white and brilliant red. Twinity is inviting all its masked members to take part in a screenshot and machinima competition. The most creative photos or movies shot in THE SPIRIT look and submitted to contest@twinity.com by 28 February have the chance to win exciting themed prizes.
Movie Trailer The Spirit : 1 million + views – launching in Twinity, 3D online world Feb 2nd 2009
Engage! Expo (formerly the Virtual Worlds Conference) is the event for youth and young adult brands, media and agencies to meet and learn how to combine their existing online efforts with the unparalleled engagement opportunities and new revenue streams of the 2D and 3D Web and Virtual Worlds. Now in our third year we invite you to sign up to receive our email updates.
Subjects covered at Engage! include kids worlds, toys, social media, games, virtual goods (micro-transactions), tween and teen-oriented virtual worlds, 3D Web advertising and licensing strategies.
Engage! Is All About Immersive & Engaging Solutions For Fun And Profit
Life On Line is about – Social networks, games, shopping, dating, music, news and much more. Life On Line, a TV show about internet living.
Life On Line is a team effort by these talented people:
Host – Steve Cropper
Music – Space Junky
News – Sigmund Leominster Social Networks – Andrew Peters
‘Shrink’ – Dr Roman Candle
Voice – Kayden O’Connell
From: The Metaverse Journal – Australia’s Leading Virtual World News Service
Now that we’ve reviewed our 2008 predictions, it’s on to 2009. For the coming year, we’re going to get a little bit more specific in our predictions. It may lower our chances of success but will be more fun. So here we go:
1. OpenSim grids will bleed Second Life users – this may seem a very obvious prediction given the growth of OpenSim grids, but what I mean here is that the exodus will be obvious. It won’t be a migration that will affect Second Life’s viability (other issues may achieve that), but there will be a solid, committed population of OpenSim users choosing those grids over Second Life’s one. Put another way, new users will see OpenSim grids as an equal option to signing up to Second Life.
2. Virtual worlds will appear as normal daily life in TV / Movies – To date, most appearances of virtual worlds in TV and film are either documentaries or as a central part of an action / geek film. US comedy The Office and CSI have both featured Second Life but essentially in a sensationalistic way. 2009 will see more insertions of virtual worlds into daily life scenes in shows. A disclosure here: I’m particularly confident on this one as I’ve had the pleasure of helping out on a film project that features a virtual world in a day-to-day context. More on that in the first few months of next year.
3. There will be a net increase in Australian business in virtual worlds – Second Life won’t see any significant growth in Australian businesses entering Second Life and there may actually be a decrease. The gains will come in worlds like Twinity, customised worlds created on platforms like VastPark and possibly even some entry into enterprise worlds offered by entities like IBM and Forterra. Any increase will be driven by the increasing awareness of virtual worlds as a cost-effective business collaboration tool.
click to join twinity - powered by real life
4. Virtual worlds will remain a political no-go zone – Australian political parties have had zero presence to date and it’s extremely unlikely to change in 2009. Any planning being done by the major parties for the 2010 Federal Election is unlikely to extend beyond services like YouTube and Twitter. Things may stretch to sites like Barack Obama’s Change site, but forget anything 3D.
5. Metaplace will be a game-changer – Metaplace’s simple, web-based interface combined with some impressive content creation tools will ensure a launch with impact and significant growth. There’ll be some obvious poaching of users from services like Habbo Hotel but also from content-creation havens like Second Life.
6. Virtual sex will lead to legislation – Linden Lab’s gambling, ageplay and banking clamp-downs were an early start to the reality of increased regulation and governments worldwide are increasingly scrutinising virtual world activities. Sexual exploits (aside from ageplay) have remained unregulated. For better or worse, this won’t remain.
Read the remaining predictions at Metaverse Journal
Local Internet users and their life-like 3D digital avatars can soon sip virtual cuppas in virtual Shenton Way cafes. What’s more, they will also be able to chat, work and play in other true-to-life, online 3D cityscapes of Singapore.
Image of Facial Recognition in Twinity
This virtual world that looks and feels like Singapore is the brain child of German firm Metaversum. Virtual Singapore, which will be based on a Metaversum platform called Twinity, will be rolled out by year-end, a senior company official told BizIT this week.
In this virtual city, users will be able to buy and furnish virtual apartments, and invite real friends over. They can also carry out real world business transactions, like checking-in airline tickets or booking a business centre.
‘The virtual Singapore city will be close to being a replica of Singapore,’ said Jeremy Snyder, executive vice-president of operations, Metaversum.
Are There Business Applications for Virtual Worlds?
Source: Knowledge@Emory
In this Special Section of Knowledge@Emory, professors from Goizueta Business School and industry experts in the field of virtual worlds offer their insight on this growing Internet-based market. From the industry leader Second Life to the newest entry in the game, Google’s own Lively, the activity, interest, and investment in the virtual world industry is strong.
The stories in this special report analyze the history and trends in the marketplace, as well as the academic and business applications of virtual worlds. Now, well-known names such as Second Life, Entropia Universe, and Cyworld have competition from a host of other sites, including ones devoted to virtual pets, cartoon characters, TV shows, and more. Researchers in academia, health care, and various parts of Corporate America are exploring marketing and research applications of virtual worlds, using Second Life and other virtual worlds as the jumping off point for their work.
+ Uncovering the Economics and Possibilities of Virtual Worlds
+ Virtual Worlds: Mapping a New Business Reality
+ Virtual World Investment Goes to Youth Market
+ From Toys to Tools: Exploring Virtual Worlds in the Classroom
UTHANGO is some times asked, ‘what does a non-profit do in virtual worlds’ and ‘are you not better off in the real world addressing poverty’: Our answer always remains the same: “It is not an either or for us; we need to be in both areas to use technology and its innovative edge to make a difference in the lives of our beneficiaries”. Our challenge is to find resources to make it possible to show real world gain and integration via virtual worlds access, and we hope that the courage shown, will be contagious.
Earlier I posted that 345million has been invested in Virtual Worlds this year – this movie Initially posted at marketfactnl – has been translated (close to) below for this part of the world… When i first starting hearing about Second Life in 2006 – much has happened in the space – this video is a tour of some of the virtual properties around today – Google Lively & Twinity appear so the video is coolly current–
Virtual Worlds in the near future are going to play an increasing role in our lives. The fact that Google with Google Lively its first footsteps in the digital universe continues, suggests that more has happened than just a new gimmick. The number of virtual worlds is also growing. Most of the virtual worlds in the Netherlands we hear nothing or very little about. Yet another far-from-us-bed-show? Gary Hayes is currently engaged in an investigation into virtual worlds and he has recorded his journey on YouTube. This provides a seven-minute film in which 50 virtual worlds pass the revue.
Second Life, HiPiHi, Kaneva, Twinity, ActiveWorlds, LagunaBeach vMTV. There.com, Habbo, Google Lively, FootballSuperstars, Weblin, AmazingWorlds, CyWorld, Whyville, Gaia Online, RocketOn, Club Penguin, YoVille, Webkinz, BarbieGirls, Prototerra, IMVU, Spore, vSide, Tale in the Desert, SpineWorld, Stardoll The Manor, There.com, ExitReality, Vastpark, Qwaq, PS3Home, GoSupermodel, Grockit, Croquet, Metaplace, Coke Studios, Dreamville, Dubit, Mokitown, Move, Muse, The Palace, Playdo, Sora City, Voodoo Chat, TowerChat, Traveler , Virtual Ibiza… Are you on your journey?
APLINK - itsReal 