In case you missed it, Oculus just announced some big developments that will have a huge impact in the Virtual Reality realms in the (very) near future. Why are these developments important? For one, it forces everyone in the industry to step up their game. For another, this could mean even more potential for Project Sansar one day.

They introduced the newest development in the Oculus world: Oculus Touch. Basically this is a step in the right direction as far as “lagless” wireless handsets to accompany the headsets. These will be far more responsive than the norm and also will vibrate based on actions in games you are playing. This will offer a far more immersive experience. So, you can reach down and pick things up, shoot that gun, and feel it when you’ve been hit. This is due out in December, so that’s right around the corner!

The reason this is critical is that, while I’m certain this will be refined over time, this lagless technology will fuel more development from the VR community that we can reasonably foresee VR setups venturing towards full-body responsiveness.

Photo Credit: Oculus

This matters for folks like us in Second Life because that could also mean that Sansar can one day also implement similar technology. Imagine a virtual space where you can literally walk around in it versus just wearing a headset and making yourself move around in it!

Eventually, even the less expensive computers will be able to support VR technology. Oculus is working to enable lower-end computers to keep up to speed. Soon even lower spec computers will allow you to embrace VR in all its glory.

Um, did you SEE those in-ear wireless headphones? Also available starting in December, Oculus is stepping up the game with an alternative to the over-ear headphones it currently uses as a built-in feature. So there will be another option….options means your preference matters.

Photo Credit: Oculus

What other VR developments are you interested in? We’d love to hear from you!

Bria Oceanside

ZoHa Blogger/Social Media

Here’s what you need to know about the ZoHa Islands new and improved Support system!

We at ZoHa Islands want to provide everyone with well-rounded and inclusive support as we have been for years, and we recently implemented a new ticketing system that will allow us to do this in a way that is far more reliable and flexible than utilizing the in-world group.

How this will work is that instead of speaking in the Support group, you would go to http://blog.zoha-islands.com/request-form/ and submit a ticket for your question/issue/inquiry. Our dedicated staff will handle the tickets in the order they come in and provide you the level of professional service you’ve been accustomed to. While this might seem like a big change for some, I’ll explain why this will be a very improved method of delivering your support:

• We know that Second Life has its moments. Having an external ticket system will ensure that your request won’t be missed, as well as the follow up.
• The ticket system will also allow you to submit your request in your native language. This will help reduce any language barrier so we can better assist you.
• We’re not changing the support, we’re improving the way that you GET the support!
• You have the option to provide an email address, which would mean that you would be able to receive your updates via email– no need to log into Second Life to response or receive responses!
• The current Z.I. chat will become the community chat that we’ve been missing so you can connect with other residents

We want to be able to continue to deliver top-notch service in a way that eliminates the unpredictable nature of Second Life so your request or question won’t get lost in the shuffle. Same great staff and management, same great land opportunities, new and improved way of giving you an effective customer experience.

Again, make sure to head to http://blog.zoha-islands.com/request-form/ for all support-related needs and bookmark the site so you’ll have it handy if and when the time comes!

Bria Oceanside

ZoHa Blogger/Social Media

So, Project Bento got our minds in a tizzy, because it would enable us to be able to customize our avatars and expand animation and rigging possibilities beyond what we could have imagined. But what we WEREN’T ready for was the race to make mesh heads (almost a SL staple at this stage) Bento-friendly.

What does that mean? Previously you could choose from an assortment of static mesh heads, and now creators can create heads that can respond to the plethora of sliders that allow you to modify your mesh head the way you want to. This also means that the new ability to expand on animations might up the ante on how mesh creators rig their work.

I’m still in love with the ability to move fingers independently. I mean, really.

But I digress. We’re here to talk about heads.

The flurry of videos showing mesh heads in the works is just the tip of the iceberg….and it’s a very good iceberg indeed. People often complain that mesh heads don’t allow customization that avoids us all looking like clones. Bento is here to save the day.

This AKERUKA video has been storming Facebook as of late, so if you missed it, here it is. So you’re understanding what it’s about, it’s basically illustrating how their head is responsive to sliders, which allows for each person to customize their look even more.

And, not to be outdone, CATWA has also gotten on board with enabling Bento to work with their WIP head:

Are you excited? I know I am. This is a very awesome next chapter in Second Life development. We’ve come a long way, baby. And Bento is going to be a big game-changer.

Bria Oceanside

Zoha Blogger/Social Media

I had the pleasure of exploring Venta Silurum recently while looking for photographic-friendly gems, and I had to share how beautifully established this place is. With plenty of natural beauty to explore, it offers a great haven for those looking for dynamic shots and an enjoyable environment.

There were gorgeous coastal areas and ample grassy nooks and crannies to venture through, and I probably could have spent a few more hours trying to take it all in. It’s a wonderful spot for unique photography as well as a great place for all ages to wander in and enjoy. I’ve been here a couple of times, and each time I found considerably more than I would have expected.

Make sure you take a moment to stop by, but be prepared to stay a while. There was a lot of work put into the space, and the attention for detail is impeccable. You can find the sim HERE.

Hope you have a great week ahead, and let us know what you think of Venta Silurum!

Bria Oceanside

ZoHa Blogger/Social Media

I am forever baffled at the number of stores that are flooding the marketplace with ease just to rip off our talented and legitimate full permissions creators. Just this morning, I was able to find a handful more people that are ripping off legitimate creators.

Now, before I get too deep into this, I do need to clarify a few things for the consumers out there, so you can understand why this is an issue. A hefty amount of fashion items you buy stem from a template of some sort, whether it be mesh, appliers,  shoes etc. A small group of people are the brains behind creating those very templates that allow creators (that do not yet have the knowledge to make it from scratch themselves) to work with different full permissions components to make different products. An elite group of these skilled people have become masterful enough that they’re in high demand.

So, this is where they become prey. It’s somehow easy to turn around and use someone’s full permissions items, steal their ad images and post it as if you are the one who created it. Enter an ill-informed consumer and that’s how people manage to steal from the original creators by posing as them, just like this person here:

liriochamex is one of many people ripping off content creators like Underground, – CREATIVE STUDIO – , CBB, Toxic Templates and more.

The truly unfortunate thing about this process is that it’s pretty much left in the hands of the creators to have to fight, even when it’s crystal clear that someone ripped them off. It didn’t take me ages to identify fraudulent stores; just a simple search and recognizing that certain brands didn’t belong to certain people. However, it doesn’t seem to be so simple to file a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) when things like this happen. I feel for these creators that put their blood, sweat and tears into their work just to have to fight for the right to not have it stolen digitally.

The really disturbing side of this is that for a store to be created, you have to have payment information on file, and the account must be 5 days old. The latter seems a bit ridiculous. But the idea that someone bothered to verify payment information just to scam legitimate creators….. that boggles the mind.

Some creators are taking matters into their own hands and encouraging ways to keep consumers educated on who to buy from if you’re looking to buy full permissions items. One person in particular has come up with a simple, but effective, idea that will hopefully bring more attention to the issue.

Isadore Delaunay, of Izzy <3 Mesh created Izzy’s Legit List of Full Perm Creators to help combat this issue and bring awareness. Per her site:

“I decided to compile this list as a resource to help consumers who want to purchase from legit full perm creators. Because the Marketplace has so much fraud going on right now, consumers are afraid to shop for fear of receiving an empty box, or a faulty product with no customer service. Creators are afraid to sell because of the risk of theft. It’s a bad situation. So please, consult this list before you make your full perm purchases. I can’t guarantee you a positive experience, but I will offer you a second set of eyes. Every store on here will be inspected first before being added to the list. As a creator of nearly eleven years, I know more of what to look for than would a new person. Stores on this list are here because I would feel comfortable to purchase from these stores myself. I cannot make guarantees, including whether people have downloaded items from the internet rather than creating them from scratch, which is an entirely different kind of thievery. But if a store is found to be doing that, they will be removed from this list. Nor does it take into consideration quality of goods or customer service.”

I also caught up with Isadore to get some more thoughts from her on why she felt this needed to happen:

“My main thing is that I’d like to see people sharing legit stores more. Which is another good thing about the list. These copybot stores get more shares and more attention than a lot of the real creators do. So I’d encourage people to share a link to their favorite store instead. Or make sure their favorite store is on Izzy’s legit list and share that. It helps more than people realize, I think.”

And she has an excellent point. We are very much in the age of social media, and do have the power to support the legitimate creators (full permissions or not) by sharing links and other posts related to them. Help them gain more positive exposure, rather then let them get buried alone by the scammers. Make sure to let people know that there is a list if they’re ever not sure. If something doesn’t look right, question it.

While this effort is in the early stages, it will hopefully grow as more creators catch on. However, some creators have had to take more drastic measures to protect their work, including – CREATIVE STUDIO – owner xXMomijiXx, who is frequently found being ripped off by these scam artists. She’s now had to resort to creating an application process and a group for verified designers that will be the only people that will have access to her future releases. Even her decision to add watermarks to her listings didn’t seem to deter the theft from happening.

So what is the happy medium here? Other than the steady implosion of the full permissions market on Marketplace, I’m not sure how this can head in a positive direction. But this has been brought up in forums by jilted consumers and creators alike, and the general consensus was that you either had to find a roundabout way to flag these items OR just accept it. Where can we repair the gaping loopholes that leave creators unprotected? When will enough be enough?

Have you been scammed as a creator or a consumer by someone posing at a store owner with stolen content? How do you feel that we can combat this issue as a community? I want to hear from you!

Bria Oceanside

ZoHa Blogger/Social Media

Now, I don’t write this as someone who has never done it, so I’m making it clear that I’m not coming with an air of never having engaged in an infraction. But as I have been working towards my own health and fitness goals outside of Second Life, I’ve become more aware of how we sometimes treats virtual selves in-world.

The beauty of Second Life is your ability to be able to be whatever and whomever you decide to be. Some of us stay 100% in-character, and at the other end of the spectrum, some of us want to 100% emulate our real selves. However, the majority of us do fall somewhere in the middle.

I’m incredibly guilty of being a shamer, and I don’t say this without a sense of regret, even though it wasn’t my style to say it to someone directly in the form of an insult- but I’d joke about it with my close friends. It always seems harmless, but then you eventually have to take a look at how that does turn into a bit of a Domino effect. Your friends easily chime in and think it’s okay, and then it enables them to also engage in that type of behavior, and eventually someone has the nerve to say something directly to some poor soul that didn’t deserve it and it crosses into bullying territory.

And we forget ourselves even more when we mock people that are simply exercising a very basic Second Life freedom: to be whatever and whomever we want. Sure, someone might want to have a totally disproportionate body that would be unrealistic in the real world, but that’s okay. Sure, someone may choose a character that we just don’t understand- but that’s also okay. That is what we get to do, just like some that may seem extreme to us may find our “logical” avatars incredibly boring.

What and who we choose to be isn’t supposed to be to please the masses, and that’s something that very much applies in the real world as well. It’s not supposed to be a popularity contest. If someone finds joy in something we don’t understand, then we really ought to just be happy that they’re happy and move the heck on. If you decide to be fully mesh and someone else doesn’t, let them. I almost feel like it would easily be a virtual social experiment to spend a day wearing nothing made after 2006 and seeing how differently you’re treated.

The reason I say my real world experiences as of late made me aware in Second Life is pretty simple: I’m an obese person who spends an hour and a half a day walking upwards of 4 miles (not record speed, mind you) around my neighborhood. Very often, people invite themselves to make passing comments about my body or what I’m wearing or even how my hair is done, or laugh among their friends as I pass by.

And that’s exactly how easily this happens in Second Life.

Let people be who and what they want to be. Be supportive; don’t be part of the plague. I’ve made this mistake many times over, and now that I’ve been on the receiving end, I’m doing my part to be more aware and respectful.

Bria Oceanside

ZoHa Blogger/Social Media