Google’s long rumoured virtual world play surfaces
Google has rolled out a challenge to virtual world giant Second Life with free software that lets people create their own online 3D worlds that can be embedded on websites and melded with other online functions.
So far, Lively by Google works on Windows Vista or XP and Google is working on a MySpace version. The hope is that portability of the service will help distinguish it; another interesting addition is that in these virtual room users can can view videos and other content that are running on sites such as Google-owned YouTube.
Lively users can invite friends' avatars over for visits by sending them online room addresses via email or instant messages, according to Google engineering manager Niniane Wang.
"If you enter a Lively room embedded on your favorite blog or website, you can immediately get a sense of the room creator's interests, just by looking at the furniture and environment they chose," Wang wrote in an online posting.
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