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Update: AvWorlds abandons high-price strategy At a time when most OpenSim hosting providers are attempting to attract users with low prices, or, at least, moderate prices, one  OpenSim grid — AvWorlds — plans to buck the trend by pricing its regions at $145 per month. “I am looking to give ourRead More →

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San Francisco-based Tipodean Technologies launched a public beta today of its BuiltBuy.me Web-based viewer for OpenSim and Second Life. The viewer, formerly known as Canvas, is free, and can be embedded inside a Website, YouTube-style. The latest update includes several improvements over the private beta release in December, including speedRead More →

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CliniSpace took first place yesterday in the AI-assisted training category of the Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge with its virtual medical training simulation. Los Altos Hills, CA-based Innovation in Learning, Inc. launched CliniSpace in September of 2010, based on the Unity 3D platform. (We’ve written about the company before, see full story here.)Read More →

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Press Release: UBM Studios Introduces New Evolution of Virtual Environments’ Chat Tool Chicago – UBM Studios continues to follow on its mission of transforming the way show organizers and event attendees interact through world-class engagement.  Today, UBM Studios adds a new chat tool to its virtual environments.  Key features include:Read More →

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Avination grid owner Melanie Thiekler rolled out Vivox voice to her grid today — at no extra cost to residents or land renters. Residents immediately began trying it out, and it sounded great. Those who had good microphones came through crystal-clear, without any of the cutting in and out andRead More →

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InWorldz has taken a further step way from mainline OpenSim Tuesday with the announcement of a proprietary scripting engine, called Phlox, which is expected to enter beta testing this week. The new scripting engine promises to support 99 percent of existing Second Life scripts, with increased speed and stability. ScriptsRead More →

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Press release: SAIC Demonstrates OLIVE Virtual World Solutions at the 2011 Defense GameTech User Conference ORLANDO — Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) will feature advanced virtual defense, medical simulation, and collaboration solutions at the 2011 Defense GameTech User Conference, Mar. 22-25 at the Caribe Royale Hotel and Convention Center inRead More →

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The world’s top 40 public OpenSim grids gained 424 regions and 12,746 registered users since the middle of February, a slightly slower than usual growth rate. However, we’re continuing to see growth in private and mini-grids. For example, 466 new copies of the Diva Distro were downloaded last month.This doesRead More →

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Open Wonderland — an open source, Java-based virtual world platform — marks the first anniversary of the project’s founding on March 11. Open Wonderland was originally Sun’s Project Wonderland, but support was discontinued and project staffers laid off in early 2010 after Sun was acquired by Oracle. Since then, theRead More →

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Press Release: Avatar Reality’s Blue Mars Mobile becomes first 3D iOS app with thousands of user generated items available for purchase App Now Available to Download for Free on App Store HONOLULU, HI — Avatar Reality, developers of the premium 3D virtual world and social platform, Blue Mars, today announcedRead More →

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Press Release: eTraining Experts Tony O’Driscoll and Karl Kapp To Host an Intimate Talk in VenueGen on Immersive Online Learning and Collaboration Co-authors of the new book “Learning in 3D” will virtually join 40 attendees to explore the impact of the immersive Internet on the future of enterprise learning ResearchRead More →

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Press Release: Daden releases white paper on virtual worlds and the built environment Birmingham, UK – Planners, developers, builders and architects should be looking to virtual worlds to provide a whole-life model of their project, according to a white paper released today by virtual worlds solutions provider Daden Limited. The whiteRead More →

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Press Release: UBM Studios Unicruit’s Diversity Virtual Career Fair Assists College Students in Finding Employment in a Challenging Economy Nearly 25 Employers Came Together with 3,500+ Students from Over 30 Schools across the Country Chicago, IL – UBM Studios Unicruit’s inaugural Diversity Virtual Career Fair was held on March 3,Read More →

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Press Release: InterCall Expands Its Streaming Services Portfolio with Acquisition of Unisfair OMAHA, Neb. – InterCall, a subsidiary of West Corporation and the world’s largest conferencing and collaboration services provider, today announced the acquisition of Unisfair, a leading global provider of virtual events and business environments. Unisfair enables companies to createRead More →

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Virtual Edge Institute Announces First Certification Program for Digital Events Strategist Comprehensive training program to accelerate adoption of virtual meetings, events, and conferences Pleasanton, CA –The Virtual Edge Institute today announced the first educational program to formally train and certify event marketers, meeting and learning professionals, trade show and conference managers asRead More →

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OpenSim grid owners now have another option for their grid server software — Aurora-Sim. This branch of OpenSim, still in “pre-alpha” stage of development, promises more security features and better vehicle physics than mainline OpenSim, but it is still too early to tell whether it will be able to deliver.Read More →

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The non-profit NewWorldGrid will stop allowing self-hosted regions to connect as soon as the grid completes its upgrade to the latest version of OpenSim. “We are currently starting tests on the current OpenSim development releases,” grid manager Olivier Battini told Hypergrid Business. There is no firm date yet for theRead More →

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Press release: Fashion Research Institute Oversees Another Round of the Science Sim Land Grant Program with Intel Labs New York, NY  – Fashion Research Institute has been collaborating with Intel Labs since 2009, helping to push the limits of content development, and overseeing the Science Sim Land Grant Program. The programRead More →

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Austria-based VirWoX began trading Avination’s C$ virtual currency today. VirWoX is best known as a leading exchange for Lindens in Europe, and for its hypergrid-enabled OMC currency. “Given the strong growth of Avination and its clear focus on becoming a commercial grid, this looks like an interesting market to beRead More →

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The non-profit, research-focused ScienceSim grid is now accessible via hypergrid teleports again, after more than a year of no hypergrid connectivity. ScienceSim turned off the hypergrid last January, due to security concerns. But new upgrades in the hypergrid technology — in particular, the ability to keep content from being takenRead More →

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Press release: ARRS Introduces a 3D Option for CME Education The American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) is taking a leadership role within their industry by offering their attendees the ability to attend their educational course not only in 2D, but in a 3D, immersive environment as well.  Their upcoming course:  ImagingRead More →

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Press release: Vivox Doubles Online Voice Chat User Base in 2010, Now Serves Over 45 Million Significant Online Audience Firmly Establishes Company as the Leader in Voice Services for the Social Web NATICK, Mass.–Vivox, Inc. (www.vivox.com), the number one integrated voice platform for the Social Web, today announced its worldwideRead More →

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The number of regions of the 40 largest OpenSim grids went down this month for the first time since July, from 15,623 to 13,069, a loss of over 2,300 regions, a result of a long-overdue housekeeping on OSGrid. But the big story was from Avination, which rocked to second place thisRead More →

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Press release: ProtonMedia’s ProtoSphere Now Integrated with Kaplan EduNeering’s ComplianceWire LANSDALE, Pa.—ProtonMedia and Kaplan EduNeering have integrated their technologies to create a new way for life sciences organizations to meet regulatory and compliance regulations. The companies have combined ProtonMedia’s ProtoSphere virtual immersive environment with Kaplan EduNeering’s ComplianceWire learning management system. With this integration, companiesRead More →

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In the past year, the OMC virtual currency has gained both popularity and usefulness, with both the total currency in circulation and the number of grids it’s available for use on growing. The OMC, or Open Metaverse Currency, is a virtual currency from Austria-based VirWoX  that can be used to buyRead More →

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Press release: Microsoft Certifies ProtonMedia with Silver Unified Communications Competency LANSDALE, Pa.–ProtonMedia has achieved Microsoft’s Silver Unified Communications competency, making it the first and only virtual immersive environment software provider to achieve this certification from Microsoft. This certification affirms ProtonMedia has met Microsoft’s silver competency credentials and customer evidence requirements.Read More →

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Press release: 2011 Horizon Report Identifies Six “Key Emerging Technologies” for Higher Education. Today, the New Media Consortium (NMC) and EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) jointly released the 2011 Horizon Report. This eighth edition conveys annual findings from the NMC’s Horizon Project, an ongoing research project designed to identify and describeRead More →

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OpenSim grid developers Powersynch, LLC — the folks behind the SpotOn3D group of grids — launched a certified developer program today. The program is “somewhat comparable” to the Second Life solution providers program, Philippe Pascal, the company’s developer program manager, told Hypergrid Business. “We plan to offer a certification processRead More →

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Press release: Avaya Launches Cloud-Based, On-Demand Immersive Web Collaboration for Businesses BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Avaya Inc., a global leader in business collaboration systems, software and services, today announced the launch of new cloud-based, on-demand purchasing options and features for Avaya web.alive, the company’s innovative, immersive web collaboration platform designedRead More →

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Many grids today have hypergrid turned off, for fear that content will be taken from their grid to a less secure grid, copied, and distributed illegally. OpenSim developers are working to create a hypergrid-wide permission system for content that will help abate this fear, and open more of the OpenSimRead More →

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Press release: Utherverse Announces Interactive Virtual Karaoke to its Massive 50,000 Site Virtual World Web (VWW) Network Working with Karaoke Innovator SingSnap Allows Singers to Perform for Live Audiences and Overcome Real-World Stage Fright VANCOUVER, B.C. – Virtual world developer Utherverse Digital Inc. today announced the addition of 3DTunes.com, anRead More →

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Press Release: Blue Mars now easier to access with launch of application for iOS devices Blue Mars Mobile Now Available for Free on App Store HONOLULU, HI– Avatar Reality, developers of the premium 3D virtual world and social platform, Blue Mars, today announced the release of Blue Mars Mobile, itsRead More →

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Press Release: EON Reality Develops Unique EON Icube Content for Education and Entertainment IRVINE, Calif. – EON Reality, the world’s leading interactive 3D software provider, has recently taken a strategic decision to invest in the Virtual Learning Program content development area in addition to their current software and hardware strategy.Read More →

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This year’s Virtual Edge Summit, held January 12 and 13 in Las Vegas and simulcast on eight different virtual conference platforms failed to take advantage of the social networking, immersive, and showroom capabilities of these vendors. Virtual attendance was up this year, with around 900 people attending virtually, up fromRead More →

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Press release: SAP expands reach with vcopious virtual platform at 2010 Influencer Summit Virtual environment software platform increases engagement among key SAP influencers with exclusive virtual platform Conshohocken, PA– vcopious, a leading virtual environment software platform, recently powered the first virtual platform for the 2010 Annual SAP Influencer Summit, heldRead More →

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The top 40 OpenSim grids gained 529 regions since mid-December, to reach a new high of 15,623 regions on January 15 of this month. The monthly growth rate, 3.5 percent, was the second-lowest since we started gathering the statistics in the summer of 2009, a possible indication of a seasonalRead More →

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Press release: MediaTec Publishing Creates Virtual Human Capital Media Convention Center Partners with Unisfair to expand beyond in-person event experience Chicago, Jan. 18 — MediaTec Publishing Inc., publisher of Chief Learning Officer, Talent Management and Diversity Executive magazines, is partnering with Unisfair, the leading provider of virtual events and virtualRead More →

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Press Release: UBM Asia Presented the Shanghai Finance Virtual Career Fair, Targeted to Professionals in the Finance Industry Virtual Event Leader UBM Studios Provided Virtual Platform CHICAGO — UBM Asia presented the Shanghai Finance Virtual Career Fair on December 10-12, 2010, targeted to professionals in the finance industry. The two-dayRead More →

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Press Release: Virtual Edge Institute Announces the Five Best and Worst Virtual Events Trends of 2010 Virtual Edge Institute released the organization’s inaugural “Five Best and Worst Virtual Events Trends of 2010” List Pleasanton, CA – In the spirit of end-of- year “best of” or “worst of” lists, the VirtualRead More →

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Press release: Virtual Environment Leader UBM Studios Organizes for Growth in 2011 CHICAGO — UBM Studios, a global virtual service provider delivering turnkey interactive environments on the right platform, with superior service and world-class user engagement, today announced that it is organizing its team with new hires and promotions toRead More →

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Altus Unveils the First Hybrid Event Solution to Increase Engagement and ROI for Corporate Conferences and Events Altus Event MyStro(TM) Bridges the Gap Between In-Person, On-Line and On-Demand Events CAMPBELL, CA — Altus, a leader in enterprise on-demand rich media solutions for conferences, sales enablement, and knowledge sharing, today releasedRead More →

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Press Release: Web3D Technology Boosts User Engagement for eTraining and Corporate Events: VenueGen CEO to Discuss at Virtual Edge Summit 2011 David Gardner will explore the potential of new in-browser meeting environments to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of dispersed business teams Morrisville, NC –For business to truly recoup valueRead More →

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Grid owners with proprietary viewers can now add high-quality voice to their worlds Not yet included in Hippo, Imprudence — users must download add-on This week, vComm Solutions of Switzerland released the source code for Whisper, a high-quality voice option for OpenSim. Whisper supports directional voice and lip synching, andRead More →

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Press Release: Second Life’s New Leader: Rod Humble Becomes CEO of Linden Lab MMO and Gaming Industry Visionary to Bring New Life to Second Life SAN FRANCISCO — Linden Lab®, creator of 3D virtual world Second Life®, today announced that Rod Humble has become the company’s Chief Executive Officer. HumbleRead More →

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Press release: Languagelab.com students spend 15 hours a week in English City Outside of Class time. Languagelab, creator of English City based in Second Life, have found that students spend on average 15 hours a week practicing in English City excluding scheduled class time. Languagelab, creator of English City basedRead More →

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Press Release: UBM Built Environment Presents ‘Sustainability Now,’ Targeted to Built Environment Professionals and Their Clients – Now Available On Demand Virtual Event Leader UBM Studios Provided 3D Platform CHICAGO — UBM Built Environment, in conjunction with BD, Building, and Property Week Magazines, presented the fifth installment of “Sustainability Now,”Read More →

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Press Release: ON24 Announces Enterprise Webcasting for Internal Communications New Capabilities Enable ‘Behind the Firewall’ Webcasts SAN FRANCISCO, CA– ON24, Inc., the global leader in webcasting and virtual event solutions, announced today that it is providing full support for webcasts used in internal communications applications. A collection of services, theRead More →

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Press Release: Leading Providers to Create Virtual Environments Around the Virtual Edge Summit 2011 Global audiences will have access to Summit content and networking via 6Connex, Digitell, Expos2, INXPO, Social27 and Unisfair virtual experiences Pleasanton, CA –Today, the Virtual Edge Summit 2011 (http://www.virtualedgesummit.com) announced that the Summit content will beRead More →

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OpenSim grids hit yet another new peak this month, with 15,094 regions on the top 40 grids, an 11  percent increase from last month’s 13,564 regions — a gain of 1,530 new regions. Meanwhile, total registered users on these grids grew 5 percent from 140,053 in mid November to 147,565Read More →

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Press Release: Novell Announces Winners of First Annual ‘Dister’ Awards Radical Breeze’s ‘Illumination Software Creation Station’ and Anderware’s ‘Hypergrid to Go’ win $10,000 prizes in showcase for creating innovative software appliances WALTHAM, Mass. — Novell today announced the winners of its First Annual ‘Dister’ Awards, handing out two $10,000 grandRead More →