Re:Microsoft acquires AltspaceVR
by BatFastard on Tuesday October 03, 2017 @11:19PM
(#15398062)
As one of the people who founded one of those projects in the ought's I can say a couple of things. There were only two in the early 2000s, SecondLife which raised 11 million in 2000, and my company Prototerra which raised 500k. SL came out to much fan-fair (amazing what a little PR will do for you). While we struggled to get any press. Eventually we did well being the tech behind a number of money making sites. Around 2005 there were quite a few new ones that raised a lot of money, none still exist. Neither does Prototerra, crash of 2008 killed business and the 3 guys working in the backroom had families by then, but it was fun!
Re:Microsoft acquires AltspaceVR
by idibidiart on Tuesday October 03, 2017 @11:51PM
(#15398145)
OnLive Traveler came much earlier
My friend worked on it back in the 90s told me about it. It was licensed to MTV. Huge cult following.
I found this: https://archive.org/details/vw_traveler-bill_gates
Re:Microsoft acquires AltspaceVR
by BatFastard on Friday October 06, 2017 @09:46PM
(#15421790)
Indeed there was a number of previous generation virtual worlds using VRML. Lets say they left a lot to be desired.
Nowadays a lot of big VR and AR efforts are funded by millions of dollars, the founders who should have the passion aren't doing the actual development, and many if not all staff are probably anxious to leave and catch an uber for $12 cocktails at the local hotspot.
That's not a bad thing. God forbid it's healthier. But it is a different environment and we can't expect the same creative output.