Wednesday 8 August 2007

The Web As A Virtual World

Imagine being able to have a digital replica of yourself stroll from one site to another.

When Google Earth launched in 2005, users were exhilarated to type in their home address, see the earth as if they were floating in space, and then swoop down to view a satellite image of their house or apartment. These days users have moved on to upgrading Google Earth with their own photographs and three-dimensional digital replicas of buildings. But one day they'll be able to alight on a Google Earth street and meet someone else there--and even have a conversation.

That sort of encounter is still a few years off, but it's no pipe dream. Google, Second Life creator Linden Lab, IBM, and a bevy of additional companies are moving toward the day when you can stroll around a 3D Web--and not just their own sites--using a virtual replica of yourself that you've created. They are working to establish technical standards, open to all programmers, that would allow the entire Internet to become a galaxy of connected virtual worlds.

In this future scenario, you could go mall shopping with a gang of friends during a lunch break, even while you remain miles apart. In reality, you'd all be pinned to your work terminals, but on that screen you would be transported to a digital replica of the shopping center. As you walk by a sale at a virtual jeans store, Web cameras in the real store let you see how crowded it actually is, in case a popular item is selling out. Your avatar, set to your body's measurements, tries on the jeans and spins around to show them to your pals. You might buy the pants online or visit the physical store later. Either way, you'd have had a fun afternoon without leaving your cubicle.

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28 comments:

Syra said...

A revolutionary idea indeed. It would give a boost to ebazaar's and online shopping markets. However already the world is becoming more and more digital and virtual and the human touch to life is diminishing. Nonetheless the thought of shopping with friends who are practically miles apart is refreshing, be it in a virtual world.
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officialwarranty said...

motay thhuuus ho jayein ge seat pe bethe bethe!

Syra said...

:D imagine u,me and tazeen virtually shopping

isaleem said...

that will be the most boring concept of shopping.
When i go to sadar or commercial market in last ten days of ramzan and on chand raat that the most beautiful feeling of shopping and enjoying.

isaleem said...

ok suppose.
you are doing online shopping in virtual markets together with your friends. then how will you take the ice cream with your friends

Syra said...

imran,welcome back to the blog :)
-ofcourse the real fun of hanging out with friends can't be compared...but the whole idea is to facilitate something that isn't possible at the moment..for instance; friends mile apart participating in shopping with a 3D visual.
-from what i c,it'll take ages for it to implement but the era of multi agent systems is on a rise...could be an interesting thesis topic..hmm

isaleem said...

Correct
But some thing will always be good as they are.
Don't you agree.

isaleem said...

Giving my own example me and my friends go to rendezvous or some time s to Holiday inn for sheesha in winter. I don't see any replacement for this kind of get together in the technological future.

isaleem said...

i guess this has been implemented you could virtually see some one dressed in the dress you would like to buy and actually it wont be worn by some body and you can select it in office and you could go and search for thing. I have seen a documentary on this thing on........ I guess nat Geo

Syra said...

-nothing can match the real experience
-the point of it is not to match it, but to facilitate and make it more amusing.
-quit having sheesha

isaleem said...

:)
i do it occasionally.
It tastes great.
Have you ever tired it. I take big apple and grapes the are mmmmmmmmmm...mmmmmmmmmmmm yes.

isaleem said...

Baba ne kaha cig chor do.

gher walo ne kaha games chor do.

ab tum ne kaha sheesha chor do.

Aik din ye ga WO kahay ga dunya hi chor do.

:) :D

Syra said...

nope..and would never
i am totally against it
it's unhygenic and unhealthy
i strongly advise you to quit

isaleem said...

the sheesha or the cig

Syra said...

o dear lord!!! :D:D:D
i am not Paro :)
and you are not devdas
saira nay kaha sheesha chor do
imran nay kaha chor dia
:)

Syra said...

both

isaleem said...

saira ne kaha chor do
imran ne kaha "kia kaha awaz kat rahee hai hello... hello.... awaz nae aa rahi ....tooooooooooooooonnnnn!"

isaleem said...

:) :D

Syra said...

sub yehee kehtain hain

isaleem said...

yehee k "awaz nae aa rahe"?

Syra said...

jee beta

isaleem said...

BETA??
???????????????????????????
!#@$!@#$$@%#$^%^&**&$^$%$#%#@!
$@$#%^^&^%$%%

Oh my God my head is spinning....

#@#$%@#$%@#$$%%$#

Syra said...

:D:D:D
now i m trying to figure out your age..but in any case i'll see u as a kid :p:p so beta, bear me calling u beta.

Din said...

I agree with Xunaira..
motay thhuuus ho jayein ge seat pe bethe bethe!

Din said...

Also..I think ther eis no way the virtual can be a good subtiture for a "real" expirience...

isaleem said...

you don't have to figure out. You can simply ask. :)

khany said...

the critics seem to imagine the virtual as a substitute for the real. in fact this need not be the case. the virtual world makes possible what reality limits. it allows you to go shopping together with a friend in china, another in germany, while you are living out of a tin shack in timbuktu. this is not substituting 'real' shopping experience (because it would make for a poor substitute) but it is complementing your real experiences. one would only become 'motay thuss' if one fails to make this distinction. but this pitfall is inherent in all technology e.g. automobiles (substitute for walking?!), synthetic foods (substitute for real food?!), calculator (substitute for thinking?!), etc. etc. etc.

Ethereal said...

Quit sheesha/cigar(ette)s. I second this.