If there was one thing I wished for Second Life voice it would be for a higher fidelity of sound - every week we struggle on Metanomics with the audio, sometimes slip over to Skype for better quality, or sometimes get lucky and find that voice is fine. Many times, it’s an issue of the user’s head-set, but at other times it’s the quality of voice in SL itself.
So while I’m hoping for improved quality, Second Life is adding - well, cartoon voices.
Venture Beat today reports that Linden Lab will be launching new voice features that include avatar phone numbers:
“Kingdon said Second Life residents will be able to receive real world calls in the virtual world in a service dubbed AvaLine. The company’s Dial an Avatar function assigns residents of Second Life a phone number that enables friends to call from a landline, cell phone, or VOIP application. The service is available as a beta test today and will launch formally by the end of the second quarter.”
In addition, you’ll be able to modify your voice to suit your character, and, a real bonus, be able to RECORD group chats:
“In the second half of the year, Linden Lab will also add the ability for residents of Second Life to morph their voices. They can disguise their voices or make them sound comical. Users can make their voices sound like a “French woman” or a “sports announcer” among other voices.
Users will also be able to send text messages from inside Second Life to mobile phones outside the world. And users will also be able to record the VOIP conversations they have in the world. Lastly, by 2010, the company will launch the ability to have group chats in the virtual world. The services will cost money, but Kingdon said the company isn’t ready to announce rates yet. As for live video conferencing, that isn’t coming soon.”
Virtual World News also picks up the story, giving a break-down of the voice packages that will be available to residents per the Lab’s press release:
AvaLine: Assigns residents a Second Life phone number (via an extension), enabling friends and business associates to call directly from a landline, cell phone or VOIP application. Users can opt in for either a monthly or annual contract, although for the next six weeks, the service will be free to the first 1,000 residents who join the beta (visit the Second Life blog for details). Monthly and annual fee has yet to be determined. Full rollout due prior to the end of June.
SLim: SLim is a one-to-one text and voice application that enables residents to interact with other Second Life users without needing to open their viewer. Available before the end of the first half of the year.
Voice Fonts: Slated to be sold in packs of five, the voice fonts “extend the fantasy element of virtual worlds,” says Linden Lab. Miller says to expect dozens of fonts to be available at launch, with hundreds available shortly after. Pricing has yet to be determined. Available sometime during the second half of the year.
SMS Out: This will enable residents to send SMS messages from SLim to any phone outside of the virtual world. Available sometime during the second half of the year.
Client-side Recording: Targeted at enterprise customers and educators, this option will enable residents to record voice conversations for playback at a later time. Available sometime during the second half of the year.
RP will never be the same once voice morphing spreads. I kind of shudder to think. But avatar phone numbers and a record feature are incredible additions, and put Second Life up with Skype as one of the largest on-line voice networks in the world today.
The beauty of roleplay is in the quality of the WRITING. I hate voice generally in SL. Voice in RP is an abomination. Cartoon voices?
[…] packs” (whatever the hell that is), and the ability to record voice conversations. Go read Dusan’s post for that. I’m tired from all this typing. Perhaps I should have just recorded an mp3. […]
I wrote zillions of chars, but deleted them. The most important would be a custom SL client for RPG-s. Not just the oh-so-dramatic ones, but the RPGs like ye old D&D was and/or is.
The oh-so-dramatic-ones are much less popular because those require people who like to act.
The game types like WoW base on the very nature of man: greed and curiosity.
For a story-driven rpg you need preparations, lotsa npcs and in a computer world…noone has the time for this. Thats why MUSHes werent half as popular as MUDs.
I think the mixture between two are the best, but SL is not the platform for that. And they are losing their audience just now. Without established communities (adult, rp) SL will be nothing more than a startup.
They have to take steps: release an alternate viewer for rpgs (estate-driven rules like no minimap, force windlight settings on clients, check client authenticity) maybe with a builtin turnbased combat system.
They also have to rethink about their server-maintenance, they shouldn’t operate abandoned sims, that would save a lot of $$ (turning them on per user tp request effectively), also cache needs to be reorganized.
AAAAND regions color-coded based upon build quality measured in Kilobytes!!!! Damn those eye-candy sims that pollutes your cache!! Have you realized how much trash you get when visiting a site like Insilico?
These ‘builders’ know nothing about nothing, gaaaaa…
And Dusan, did you know ARC is called shame in the SL source code? People should be reminded of this.
Also… why dont we get proper basic animations??? You know the ‘lag cost’ of a single AO? It’s terrible.
These are the issues…. and not SMS-ing OUT! Why would I want to SMS OUT OF SL when I’m sitting OUT of SL with a mobile next to my hand, with msn/skype/whatever open on my desktop…
Sometimes it feels like managers ran over Second Life. And the initiative folks.. like the ones at Google Labs are just opressed.
Gaa, sorry I can’t even type properly. I meant outside of SL.
Anyway: I am a big fan of the idea of pre-loading sims while teleporting there. Maybe you could read the rules while tp-ing or be tp-d into an empty sim where other passer-bys are too waiting for their tp.
And you could config your client to pre-cache favorite sims. Of course, supposing there is an even very basic version control system that notifies your client ‘X sim has been updated to v 1.132′ initiating a pull-like update.
Hi there. My experience with the Xbox Live platform is that people try voice morphing once and then never touch it again - even the kids. So there is no need to be afraid of it, Dusan ^_^
I think it’s interesting you switch from SL Voice to Skype sometimes for better sound quality. Ever since I did a radio interview with Tom Boellstorff and found voice quality much better than on Skype, I thought I’d stick with SL voice for future interviews. Maybe I was just lucky that one time. And Skype for sure is getting better with every update.
I can’t imagine using the voice fonts. It’s too far-fetched.
I don’t like voice, it’s an immersion killer, and an augmentation hobbler, too many dials to work.
Great news to hear they will have taping of voice inworld, but what would really be great is if that were billed on demand, and that you didn’t have to sign up for a service you wouldn’t use just to have a meeting once a week.
Cripes, SL voice is an inferior product. This sounds like more of the same.
When voice came into SL and I could suddenly realte it to the idea I cognitively had of my friends, I was fascinated. Because actually, their voices sounded exactly as i thought it would. At start, it was like a gadget for most of us and many went back to typing as if nothing happened. I think a lot of people like this “hidden-shown possibility”. But the new “generation” who came after voice was possible into SL, are much less inhibited. I am not sure this is the correct word, but I am sure the feeling some expressed about voice features, has to do with “showing” a real part of you into virtuality. Like if the intrusion of voice into virtuality was putting them uncomfortable, like kind of breaking the dream. I have noticed a lot of people voice when they are shopping with friends in my shops. A lot of them ask me if I can voice when they have specific questions about work, or a technical point. And some people are just unatease with typing all they want to express. And what about the conferences we attend into SL, that would be impossible withouth voice. I think it is just fantastic to have the choice. And those functionnalities which are coming, like to be able to receive a phone call inworld, make it even better. It is just part of the flow… And for my part, I trust each of us can make this flow something that fits its own conception of second life.