[Sigia-l] Second Life: The other side

[Paola Kathuria]

Ziya Oz wrote:
> should [we] duplicate the
> web paradigm of navigation in 3D somehow, with doors/hallways being the
> navigational conduits, for example.
> 
> Do we use Ajaxy *equivalence* (what I termed as contextual interaction) of
> *bringing in* people, objects, tools, etc into proximity of focus (as we can
> in a 3D spatial environ) and let users act *in situ* rather than take
> people/objects/etc and fly them around in more of a navigational paradigm?
>
> The web so far has been extremely hierarchical in both architecture and
> presentation. In 3D, do leave that behind? Would that be too much of a
> departure for SL users?

I'm not entirely sure that I've understood what you mean
but I think you're talking about distance.

Yes, letting users act in situ is better than going through
navigational doors.

I think one should exploit whatever the features are of the
medium when you design a UI. In SL, you can make objects
vis/invis, float, rotate, change colour, fly, and so on.
It's a new medium to design user interfaces in (if only
as an intellectual exercise).

If I want to buy something in SL, even though I am sat at my
computer, my avatar has to go from mall to mall, shop to shop
and wall to wall to see what's on offer. The most that people
have done to reduce the leg-work is to create displays with
previous/next controls. SL needs a Yahoo or a Google because
things aren't findable. But it'd depend on people describing
their stuff well and you only have to look at eBay to see how
crap people are at it.

A virtual representation of real world interaction, besides
being pointless, is as bad as General Magic's Magic Cap - where
objects are laid out on a desktop and there's a virtual
high street to wander down linearly. Argh!
http://www.guidebookgallery.org/guis/magiccap/screenshots

>> SL is hyped only because you can show it. It's that simple.
> 
> Well, that's the question. Is SL simply hype?

Yes.

I collected data on several thousand avatars in-world and
found that 85% of them are less than 6 months old (and
25% are less than a month old). People don't stick around.


Paola
--
http://www.paolability.com/