Choice 3 - Vivaty? What about SL?

Recently I updated my AOL Instant Messenger and realized that it now offers plugins for it. I found one that seemed exactly like SecondLife, therefore I downloaded it and realized it pretty much is SecondLife. The plugin is called Vivaty and I created an Avatar that looks like my roommate, and put him to work in this odd virtual dance “scene”. You can access it through AIM and even Facebook. Vivaty is a “way to meet up and share your web stuff in personal or social virtual scenes in the browser”. Vivaty allows you to hang out in different “social scenes” by using their “launchpad” and jump to a scene, dress up your avatar, chat or leave notes for friends, show off your Flickr and Facebook photos, play with your pet dog, invite friends to watch your collection of Youtube videos. I actually find it aggravating how similar it is to SL, and possibly how it might even be better than SL. In Vivaty you can “make new friends, try on the latest fashions, show off your moves on the dance floor and get cool gifts from pals!". Vivaty wants you to explore the different scenes and meet new people. Exploration of new hangouts and clubs, decorating your virtual home with Facebook photos is what Vivaty wants you to do. There are virtual games, movies and post opportunities. Vivaty created Vivaty Points. You get these points for “adding friends, sending gifts and …petting your neighbor’s dog”. These points can be spent at stores where they offer “new clothes, furniture and special abilities”.

To me, Vivaty, took a step down and appeals to young teenagers with statements including “Send gifts to your friends, like cute little dogs, surfboards, or even a jukebox that plays your favorite music!”. In a recent article for VentureBeat.com, Eric Eldon of the Digital Media section writes that Vivaty “wants to be the first to offer sophisticated features – including 3D life such as you’d find in SecondLife, but also chat, and the ability to post video and link with rooms elsewhere on the web – all within a browser”. Eldon mentions it offers “the Immersive Web” and lets you chat in a 3D-style room”. In this room you can choose “the virtual furnishings for the room” and you can chat with people coming to your room. “You can throw up an image or a video…using a URL”.

Resources
VentureBeat - http://venturebeat.com/2008/03/30/vivaty/
Vivaty - http://www.vivaty.com/
Vivaty Blog - http://blog.vivaty.com/