Nuna Gallery premieres illuminated novel Sunday
Birdland, an illuminated novel by Luciwa Peregrine, premieres tomorrow, Sunday, Aug. 29, at the Nuna Gallery on 3rd Rock Grid. The hypergrid address is grid.3rdrockgrid.com:8002:The Nuna Gallery. The opening is at 11 a.m. Pacific time, and then the book will be a temporary exhibit at the gallery for people toRead More →
OpenSim land, active users down at close of summer
OpenSim lost both land area and active users this month. Part of it is seasonal, with schools out of session, and people going outside to enjoy the nice weather. Part of the loss is because The Tag Grid, which reported nearly 1,700 active users last month, did not share thoseRead More →
HTC Vive Focus 3: Great VR headset. Don’t buy it.
The folks over at HTC were nice enough to send me the new HTC Vive Focus 3 headset for review. First of all, thank you. It’s a great headset. Second of all, sorry for this review, but I don’t think that anyone should buy this headset. On paper, this headsetRead More →
In latest blow to mobile VR, Google ends Poly and Expeditions
Earlier this summer, Google shut down two more virtual reality apps, the 3D objects library called Poly, and the education-focused Google Expeditions.Read More →
Training to Inhabit Mars
Explore a simulated Martian habitat in a virtual environment.Read More →
OpenSim land growth continues 11-month streak
OpenSim’s public grids reported an increase in land area this month, continuing an 11-month growth streak. Total area increased by the equivalent of 2,252 standard regions, for a new record high of 103,625 regions. That’s nearly four times the area of Second Life, according to the latest stats from GridSurvey,Read More →
How to write a guest post for us
How to pitch a guest post us and not get immediately sent to the spam folder.Read More →
OSgrid birthday celebration starts July 19
OSgrid, the largest grid in land area and active user numbers, will celebrate its 14th birthday starting on Monday, July 19. The celebration will run through July 25. And to celebrate its birthday, the grid will give away free parcels in the OSGB14 regions where creators can showcase their bestRead More →
Interested in getting voice, new viewers for OpenSim? Take this survey
The Infinite Metaverse Alliance called on OpenSim users to take a survey today. “Given the number of new features for users that have evolved in the past two years, we are interested in knowing more about what users want and need,” said CEO Lisa Laxton. The results will help theRead More →
Expert: AI in 2030 will be key to user interfaces, genomics, and space exploration
Today, artificial intelligence hardly has a unified definition or application. AI is listed as a capability across many technology products, but this is mostly a marketing tactic to capitalize on a feature perceived as a must-have. However, the biggest contributions of AI to our society have yet to be realized.Read More →
All OpenSim stats up, despite OSgrid cleanup
OpenSim stats went up across the board this month, with the number of regions hitting yet another record high, despite a cleanup on OSgrid that took down more than 1,000 region map reservations. Overall, land area went up by the equivalent of 86 standard regions, for a new high ofRead More →
DreamGrid now has easier interface, allows more regions on low spec machines
DreamGrid 4.01 now has an easier interface that makes it quicker to set up a mini-grid compared to earlier versions I tried, and it now allows grid owners to automatically shut down regions that have no visitors and restart them back up again when people teleport in, and lets peopleRead More →
Free Vivox still available — for now — needs new plugin
According to Unity PR head Ryan Wallace, OpenSim grids can still sign up to get free Vivox voice services — but there might be some technical hurdles to jump through. But OpenSim grid owners say that those technical hurdles pose some significant challenges, and they’re not getting any support fromRead More →
Vivox discontinues free OpenSim service
Update: Free service still available, but needs integration work. See full story here. Vivox, the voice service acquired by Unity two years ago, is discontinuing its free OpenSim service. “As of May 25, 2021, the Free Virtual World Voice service has been deprecated and we will no longer be acceptingRead More →
Discovery, AviWorlds take Podex to the hypergrid
Two grid owners have successfully enabled Podex for hypergrid visitors to their grids. Discovery Grid owner Rene Vega, also known as Balpien Hammerer in-world, and AviWorlds owner Josh Boam have allowed hypergrid visitors to buy and use Podex-based local currencies while visiting their grids. “Thanks to Josh Boam as wellRead More →
OpenSim prices drop to record lows, median now $10
A few OpenSim grid owners have contacted me about price updates, and there have been some dramatic drops out there fueled by improved management tools on the part of the grid owners and lower hosting prices by infrastructure providers. That inspired me to review all the grid prices on theRead More →
Amaryllis Grid
$10 per month for 20,000-prim region on Amaryllis Grid. No hypergrid access.Read More →
Alternate Metaverse
US $10 per month for a 40,000-prim standard-sized region on the hypergrid-enabled Alternate Metaverse grid, first 15 days free.Read More →
Soul Grid
US $6 (5 Euros) per month for 15,000-prim region on the hypergrid-enabled, German-language Soul Grid.Read More →
OpenSim regions pass 100,000 milestone
OpenSim’s total land area has crossed the equivalent of 100,000 regions for the first time in history. With the equivalent of 3,504 standard-sized regions added since this time last month, OpenSim’s public grids now report the equivalent of 101,400Â regions in land area. We say “equivalent” because many OpenSim grids nowRead More →
Gloebit payments are back, but trust is damaged
Update 5/19: AnSky is switching away from Gloebit, possibly to a local currency on the jOpenSimMoney module. The Gloebit payment services is back up this week, kind of, after more than a month of downtime, but many grids and users are still reporting issues with the payment system. “We restoredRead More →
Kitely helps Firestorm speed up texture loading
Textures that previously took 15 to 30 seconds to appear now take less than two, due to the March update to the Firestorm viewer. That means that OpenSim builders, creators, and shoppers who use the Firestorm Viewer can pull textures from their inventories, drop them on an object, and immediatelyRead More →
DigiWorldz giving away 25 free regions
DigiWorldz, a leading commercial OpenSim grid, is giving away a years’ free rent for 25 regions, each one a two-by-two varregion with 25,000 prims, The drawing is free to enter and its open to both local residents and hypergrid visitors — applicants just need to fill out a form beforeRead More →
How VR helped one student learn German
When I arrived in Austria I had to complete a German language course before I could attend university, but I had trouble focusing in the online learning platform. Immersive virtual reality solved the problem.Read More →
Fire and Ice has a new region server and website
The Fire and Ice grid now has a new better performing server, allowing region owners to offer role play games, racing games, performing arts, and other computationally demanding activities to their visitors. These changes will boost performance of regions by reducing workload, said grid owner Sara Payne, who is alsoRead More →
New record high in OpenSim land area; second month drop in actives
OpenSim land area increased by 2,326 regions this past month to a new record high and the fifth month in a row where reported land area grew. However, active users fell for the second month running, with a net loss of 452 active users in the last 30 days. ZetaWorldsRead More →
Gloebit payments still down in yet another protracted outage
The Gloebit outage has entered its second week and there is still no word about when it will be back up Gloebit is the most popular payment platform for OpenSim grids, in use on about 50 virtual worlds. The service was launched five years ago by Christopher Colosi, who usedRead More →
ArtGate lets artist connect with community in virtual reality
Editor’s Note: The ArtGate International 2021 kicks off with an opening ceremony tomorrow night, followed by three days of virtual art events. The art exhibition is open to the public and there is no cost to attend the event. A virtual reality headset will make the experience more immersive, butRead More →
More unicorns likely in community-based VR applications
Last month, Rec Room — a virtual reality app that lets users build virtual environments and games which they can play virtually with others across mobile and PC platforms — became the latest virtual reality startup to achieve a unicorn status, Â which means it reached a $1 billion valuation. ExpertsRead More →
Monentes Jewelry is back, making virtual jewelry physical
Do you ever wish to bring some of your virtual life into your real one? Your pet flying dragon may have to wait but the jewelry you wore to your last ball might be available to order. Monentes Jewelry, best known for its jewelry store on the Continuum Grid —Read More →
Littlefield celebrates eight years as its own grid
Littlefield will celebrate its eight year anniversary since it started as a standalone grid on Saturday, April 10 with music and an exhibition of in-world creations. The event starts at 3 p.m. Pacific time on the Anniversary region with a live performance by Terry Wildman, followed by a dance partyRead More →
Hypergrid Hoppers visits Vulcanicus Tuesday
The Hypergrid Hoppers, a club for the explorers of the OpenSim hypergrid, is going to Vulcanicus Tuesday to meet the Gods of Second Life. The trip will start at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time on the HG Hoppers region on Craft World on Tuesday, March 23. The hypergrid address is craft-world.org:8002:HG Hoppers.Read More →
Craft World hosts virtual art exhibit Friday
Interested in seeing the evolution of metaverse art? The Craft World grid will be hosting an exhibition on Friday, March 19 on the Uqbar region, of photographs and 3D builds from Second Life created between 2006 and 2012. Voxel 1 is only the first event in the Retrospective Exhibition series, saidRead More →
OpenSim area hits another record, active users down slightly
OpenSim land area grew by the equivalent of over 5,000 standard regions over the past month and grids registered more than 4,000 new users. However, active monthly users fell slightly, down 2 percent from last month’s record high. There are now 95,537 regions on the public OpenSim grids, a recordRead More →
Microsoft shows off new ‘holoportation’ tech
Microsoft showed off its new “holoportation” technology at its Microsoft Ignite 2021 Keynote earlier this month. The technology combines avatars and augmented and virtual reality to allow people to virtually “teleport” themselves to meetings. For better immersion in digital worlds, holoportation allows a user to use a full digital 3D versionRead More →
New app lets you take a selfie on Mars
Signal Theory has built an immersive and interactive app that lets you take a selfie of yourself on Mars and share it on Instagram. Plus, the app lets you explore the red planet through the eyes of the Perseverance Rover. The app is built using the National Geographic Mars 360Read More →
Future stories will blur line between physical and virtual
Story telling is increasingly blurring the line between the physical and virtual worlds, according to presenters at the just-concluded this year’s  Technology + Storytelling: Engaging The Immersive Future event organized by NYC Media Lab. We’re already seeing this happen on the production sites in series like Disney’s The Mandalorian, as youRead More →
Fire at Podex data center temporarily halts payments
Podex, the second-largest OpenSim payments provider, has suffered a fire at its data center and services are temporarily down, but no user money has been lost. “The Podex system is on OVH servers based in Strasbourg and fire destroyed some of their data center,” Podex CEO Jacek Shuftan told HypergridRead More →
First tiny community comes to Kitely
The Kitely grid, the largest commercial OpenSim grid by land area, now has a tiny community. “It is called Weefolk Township and it’s located on the ‘always-on’ 64-region megaworld of Wellspring,” builder Snoots Dwagon told Hypergrid Business. Always-on regions are a new feature that Kitely added in January. Previously, regionsRead More →
Smart AR glasses will change how we shop, work, play, and live
Smartphones have radically transformed how we communicate with each other, learn, shop, get the news, get driving directions — they touch nearly every facet of our lives. The transformative effects of smart glasses, also known as augmented reality glasses, can be equally dramatic. Instead of looking down at a screen,Read More →
Enchanted Grid
US$15 for a 35,000-prim region on the Enchanted Grid. Local $EG currency. No hypergrid. No varregions. No Gloebit currency support. No Kitely Market deliveries.Read More →
MetaStellar accepting flash fiction submissions
Our sister site, the speculative fiction magazine MetaStellar, is accepting original flash fiction stories this month. If you have an original, never-before-published sci-fi, fantasy, or horror story of 1,000 words or less, you can submit it here. Authors whose stories are accepted will be paid 8 cents a word forRead More →
Great Canadian Grid returns with low prices and new servers
The Great Canadian Gid has reopened under new management and is now back up online after shutting down for nearly one year. The Canadian Grid, whose website is also online now, has new reduced land offers at $5 Canadian dollars — or about US $3.80 — for a standard-sized regionRead More →
Skypads now available for free renting on Tangle grid
Tangle grid offers free skypads on the Skylife Properties region for people who want to set up private homes, private clubs, and other services. A skypad is a small island floating in the sky above a region, allowing users a plot of land with more privacy than traditional home plotsRead More →
OpenSim hits record high in land area, active users
OpenSim’s total land area hit a record high this month, with the equivalent of 90,310 regions. And this is actually an undercount — many grids don’t report their stats, many schools and company grids run in completely private mode, and some grids count large variable-sized regions as single regions. ThisRead More →
Gay Nation offers free shops on AviWorlds grid
Gay Nation, which is an area on the AviWorlds grid dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community, is offering free spaces for shops, businesses, venues, recreational activities, and hypergrid travel agencies. Anyone can request space, including residents of other grids, as long as their offerings are of service to the LGBTQ+Read More →
Tranquility Grid merges with Little Breath
Tranquility grid has now been sold to the owners of Little Breath grid and is now part of the Little Breath grid. The old Tranquility grid was previously scheduled to shut down on February 28, but was closed earlier. Region owners who move their regions to the Little Breath willRead More →
Apple’s rumored XR headset needs to overcome bulkiness and fatigue
Apple’s new rumored mixed reality headset — expected to be released later this year — will reportedly have an 8K display and hand and finger tracking features, an Apple spokesman told Bloomberg recently. The new headset may also have a lightweight fabric exterior, but is expected to be priced higherRead More →
Audi’s 3D virtual office more than helpful during COVID 19 pademic
Many companies have switched to virtual offices and Zoom meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some are going a step further, into immersive 3D office environments, similar to that of Second Life or OpenSim. Auto manufacturer Audi, for example, has rolled out Audi Spaces, a virtual 3D version of Audi’sRead More →
OpenSim offers virus-free Valentine’s Day celebrations
Can’t make it out to a fancy restaurant this Valentine’s Day because of, you know, fear of death? Or maybe you and your loved one are apart this holiday season? Or maybe you just want to treat yourself — OpenSim grids are offering a variety of options this holiday season.Read More →