The Virtual World as Web Browser

TechReview has a post on how Linden Lab is working on making it easier to import data from the Web into Second Life:

Virtual worlds can seem walled off from the rest of the Internet. Many, including Linden Lab's popular virtual world Second Life, can't be accessed through ordinary Web browsers: they require separately downloaded software. A Web link embedded in Second Life will open an outside browser window, pulling a user out of the immersive experience that is one of the virtual world's main draws. But Linden Lab is now adjusting its technology to make it easier to bring data into its virtual world from the larger Web and from users' desktops.

"What we're trying to do is create a capability to create a rich way to experience a variety of media types that typically have to be seen or read or processed on the Web in 2-D," says Joe Miller, vice president of platform and technology development for Second Life. With Linden Lab's new system, for example, Second Life users could create business cards linked to external Web pages, so that they're updated when the pages are, or virtual MP3 players connected to Web radio services. The company is also working to make it easy for users to share 2-D data such as Microsoft Word files or PowerPoint presentations with other users inside the virtual world. Miller says that Linden Lab plans to deliver these new technologies by the end of this year, as part of its Web Media Initiative.

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