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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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, 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, 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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
A new art installation has its grand opening today, Monday, Sep. 12, at 1 p.m. Pacific time on the Craft World grid, the second contribution to the Ukraine Borderland Art Project. The installation, Ukraine Victory 2025, is by artist Rage Darkstone. The hypergrid address is craft-world.org:8002:Ukraine The installation is a “lyricalRead More →
If you want to try high-end consumer virtual reality headset, one that’s not part of Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta ecosystem, the best options are the headsets that you tether to a PC. One that I haven’t tried yet is the HP Reverb G2 VR headset. And it’s discounted today, from $599Read More →
OSgrid, the largest grid in land area and active user numbers, will celebrate its 15th birthday starting on Monday, July 25. The celebration will run through July 31. “We’ll have live music and DJs to entertain us as we celebrate everything that is OSgrid,” grid president Wizard Atazoth. Former presidentRead More →
The Metropolis grid will shut down on midnight on June 30. But before one of the oldest OpenSim grids closes for good, it will be the site of the premiere performance of a play by Reiner Schneeberger. The play is titled “The Art Giantess Is The Work: Thea von Harbou,”Read More →
Last night, Google sent me a message that I could have one of its virtual AI-powered voices record my audiobooks for me. I wrote an article about for MetaStellar here: Google offers free AI-powered audiobook narration. You can edit the finished file to fix pronunciation mistakes and then download theRead More →
Just like Brandon Sanderson, I, too, have been busy during this pandemic. In fact, I’ve written more than ten new books. Take that, Sanderson! Okay, most of them are really short. His books are 400 pages long. My books are shorter. Krim Deeds, for example, is 150 pages. But, onRead More →
The educational play “We Are Going to Lviv” is back for a single performance tonight on the Meta region of the OpenSim Community Conference grid. The trip was originally part of the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education 2022 conference and is an artistic journey that spans the past andRead More →
So I just got a warning in my email inbox from a “touche@1studi.ru.” The domain name is associated with a company that runs a couple of Russia-based OpenSim grids. Apparently, the flag of Ukraine is now a “Nazi” flag. Now, I mean sure, there are Nazis in every country —Read More →
“Metaverse” is a word thrown around a lot lately, and its meaning seems to mean whatever anyone wants it to mean. Here’s a breakdown of the most common definitions. Metaverse as virtual reality The term “metaverse” was first coined in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash. He usedRead More →
The 2021 OpenSimulator Community Conference is next weekend, and registration is now open — and free. This year’s conference features more than 65 speakers leading presentations, workshops, panel sessions, music, and social events across the diversity of the OpenSimulator user base. See the full schedule here. Attending the conference event isRead More →
More than 300 valid responses came in for the 12th Annual OpenSim Grid Survey, and Wyldwood Bayou and Utopia Skye, two write-in grids, received the highest scores from their residents. Most years, there’s at least one smaller grid that does well in this user survey, because small startup grids typically haveRead More →
The impending loss of Vivox voice in OpenSim is putting stress on educational institutions and other groups and organizations that need in-world voice. Vivox was integrated into the viewer and required no additional work on the part of the users. Other systems, such as Skype or Discord, typically require thatRead More →
One of the former owners of Enchanted Grid, Dawn Gemma Sian Rhys-Owain, says that legal action has caused the loss of the grid’s servers. The grid has been down for a couple of weeks due to a management shakeup in which Rhys-Owain and her partner, Dai Rhys-Owain, gave up theirRead More →
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook changing its name to Meta in order to focus on the metaverse. Facebook itself will remain, but will now be just one brand in the Meta portfolio, alongside Instagram and WhatsApp. Read More →
Update: As of Wednesday afternoon, the new sole owner of Enchanted Grid says that she has no access to the grid servers to restart them and that she is told “there are no grid servers to restart.” Enchanted Grid, a mid-sized private grid with a few hundred regions and registeredRead More →
I just ordered my Oculus Quest 2 headset this morning — and it already came this evening. Initial impression is that it’s the easiest-to-use headset I’ve tried so far. Very comfortable, very lightweight, and I didn’t even need to charge it up when I took it out of the box.Read More →
More than 300 valid responses came in for the Twelfth Annual OpenSim Grid Survey, and Wildwood Bayou received nearly perfect scores in all categories, with Utopia Skye, Enchanted Grid, Craft World and Kitely close behind. Wildwood Bayou, Utopia Skye, and Enchanted Grid were all write-in grids. Most years, there’s at leastRead More →
It’s been ten days since AviTron first reported Gloebit payment problems, and more than a week since Gloebit acknowledged the issue, but Gloebit purchases are continuing to fail across the hypergrid and grid owners complain that they haven’t been able to reach Gloebit CEO Chris Colosi for help. There alsoRead More →
After AviTron reported Gloebit payment problems on Saturday, other grids also seem to be having the same issue. Today, Gloebit confirmed that there’s an issue. “It appears that starting Sep. 27, some grids had some notifications of completion of transaction not make it back to the grid,” Gloebit CEO ChrisRead More →
The AviTron grid is reporting an outage in the multi-grid Gloebit payment system. “I have been emailing these guys for two weeks now,” AviTron grid owner Alex Pomposelli told Hypergrid Business. “No response yet.” According to Pomposelli, the problem is that the Gloebit DLL needs to be updated. TheRead More →
Russia-based OpenSim company Caprica is now hosting private grids starting at just $20 a month. The company also runs its own grid, also called Caprica, That grid, which was founded in early 2018, currently has 310 regions and reported 300 active users in the last 30 days. Caprica’s new privateRead More →
To celebrate the completion of my most recent novella, Time of the Meatheads, the first novella in set in the Krim virtual world, Krim Times, is free this weekend. And it’s got a new cover, too. The book made the Amazon category bestseller list when it was released back inRead More →
The folks over at HTC were nice enough to send me the new HTC Vive Focus 3 headset for review. First of all, thank you. It’s a great headset. Second of all, sorry for this review, but I don’t think that anyone should buy this headset. On paper, this headsetRead More →
The Infinite Metaverse Alliance called on OpenSim users to take a survey today. “Given the number of new features for users that have evolved in the past two years, we are interested in knowing more about what users want and need,” said CEO Lisa Laxton. The results will help theRead More →
According to Unity PR head Ryan Wallace, OpenSim grids can still sign up to get free Vivox voice services — but there might be some technical hurdles to jump through. But OpenSim grid owners say that those technical hurdles pose some significant challenges, and they’re not getting any support fromRead More →
Update: Free service still available, but needs integration work. See full story here. Vivox, the voice service acquired by Unity two years ago, is discontinuing its free OpenSim service. “As of May 25, 2021, the Free Virtual World Voice service has been deprecated and we will no longer be acceptingRead More →
Two grid owners have successfully enabled Podex for hypergrid visitors to their grids. Discovery Grid owner Rene Vega, also known as Balpien Hammerer in-world, and AviWorlds owner Josh Boam have allowed hypergrid visitors to buy and use Podex-based local currencies while visiting their grids. “Thanks to Josh Boam as wellRead More →
A few OpenSim grid owners have contacted me about price updates, and there have been some dramatic drops out there fueled by improved management tools on the part of the grid owners and lower hosting prices by infrastructure providers. That inspired me to review all the grid prices on theRead More →
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