This article contnues previous discussions about OnLive and the implications for VR grids :
- Future of SL is beyond e-tech. Now on to s-tech
- Future of SL Beyond e-tech (continued)
- VR in the Cloud
Start with two more concepts: Hypergrid and Mixagrid
Hypergrid
From the Wiki: "The hypergrid is an extension to opensim that allows you to link your opensim to other opensims on the internet, and that supports seamless agent transfers among those opensims. It can be used both in standalone mode and in grid mode. The hypergrid is effectively supporting the emergence of a Web of virtual worlds. "
"The basic idea for the hypergrid is that region/grid administrations can place hyperlinks on their map to hypergrided regions run by others. Once those hyperlinks are established, users interact with those regions in exactly the same way as they interact with local regions. Specifically, users can choose to teleport there. Once the user reaches the region behind the hyperlink, she is automatically interacting with a different virtual world without having to logout from the world where she came from, and while still having access to her inventory."
Mixagrid
Mixagrid is a name I made up for the current state of things. Part way to hypergrid. Grids are being developed – some private, some public. Multiple open-source viewers are available. All the viewers I have seen look and feel much like the SL standard viewer. That makes it easy to shift between viewers.
All the grids I have seen work with some of these viewers. Different grids specify different viewers, but I doubt that this specification is based on technical requirements. Some viewers let you log into more than one grid. And you can (if you speak Geek) move some things from one grid to another. OnLive will make it easier to shift from one grid to another, because all the needed viewers will all be readily available.
Aside from Second life I have looked at three other grids.
OSGrid includes a full hypergrid capability. The hypergrid is probably the long-term destiny of the mixagrid. (We aren’t there yet.) But let's go beyond the technicals now, iinto the squishy social world of community and the network effect. The key currency there is not bits and bauds. It is ID. Identity.
Identity in the Mixagrid.
Already that is appearing as an issue. In addition to Second Life, I know people who are on one or more of the grids abovr. We are already talking about the issue of identity. Here is the issue:
People know me in Second Life as Thinkerer Melville. If they run into Thinkerer Melville on the OSGrid, how do they know whether that name represents the same person they met in Second Life? I am working with various other people in Second Life. Before we could transfer any cooperation to the OSGrid, we would have to verify identities. I have already signed up on the OSGrid, primarily to claim the name. But I can’t be sure that OSGrid has adequate security to prevent someone from hacking into the user database and taking over my name. So if you meet Thinkerer Melville there, you won’t be sure that you are talking to the person you know from Second Life.
Rezzable has a system that can verify your identity as matching your Second Life name. So when you see Thinkerer Melville on this site, you can be sure that I am the same person you meet in Second Life under that name. This verified identity also applies to the Rezzable Private grid, but not to the Heritage Grid. I have signed up there as Thinkerer Melville, but did not find any arrangement for name verification.
Identity of performers
Some of my performer friends are already concerned about identity in the mixagrid. EvaMoon Ember is well known in Second Life. What happens if somebody else signs up under that name in the OSGrid? That person could start performing on that grid as EvaMoon Ember. If you are a performer, you would view that as probably damaging you reputation. Eva Moon may have established some claim to the name EvaMoon Ember, so she might be able to sue somebody over the matter. Indeed, the most exciting part of the the VR future may be in court.
A similar concern applies to comedians and actors. If you can take somebody’s name in a different grid, you take over their public reputation there. And a public reputation is more fragile than your reputation with your friends. Nobody could get far trying to impersonate me with my friends. They have my g-mail address and/or my Skype ID. But ID carries public reputation. Lauren Live (Lauren Weyland) can draw a big crowd on the basis of her reputation. She would not want some imposter to disappoint the audience. Granted, she is inimitable. The audience would have to be completely naïve or someone would detect and unmask the fraud.
But actors have reputations based on names:
“Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; …
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.”
I have heard of at least once case in which someone intentionally registered on the OSGrid with the name of a person well-known in Second Life. So if you have a valuable name in Second Life, you may want to register your name on other grids. Will OnLive play a role in verifying identity? That remains to be seen.
Entertainment in Second Life
On Stage
Upcoming: How do performance artist Vaneeesa Blaylock and 16 female avatars celebrate the REZiversary of St Leo University's Virtual Campus? Find out at the Main Gallery at St Leo's during the premiere of her newest performance artwork, VB05-Golden/Red, on Tuesday, 7 July, 2-4 pm SLT.
Comedy
'Mariner Trilling: Below the Waist' on July 6th at 6PM SLT.
A half hour comedy monologue based on articles written for the SL Herald about romance, sex and dating in Second Life. It isn't vulgar but it is ADULT. There is one anatomical reference to a bratwurst.
At the Archon Theater on Cookie
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