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 →
ChatGPT can teach you LSL and even write code for you — kinda
When I first tried out ChatGPT late last year, I noticed that many people were using it to write code. Python. Javascript. Even machine language. So of course I asked it if knew LSL, the Linden Scripting Language used in Second Life and OpenSim. It said no. I was disappointed butRead More →
P.E.A.N.U.T.: 6 steps to staying ahead of AI when writing articles
I get dozens of emails every day from people who want to contribute articles to Hypergrid Business. Sometimes, they even want to pay me to run the articles. The catch? There’s a link somewhere in the article to something the author wants to promote. I’m not, in principle, opposed toRead More →
AI for the little guy
At Hypergrid Business, we’ve been covering OpenSim and other desktop-based virtual environments since 2009, and began covering virtual reality extensively in 2014. Our goal has been to promote an open-source, distributed metaverse, and to help the little guy and gal with navigating that landscape. Specifically, the people running OpenSim-based virtualRead More →
OpenSim in review: 14 years of coverage and what’s next
Hi, everyone. This is me, Maria, your friendly local technology reporter and blog editor. You might know me from such things as my annual OpenSim stats presentations at the OpenSimulator Community Conference, my various attempts to run an OpenSim grid on my home computer, or the fact that, since 2009,Read More →
AI war breaks out between tech giants
After ChatGPT was released on Nov. 30, 2022, the world changed. Whatever you might personally think about AI, the events of last year showed that AI was capable of human-level creativity in art, music, writing, and coding. And, for the first time, AI demonstrated common sense. Or, at least, somethingRead More →
Hosting4OpenSim
Prices start at $80 per month for a two-region private grid, with $50 setup fee. Includes voice, currency, hypergrid, and a user registration website.Read More →
Hosting4OpenSim opens for business, already hosting four grids
Hosting4OpenSim, a virtual world hosting company, has announced its grand opening. Founded in December 2022 by three friends from Mexico, the US, and Brazil, the company aims to become the leading provider for OpenSim hosting services. As part of its launch, the company is offering a deal to the nextRead More →
Samsung and partners tease new XR headset
Samsung, in partnership with Qualcomm and Google, has announced plans to develop a new extended reality product. XR is a term that encompasses virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality technologies. I myself switched from Apple to Samsung in 2015 specifically for Samsung’s Gear VR headset. But when Samsung cancelledRead More →
How to create seamless tileable textures in Midjourney (plus free alternatives)
I love building in OpenSim, but I don’t love the process of finding or creating textures. It’s hard to find just the right one, and even harder to figure out its license terms. All those texture packs floating around — are they legitimate? Or are they ripped off from SecondRead More →
Is this the end of the metaverse?
Last Friday, AltspaceVR announced that will be shutting down its virtual environment in March. AltspaceVR was a consumer-focused immersive space that could be accessed either via the desktop or through a virtual reality headset. Since its launch in 2016, the platform has hosted big names and quickly became the go-toRead More →
OpenSim grids register 4k new users, add land area, but usage falls
OpenSim virtual land area continued to increase this month, adding 942 new regions since we reported the stats, as well as registering 4,098 new users. However, the number of active users fell by 3,806 this month as the December holidays came to a close. Generally, there are fewer seasonal eventsRead More →
Bill Gates on ChatGPT AI: ‘It will have a huge impact’
“AI is the big one,” said Bill Gates in a recent Q&A session on Reddit. “I don’t think Web3 was that big or that metaverse stuff alone was revolutionary but AI is quite revolutionary.” The tech giant and philanthropist went on to express his admiration for OpenAI’s ChatGPT, calling itRead More →
OpenAI’s new Point-E lets you generate 3D models with text
The company that released the popular Dall-E 2 AI text-to-image generator now has a 3D text-to-image AI that anyone can try out.Read More →
Vivox voice replacements delayed by funding and OpenSim integration issues
Ever since Vivox announced last year that it was planning to discontinue its free voice service for OpenSim, the community has been searching for an alternative. The goal is to find a free or open source system that offers positional audio and works for Windows, MacOS, and Linux viewers. Unfortunately,Read More →
OpenSim hits new record usage at holiday season
OpenSim added 2,061 active users this past month, hitting a new record high of 47,169 unique monthly users. Some of the increase could be due to the recently-concluded OpenSimulator Community Conference , or due to the fact that people are home from work or school for the holidays, and haveRead More →
New survey says most UK consumers haven’t accessed the metaverse
A whopping 91 percent have never even accessed the metaverse, according to the results of a November survey by GetApp of almost a thousand citizens of the United Kingdom.Read More →
Celebrity Cruises unveils virtual cruise experience
Celebrity Cruises yesterday unveiled Wonderverse, a virtual experience that lets travelers explore a realistic digital recreation of the line’s newest ship, Celebrity Beyond.Read More →
How to write a press release with ChatGPT
On Nov. 30, OpenAI released a beta of its ChatGPT chatbot to the public — for free. It is currently, hands-down, the best text and code generator out there. Within the first six days, more than a million people signed up to use it. They’re using it to write workingRead More →
Metaverse experiences could boost real world travel
Experiencing a destination in the metaverse could make travelers more likely to visit the place in real life, according to a new study by Booking.com.Read More →
Organizations have security concerns as they prepare to enter the metaverse
More companies are planning to invest in the new frontier that is the metaverse, but new and old cybersecurity threats are a top concern, according to a study released today by cybersecurity company Tenable.Read More →
RezMela is a CMS for OpenSim, and it’s going free and open source
Editor’s Note: RezMela is an add-on to OpenSim that allows for easier creation of in-world content — everything from physical environments to animated NPCs. Today, at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time at the OpenSim Community Conference, its creator, Ramesh Ramloll, will talk about how the platform will now be free andRead More →
How AI generated images are shaping virtual worlds
From AI art galleries in OpenSim to AI-created fully immersive three-dimensional environments, AI is already shaping how we experience virtual worlds.
Read More →
ChatGPT wrote this article about using ChatGPT for video games and VR
Hey there! I’m ChatGPT, and I’m here to tell you all about the amazing things you can do with ChatGPT in video game development and virtual reality.Read More →
Brain-computer interfaces could allow soldiers to control weapons with their thoughts
Imagine that a soldier has a tiny computer device injected into their bloodstream that can be guided with a magnet to specific regions of their brain. With training, the soldier could then control weapon systems thousands of miles away using their thoughts alone. Embedding a similar type of computerRead More →
The VA’s Transformation — Evading the Frustration
A combat veteran suffering from PTSD shares his challenges in traversing the VA’s endeavor to keep up with technology. These institutional failures led to the founding of 2B3D, a first-of-its-kind metaverse for delivering live, free mental health services to vets via web3. The facts are not new. The number ofRead More →
OpenSim grids hit record usage as grids prepare for holidays
OpenSim grids added 2,897 active users for a new record high of 45,108 this month. The grids also registered 1,950 new local users within the past 30 days. The active user numbers include both local residents and hypergrid visitors, which means that some users may be counted twice — however,Read More →
Wyldwood Bayou, Littlefield get perfect scores in 13th annual OpenSim grid survey
The 13th annual OpenSim grid survey is now closed to submissions and results are being tabulated and will be published the week of Nov. 21.Read More →
Gaming tech is biggest driver in evolution of metaverse says new report
Gaming technology will be the biggest driving force for the evolution of the metaverse in the near term, according to a new report published last week by S&P Global Market Intelligence.Read More →
Relay for Ukraine presents grand opening of Kisma in Ukraine
Relay for Ukraine is having the grand opening of its Kisma in Ukraine art installation in Craft World next Wednesday, November 9, at 1:00 P.M. Pacific time.Read More →
New funding round takes play-to-earn games grid AvatarLife to $7.5mil valuation
Sushant Chandrasekar, a renowned gaming developer at Second Life, and Gaurav Gupta, a former high-profile consultant at Bain & Company, have completed a seed funding round of $1.5 million with InfoEdge Ventures to develop AvatarLife grid with skill-based play-to-earn games, community content building, marketplace, freebies, and in-world currency. ThatRead More →
Neuralink pushes back public demonstration of its brain-computer interface
Neuralink still hasn’t received FDA approval to test its brain-computer interface on humans, even though Musk had predicted the company could begin human trials as early as 2020.Read More →
Virtual merchants in OpenSim
There are a variety of businesses that exist only — or at least mainly — inside OpenSim worlds. Those businesses are often run by creative artists who use their talents to make digital art which they market as products to customers in OpenSim.Read More →
OpenSim prices drop to lowest average ever, under $13 per month
As OpenSim technology continues to improve, prices are dropping. The average 15,000-prim region in OpenSim is now $12.89 a month. The median price is now $10 a month, unchanged from what we had in 2021, but the average has fallen more than $2, from $15.18 last year. And that numberRead More →
OpenSim land area hits new record as all stats up this month
The public OpenSim grids now have the equivalent of 120,044 standard-sized regions, a new record high, and more than four times the land area of Second Life, according to the latest Grid Survey numbers. OpenSim land is very attractive because land prices are dramatically lower than in Second Life. InRead More →
Zuckerberg announces Meta Quest Pro and more
In a live – actually, it was prerecorded – keynote address, Zuckerberg announced the Meta Quest Pro, a new, business-focused advanced virtual reality headset the company’s been teasing for the past year.Read More →
Apple and Meta set to release high-end VR headsets
Apple and Meta will soon be going head-to-head in the high-end virtual reality headset arena — and at enterprise price points. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the new Apple augmented and virtual reality headset could be called Apple Reality Pro and will be released sometime in January 2023. Apple’s headset may shipRead More →
User authentication for ToS and GDPR compliance not a walk in the park for OpenSim grids
There currently is no easy way for OpenSim users to agree to a grid’s privacy policies and terms of service or give data use consent as required by the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR.Read More →
Lenovo releases ThinkReality VRX headset for enterprise metaverse training
Lenovo just released ThinkReality VRX, a new mixed reality headset meant for improving virtual 3D immersive enterprise remote training, collaboration, visualization, and meetings.Read More →
Tenth Annual OpenSimulator Community Conference set for December
The tenth annual OpenSimulator Community Conference is scheduled for December 10 and 11, and the call for proposals is now open. “We’re interested in your wonderful content, insights, and accomplishments. We hope that you can join us for our tenth year celebrating the current and future use of open sourceRead More →
Kitely celebrates 14th birthday
Kitely celebrated its 14th birthday, its founders, and its community with a huge party this past weekend.Read More →
How humans and AI can learn to work together for the planet
The advent of digital solutions that employ artificial intelligence, internet-of-things, and machine learning technology has dramatically changed how humans and even entire cities operate.Read More →