Casual 3D social network Hangout hangs out at TC50
- September 8th, 2008
- 4 Comments
Hangout combines Facebook, MySpace and the Sims to create a virtual world for 16-24 year olds to interact in. By creating “rooms”, users have the ability to create a customized environment in which all their interests are represented. Recent interests are catalogued in a similar way as to real life, with users able to visit your “room” and see what you have been listening to and watching lately.
The virtual 3D rooms are user-created, but several important features allow the users to interact with the real world. Through partnerships, Hangout has created an environment which kids can affect their avatar or room, and then directly purchase items. For example, through a partnership with posters.com, kids can decorate their room both in the virtual world and the real world. Other opportunities exist with the ability to deck out your virtual and real self with the same t-shirt.
Today at TC50, the audience was given a virtual tour of Hangout, in which we visited a couple of rooms. One could easily see how personality can be represented, just like in real life. (Except a whole lot cheaper than giving your dwelling a design makeover). Furniture can be modified, games can be added, and even musical instruments can be utilized. In the demo, a kick drum was hit (not) in rhythm with Led Zep’s Kashmir. Even though it wasn’t like playing along with the song, there is clearly a lot of potential here. All good news for the Hangout team, as they are trying to maintain the balance between individual creativity and mainstream usage.
nnina (Who am I?)
2 months ago
im so nice!
nnina (Who am I?)
2 months ago
he beac face im nice
Fabio (Who am I?)
2 months ago
I’d be interested in something like that if it turned out to be actually useful and not yet another hyped up secondlife clone filled with pointless ads and corporate propaganda to lure teens into buying more useless and overpriced junk made in Peruvian swetshops by 6 year old’s at 5 cents per hour.
Let’s face it, we are going nowhere with this technology unless we do something useful with it that benefits everyone.
You want to create something useful? Something that will blow everybody’s mind? Then let’s work on a technology that will truly revolutionize the Internet towards a truly immersive experience. Stop playing with cutesy pictures and hype. Let’s REALLY do it “3D style”.
In my vision of what ideally the future should be like, i envision 3D browsers, and not a freaking cube spinning in all directions, which is just as useful as my grandmother attached to a bungee cord, i am talking about true 3D browsing, with 3D metaphores of real life. Pictures? Movies? Give me actual TV screens. Online Shopping? Give me an actual store with something more than a button to click. Social networks? How about a plaza? A Square! A Club!
And all this in a browser. No plugins. the browser would be actually the “plugin” itself. One download. One single tool to do it all. Don’t waste my time with additional software to install. Everyone now has a 3D videocard, and everyone has at least one working 3D game title installed and successfully able to run. Everyone has the ability to see textures and video and low-poly animated objects. Why are we still wasting time with pointless toys, when we can have the full enchilada?
This is ridiculous. It’s ridiculous, i say it again! And i will keep on saying it until someone wakes up and puts to work all these scattered and out-of-work young talents out there who are only eager to put their heads together and do something TRULY amazing.
Fabio (Who am I?)
2 months ago
I’d be interested in something like that if it turned out to be actually useful and not yet another hyped up secondlife clone filled with pointless ads and corporate propaganda to lure teens into buying more useless and overpriced junk made in Peruvian swetshops by 6 year old’s at 5 cents per hour.
Let’s face it, we are going nowhere with this technology unless we do something useful with it that benefits everyone.
You want to create something useful? Something that will blow everybody’s mind? Then let’s work on a technology that will truly revolutionize the Internet towards a truly immersive experience. Stop playing with cutesy pictures and hype. Let’s REALLY do it “3D style”.
In my vision of what ideally the future should be like, i envision 3D browsers, and not a freaking cube spinning in all directions, which is just as useful as my grandmother attached to a bungee cord, i am talking about true 3D browsing, with 3D metaphores of real life. Pictures? Movies? Give me actual TV screens. Online Shopping? Give me an actual store with something more than a button to click. Social networks? How about a plaza? A Square! A Club!
And all this in a browser. No plugins. the browser would be actually the “plugin” itself. One download. One single tool to do it all. Don’t waste my time with additional software to install. Everyone now has a 3D videocard, and everyone has at least one working 3D game title installed and successfully able to run. Everyone has the ability to see textures and video and low-poly animated objects. Why are we still wasting time with pointless toys, when we can have the full enchilada?
This is ridiculous. It’s ridiculous, i say it again! And i will keep on saying it until someone wakes up and puts to work all these scattered and out-of-work young talents out there who are only eager to put their heads together and do something TRULY amazing.