Filed under: Digital Adoption by Digado

In August Linden Lab announced their intentions to build SLim. Though specifics are still unclear, it is likely to be a ‘light client’ - filtering the social functions such as instant messaging from the full experience of Linden Labs main virtual world Second Life. This to create a more smooth, more accessible social platform, and allow people to keep in touch with their friends regardless of their presence within Second Life.

If that is going to be the core function of SLim, ‘the other’ social world There.com has beaten Second Life to the punch. Today it announced 3 (rather) large innovations for the 3D social platform. It will develop a facebook application (like Gaia and ActiveWorlds have done before them), Mac OS compatibility and ThereIM:

There.com claims that ThereIM is the industry’s first instant messaging tool that allows members to travel between its virtual world and a 3D instant messaging application that sits on their desktops.” (more on Mashable)

The fact There.com seems to be the first to pick up on the earlier discussed ‘modular virtual world’ probably comes as no surprise to the runner-up in the Second Life interface competition; Jacek Antonelli. Jacek recently announced ‘Imprudence‘ - an open source Second Life interface improvement program. This initiative was largely motivated by the idea Linden Labs seems sluggish when it comes to implementing innovations (recent innovations Mono and Havok have been in development many, many months before even showing up in a beta phase, and the interface and orientation experience are still as poor as when SL launched over 5 years ago).

Either way, it’s good to see There.com pick up the phase in developing their platform to a truly social experience. It’s ‘big brother’ Second Life won’t be ‘beaten’ just yet, but perhaps it acts as a good incentive to get Linden Lab’s ‘show on the road‘.

Posted on: September 3, 2008 | Share on: