3rd Rock, OpenSim’s second-oldest grid, is shutting down
3rd Rock Grid, the second-oldest grid in OpenSim, will be shutting down soon. “We have to shut down the grid due to a few circumstances that have technical consequences, making it impossible to further manage the grid,” said 3rd Rock Grid board member Florin Spanachi, who is also known asRead More →
Zuckerberg’s VR Vision: Will Rejecting Google’s Android XR Cost Meta in the Long Run?
Could Mark Zuckerberg’s lust-driven quest to own VR, AR and mixed reality end up costing Meta at the end of the day? That’s a question being posed after The Information reported recently that Google had approached Meta partner with its new software platform — Google Android XR — that is beingRead More →
How to use AI to write an opinion column
So. You have some thoughts about where OpenSim is going. Or there’s a cool new fashion designer in OpenSim you want to tell people about. Or there’s a feature you’d really like to see implemented. You’ve been thinking for a while about writing it up and sending it to HypergridRead More →
Wolf Territories gets better hosting, now top grid by size and users
In a move that promises a faster, smoother, and more responsive virtual world experience, Wolf Territories Grid has migrated to a new server cluster at a data center in Frankfurt, Germany. The upgrade is expected to significantly enhance performance and reliability for the grid’s thousands of users, who can nowRead More →
My keynote talk about ChatGPT
So, I’m back home — after flying to Lima, Peru for an AI conference last week. I was there to give a keynote speech about AI. The whole flight over I was worried that Nvidia or OpenAI or someone else would announce news of such major importance that I’d haveRead More →
OpenSim area continues growth streak
The total land area on OpenSim’s public grids reached the equivalent of 133,076 standard regions this month, an all-time high — and the third month in a row that OpenSim land area has broken records. There was an increase of 1,196 standard region equivalents compared to last month. Meanwhile, theRead More →
VWBPE 2024 Conference Mythic Origins starts this Thursday
The seventeenth annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference, beginning on Thursday, March 14, 2024, will be an online distributed conference happening in multiple virtual spaces. This conference focuses on the use of immersive virtual environments for educational purposes including virtual and augmented reality. This year we are returningRead More →
AI to transform world-building
I cover artificial intelligence at my day job. Every week, I talk to the experts building the technology and deploying it, and to companies already finding value in it. The AI-powered transformation is bigger than anything I’ve ever covered before, in my two-plus decades of technology journalism. And it’s movingRead More →
I tried the Apple Vision Pro and saw the future, but don’t buy it yet
This past weekend, I went to the local Apple store and got a demo of the new Apple Vision Pro headset — the one where you’ll spend a minimum of $3,500 and more likely $4,000 if you buy it. A few years ago, I traded my iPhone for an AndroidRead More →
OpenSim area hits new high as usage grows
The total land area on OpenSim’s public grids reached the equivalent of 131,880 standard regions this month, an all-time high, with an increase of 369 standard regions compared to last month. Meanwhile, the total number of registered users went up by more than 2,100 and the number of active usersRead More →
Apple and the bane of VR gentrification
I recently read a CNN article on Tim Cook and the risk he’s taking with Apple Vision Pro. The gist of it is this: The Vision Pro will be Apple’s riskiest launch in years and could end up being the product that defines Tim Cook’s legacy. What struck me isRead More →
OSfest looking for 2024 conference theme — vote now
The organizers of OSFest 2024, an annual festival that will be held this coming October, recently opened voting for this year’s theme to their Discord community. Festival participants can vote by reacting with a specific emoji to indicate their preferred theme from a selection of options, either via the OSFestRead More →
OpenSim starts new year with record high land area
The total land area on OpenSim’s public grids reached the equivalent of 131,511 standard regions this month, an all-time high, on an increase of more than 1,000 standard regions compared to last month. However, the total number of active users went down by over 3,500. Part of the decrease wasRead More →
Do you want to buy an HP Reverb G2 VR headset? I’m also giving away three free VR headsets.
Hey there, Hypergrid Business readers. It’s the new year, and I’m moving my office and cleaning up, and have a few VR headsets sitting around that I’d like to get rid of. They work, are hardly used, and one is even in its original — UNOPENED — box. If you’reRead More →
OpenSim active users hit all-time-high for the holidays
OpenSim active users are up by 3,220 this month, reaching a new all-time high of 47,343. It was the biggest one-month increase in active users since May of 2022. The number of regions on all OpenSim grids is also up by 3,021, the biggest monthly increase since this past June,Read More →
I’ll be presenting at OSCC tomorrow
I’m giving two presentations tomorrow at the OpenSim Community Conference. First, I’m giving my usual state of the hypergrid talk at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time. I’ll be doing a roundup of this year’s top news and OpenSim statistics. Then, at 4 p.m. Pacific, I’ll be talking about how generative AIRead More →
OpenSim user activity ramping up for the holidays
As usual this time of year, activity on OpenSim grids is up as people spend more time inside on the computer, and grids ramp up for holiday events. Compared to last month, the number of active users is up by nearly 1,700. The total land area is down, however, byRead More →
Apple Takes on Meta in Race to Make VR Mainstream
Apple’s new Vision Pro headset aims to reinvigorate the virtual reality market and make the technology mainstream, though its high price tag may limit adoption.Read More →
OpenSim land area at a new high as grids prep for holidays
OpenSim land area is at a new all-time-high of 131272 standard regions, the fourth month in a row it has set a record. Meanwhile, several grids are hosting Halloween events this month and getting ready for other fall holidays. OpenSim active users tally is, however, down this month by aroundRead More →
Eleventh Annual OpenSimulator Community Conference set for December
It’s that time of year again when the open metaverse community comes together to share developments at the annual OpenSimulator Community Conference. The organizers have put out the call for presentation proposals for the 2023 event happening December 9 and 10. This will be the eleventh year for the community-runRead More →
Craft World’s Hypergrid International Expo starts Friday
This year’s Hypergrid International Expo kicks off at 11 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, October 6 at the HIE’s Auditorium on Craft World, featuring an opening party with music from Zoree Jupiter at 11 a.m., Arianna Nightfire at 1 p.m., and Forest Azure at 10 p.m. Pacific Time. “The three artistsRead More →
NFT crash wipes out nearly all collections, and the metaverse won’t save them
Well, the NFT craze certainly crashed and burned quickly. According to a new report by DappGambl, 95 percent of NFT collections now have zero value. That’s not a typo. Zero. Out of over 73,000 collections, only around 3,500 still have any market cap at all. And only a tiny fractionRead More →
Army orders more AR goggles post-pukegate
Remember those mixed reality combat goggles that Microsoft was building for the Army that made soldiers nauseous? (See our previous story here.) Well, they’re back. Microsoft got its hands slapped and had to go back to the drawing board after reports came out last year that its new AR gogglesRead More →
OpenSim land area at new all-time-high — again
OpenSim land area has passed 130,000 standard region equivalents this month, for a new all-time high. This is the second month in a row that OpenSim has set a land record. The total number of regions grew by over 2,000 over the past month. Registered users also increased, by moreRead More →
OSFest 2023 starts Friday, runs 16 days
The annual OpenSimulator Festival, known as OSFest, takes place September 15 through September 30 inside the OSFest virtual world grid. The sixteen-day event features live music, exhibits, talks, tours, social spaces, and shopping for attendees across the Hypergrid metaverse. This year’s OSFest offers 94 hours of non-music events at free,Read More →
Countdown to Halloween with stories from StoryLink Radio
StoryLink Radio and Seanchai Library will host a series of Halloween-themed live voice, streamed, and in-world storytelling sessions during the month of October, which is high story-telling season. Virtual world citizens are welcome to listen to the stories at the Halloween Merchant Mall in Kitely. There will also be aRead More →
Major companies to discuss metaverse plans at December conference
The Metaverse Spectrum Business Conference, Expo, and Pitch Fest will highlight expanding business applications for the metaverse at its virtual conference this coming December. The event, which will be held in the metaverse, will include sessions on marketing, product development, training, and recruiting applications of the metaverse. Speakers will hailRead More →
OpenSim hits record high land area
OpenSim’s public grids hit a record high this month with its largest land area ever, the equivalent of 127,958 standard regions. This was an increase of 2,252 regions compared to last month. Meanwhile, the total number of registered users on public OpenSim grids increased by 7,440 and the total number ofRead More →
AviTron closing at end of August. Maybe.
AviTron owner Alexander Pomposelli has a long history of closing grids without warning. Back when he ran AviWorlds, I counted more than a dozen times that he closed that grid, often without any warning. Residents complained of losing access to regions, inventories, and in world-currency balances. At one point,Read More →
AvatarLife launches big-prize poker game
AvatarLife is launching its Wild Poker game today, based on Texas Hold’em poker. But it’s more skill-based, said AvatarLife CEO Sushant Chandrasekar. There is also a starting jackpot of 1 million AV$, the grid’s local currency — which translates to about US $4,000. “The launch event will be a threeRead More →
OpenSim users, regions drop slightly on outages
OpenSim grid stats decreased by 1,347 active users and 131 regions this month compared to last month’s tally due to several grids suffering outages or not publishing their statistics this month. For example, New Life Italy did not report its active user stats this month — it had over 400Read More →
Discovery grid to host 7th anniversary party this weekend
The Discovery Grid will host its seventh anniversary party on Saturday, July 1 at the Louisville region, featuring a virtual Thunder Over Discovery 2023 aviation event which will coincide with the real-life Thunder Over Louisville aircraft event, showcasing vintage and modern aircraft in action. Both grid residents and hypergrid visitorsRead More →
New data shows VR interest continues to fall
New research reports and surveys released this month show that interest in virtual and augmented reality is continuing to drop. According to an EY Consulting survey released earlier this month, only 24 percent of people said their company has started using VR and AR technologies, putting it in last placeRead More →
AvatarLife’s Pride Week starts Saturday
AvatarLife grid will host a virtual Pride Week for residents and visitors from other grids starting at 11 a.m. Pacific Time on Saturday, June 24, with events running through Friday, June 30. The Pride Week, which coincides with and has events that match those held during the United Nation’s PrideRead More →
OpenSim hits new land area record as user numbers spike
The public OpenSim grids reported over 2,600 new active users this month, the biggest increase since last fall. The total land area also hit a record high, of 125,841 standard region equivalents. All of the growth has been on hypergrid-enabled grids. In fact, there were only 499 active users reported byRead More →
I was very disappointed in Apple this week
In April, I wrote that I had high expectations for Apple’s new augmented reality headset — and that I was looking forward to switching back to the iPhone if it was what I hoped for. I was very much disappointed by the actual announcement of the Apple Vision Pro onRead More →
OpenSim sets record high number of grids, for sixth month in a row
This is the monthly stats report, where we count up all the regions and users on the public OpenSim grids. This month, the number of active public grids hit an all-time high — 428. This is despite the fact that we’re now categorizing many grids as private if they don’tRead More →
I’ve come around to AR. OpenSim might not be the way to get there — but Apple might be
I used to think that the path to the metaverse started with screen-based virtual worlds then expanded to virtual reality. At some point, I thought, we’d all be doing everything in the metaverse. The same way that the Internet made information instantly accessible to everyone everywhere, the metaverse would doRead More →
Number of OpenSim grids hits record high
The public OpenSim grids gained nearly 2,000 regions this past month, and more than 1,300 new registrations, but continued to bleed active users as the weather improves and people spend less time inside at their computers. However, the total number of active public grids has reached a new record highRead More →
Teens slow to adopt VR and more bad news for the metaverse
Virtual reality hasn’t caught on with American teens, according to a new survey from Piper Sandler released on Tuesday. While 29 percent percent of teens polled owned a VR device — versus 87% who own iPhones — only 4 percent of headset owners used it daily, and just 14 percentRead More →
Littlefield celebrates tenth birthday
Littlefield grid turns ten on Saturday, April 1, and will host a week-long birthday party on its Anniversary region. There will be a live performance by OpenSim renowned artist Rogue Galaxy at 5 p.m. Pacific time on April 1, followed by a live DJ dance party with Littlefield’s own DJRead More →
Crystal Frost viewer development to continue despite Linden Lab announcing a mobile viewer
Development of Crystal Frost — a mobile-friendly Unity-based Second Life viewer which is now in beta trials — will continue despite Second Life recently announcing its own mobile virtual world viewer. Crystal Frost is currently a downloadable Windows virtual world viewer like Firestorm, but will also be available on Linux andRead More →
OpenSim adds more land area, loses active users
The size of OpenSim virtual land just got bigger this month by an additional 996 standard-size regions even as the number of active users dropped by 991, mostly likely due to normal seasonal variations. OpenSim also added close to 3,000 new registered users this month, reversing the hefty loss ofRead More →
Second Life offers preview of its new mobile viewer
Second Life, the popular virtual world platform that has been around for over two decades, is finally releasing a mobile viewer. The new mobile viewer is currently a work in progress, but the Second Life development team has shared a sneak peek at what users can expect. Watch the previewRead More →
OpenAI head calls for slow, careful release of AI — after releasing ChatGPT with no warning
I can’t tell if he’s just being tone deaf, or trying desperately to do some damage control, but after releasing ChatGPT without any warning on an unsuspecting world late last year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is now calling for slow and careful release of AI. If you remember, ChatGPT wasRead More →
Avalon raises $13m to build metaverse of interoperable worlds
Florida-based Avalon Corp. has raised $13 million to build a platform for games capable of taking advantage of the metaverse, featuring a universe of interoperable worlds with various intellectual properties, to be built using technologies including blockchain and game engines. According to the press release, Avalon Corp is uniquely experiencedRead More →
Report: AI is weapon of ‘mass disruption’
Generative AI is one of the world’s top three geopolitical risks this year — right after Russia and China — according to a report released last month by the Eurasia Group, a US-based risk consultancy. “This year will be a tipping point for disruptive technology’s role in society,” the reportRead More →
AI farms are the new content farms — and are just as bad
In the first decade of this century, unscrupulous website owners noticed that Google had caught on to their tricks — link exchanges, invisible keywords, and meta tags. These tricks were designed to fool search engines into thinking that the websites were better and more useful than they actually were. SpoilerRead More →
OpenSim land area up, number of public grids hits record high
OpenSim land area has this month gone up by a significant 6,622 standard region equivalents thanks to new grids and a significant expansion at other grids. All public OpenSim grids now have a total of 110,458 standard-sized regions in virtual land area. Speaking of new grids, the total number ofRead More →
No, you won’t get rich quick by cutting-and-pasting into ChatGPT
I watch a lot of YouTube videos about new AI technologies. It’s a great way to stay on top of what’s happening while, say, cooking dinner or working out. YouTube videos tend to be relatively short and very accessible — a great way to learn about a complicated new topicRead More →