Second Life's Doom?

Ammon Pera sent me on a bit of an assignment, recently, to look into some new techonologies and Virtual Reality ventures looming on our collective horizon, and post an article. At first, I thought, oh, man, another venture onto one of those “wannabe” SL competitors, usually first-person shoot-em-ups, that seem to sprout like weeds, and die off with every season. A recent one I looked into, unassigned, was Entropia Universe, which to me, was a possible “keeper”, but would require too much time away from Second Life for the “learning curve” to get going in it. The interface seemed a bit “clunky” and non-intuitive, but in all fairness, I didn’t stay in-world very long. I may yet play this one awhile, just to see if I can get some help from the guides within, and meet a few of the residents.


Next, the product I looked at left me not only interested, but greatly concerned that the engine we all know and love and lag around in, from the infamous Linden Labs, can now count it’s days as numbered.

Enter the stunner: Korea's "Nurien."

I checked out the trailer and downloaded the tech demo of Korea’s new “Nurien” world… and my knees buckled. As one who really loves the fashion, “avatology” and humanistic aspects of Second Life, Nurien promises to blow the socks off of Linden’s little kingdom, and the PHysX and Unreal Engine 3 technology employed, along with avatars with something on the order of 135 incorporated “bones” allowing the most realistic and stunning motion and animation capabilities, all I could do was stare, in awe, at the demo.

Nurien has also drawn the attention of many well known clothing designers such as Prada and Gucci. The difference in fashion between Nurien and Second Life makes the interest self-explanitory. We all know the aggravation of the “flexi-prim”, that ubiquitous “fabric” of Second Life, that falls thru our virtual “bodies” unlike any real fabric we’ve ever seen. In Nurien, fabric is flexible, bouncy, moves with the breeze, drapes over the avatar in a completely real fashion, and I’d predict that those with a fascination for virtual fashion design will absolutely flock to this new platform. It’s nothing short of stunning! No wonder great RL designers are taking notice of this great platform.

And as for the avatars, themselves; we’re talking “photoreal” here, so far ahead of even the best SL avatar “skins” or designs, as to be almost frightening. They breathe smoothly and evenly, their eyes tear up and sparkle, mouths and tongues (and hopefully other “bits”) look perceptibly “wet”, and the movement and “walk” mechanisms are completely fluid and natural-appearing.

If the technologies employed in Nurien can be presented on a stable, reliable, and relatively lag-free platform, this VR “game” is going to blow away anything else in the marketplace, and undoubtedly steal away a significant number of SL residents. Several big name companies have already left the Lindens' creation for Nurien. I cannot help but wonder if the Lindens are awake, aware, and not “asleep at the switch”, and will port their servers to this technology, (if it’s even available to competitors). Judging from past experience with just the Havoc4 upgrades, they ain’t got a chance. Nurien is my next online home, I have a feeling, and for an “avatologist like me, the dresses, negligees, and flouncy fabrics will hang from every portion of my swishy anatomy, right there next to my grin. Yeah, don’t look any lower, for now.