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Virtual worlds are everywhere now, it seems. Their purposes range from socializing and networking to education and conferences. And some just…are. Yoowalk seems to be one of these latter.
Well, ok. I guess it has a purpose. I just don’t see that it really is necessary. It seems to be more of a proof-of-concept than anything else. Here’s Mashable’s take on Yoowalk:
Yoowalk is a new Web-based virtual world that lets you browse the Web via your avatar, in a 3D environment. With 3D representations of the Internet, Yoowalk offers an entirely different browsing experience for the Web, that almost reminds me of the Chappelle Show episode that surmised what the Internet would look like if it were a physical manifestation we could walk through–like a mall. Yoowalk has a similar idea: it’s laid the Web out on streets and avenues, starting from more broad categories and narrowing down from there.
Here’s a screenshot of me “walking” through the CNN website:
As you can see, Yoowalk makes “rooms” out of each web site. You walk down “streets” to reach them. However, because the (limited selection of) web sites have been modified for this virtual world format, a great deal of content is lost. If you click on a story link, it opens up a mini proprietary browser inside of Yoowalk. Personally, I found this browser-within-a-browser setup to be clunky and annoying. Why not just go to CNN.com and get all of the content without having to slowly “walk” to it?
Mashable sums up the problem nicely:
While it’s great that Yoowalk doesn’t require a download for its service, its vision of recreating the Web is one of its biggest downfalls, as there’s no need to force users to change their browsing experience or take away from a website’s design and user interface in order to make it 3D.
What does this mean to me, Laura?
- Setting up information as a 3D environment this way is interesting in theory, but in practice Yoowalk fell far short of usefulness.
- Aside from a clear purpose, I found the environment slow and clunky. The experience does not make up for the loss of informational content.
- There is a social aspect to Yoowalk; you can connect with other avatars to chat and there is some minor integration with existing MSN, Yahoo or AOL chat clients as well. There is also the ability to create your own custom “rooms,” although the design tool is not easy to use.
- To be fair, Yoowalk is currently in beta. It’s possible that this could evolve into something interesting ahead.
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Do you like to use online forums or comment on blogs? If you do, chances are you’ve seen, or perhaps even have, a small icon or picture that often sits to the left of a commenter’s name. These are called avatars (the Weblin service, which I blogged about a bit ago, uses the same concept, except Weblins are interactive). These give people a visual cue about who you are and/or what kinds of things you are interested in.
The problem, however, has been that you often have to upload or specify your avatar for each web site you want to participate in. This can be a real hassle. Wouldn’t it be easier if you could just specify one avatar in one place, and then web sites could just pull it in as needed when you visit?
Enter gravatars.
Gravatars (Globally Recognized Avatars) do exactly that. You sign up with just an email address (and you can associate multiple email addresses with your gravatar, which is really handy) and upload your image. That’s it.
No, really, that’s it. Honest.
Well, ok. There is a catch. Signing up for a gravatar is just as easy as I said…the problem is, not every site is (yet) gravatar-enabled. But the concept is spreading rapidly, as more and more platforms adopt it. Most major blogging engines now support it with plugins of some kind. And there are ways to do it with different scripting languages (see previous link) for those sites that don’t have plugins. So the burden is on the web site, rather than on the user.
What does this mean to me, Laura?
- If you like to comment on any blogs or web sites, this is a handy service that makes avatars much more convenient.
- If your library has a blog or site that allows comments, this is a nice service to provide for those users who have a gravatar. Even if users don’t have one, you can specify a default image that appears next to their name (note that comments in this blog now sport a default OPLIN logo…so this is another branding opportunity as well).
- Implementing this on your library’s blog/site is not (in my limited experience) as intuitive as one might hope for. But it’s probably not rocket science, either…for an experienced developer. ( If you’re looking for a little help with getting gravatars implemented with Wordpress, however, I can probably give you a clue.)
- Is this something for your library’s “must do” list? Probably not yet. If your library has someone on board who can do this though, I recommend that you do. It never hurts to make things more convenient, right?
(Something kind of fun for a slow(er) Friday.)
A couple of weeks ago I covered Weblins here, and someday, I promise, I’ll get to avatars and gravatars. Each of those examples is a visual way to represent yourself on the web through various web sites and applications. Now, there’s a way to have an aural representation of yourself as well. Thanks to a collaboration between a beatboxer and a team of Ruby on Rails programmers, you can now have an acoustical avatar all your own. It’s called a Soundbadge. Just fill in some personality questions and almost immediately you will be presented with a small sound loop that is supposed to represent you. You can then embed the sound loop on any web page by simply cutting and pasting a very small code snippet that Soundbadge generates for you. Here’s mine:
What does this mean to me, Laura?
- Possibly, not much. But part of effectively delving into all things Web is the ability to play. You’re never too old to play with new toys.
- This might actually be a fun link for a teen site. Or have your library generate its own Soundbadge and embed it in your teen site. Ask your teen patrons to make their own and share it.
- You can edit your badge at any time, so if you suddenly feel depressed, your Soundbadge can easily reflect that. Could be a fun way for kids to keep up with the “moods” of their local librarians.
- People like to find ways to make themselves stand out among the huddled masses of the web. This is a new and unique entry into the “Distinguish Yourself” category.
For the past several months, I have been experimenting with a little-known web application called Weblin. In effect, it allows you to have a little avatar (Weblin) that appears on any web site you visit. This avatar can then see and communicate with other Weblins it encounters on that site. In essence, Weblin turns your web browser into an online social medium all its own.
As you might suspect, more Weblins congregate around the more popular sites. Visit, for example, Google or YouTube or Twitter with your Weblin and you will invariably see a fair number or even a crowd of others visiting those sites. While you’re there, you can cause your Weblin to perform various actions, including dancing, waving, laughing, yawning, clapping and more. Your Weblin can also, of course, chat or private message with other Weblins. You can also “wousle” them, which is a way for a Weblin to introduce themself. You also have the option to make another Weblin a contact, so that you can see when they are online. There are also other interactive features, such as being able to maintain an inventory of items which you can trade with other Weblins.
Weblins on YouTube
What I LIKED about Weblin
- The potential is interesting. It gives a new visual dimension to text chat by using avatars. I could maybe see a library using something like this for casual questions from patrons.
- You can right-click on any Weblin to see their profile. This may help you identify who could be interesting to talk to. However, the Weblin web site records who looks at a profile, so this cannot be done anonymously.
- A lot of the Weblin community is not from the U.S. Many Weblins show a little flag next to them to indicate country of origin. As far as nationality goes, it’s a fairly diverse user base.
- The ability to take a web page and mail it directly to yourself is perhaps the only major practical add-on of this application.
WHAT I DISLIKED about Weblin
- Perhaps it would have been different if I had a male avatar, but the vast majority of communications I received revolved around whether or not I was a potential dating prospect.
- Personally, I found the Weblin site to be confusing at times. For example, the link to “Shop” does not allow one to shop for new inventory items, but instead is a way for a Weblin to create a shop of their own.
- The sound effects will likely drive one crazy. Every time someone chats, a sharp tweet can be heard and it’s grating. The static-like noise when Weblins appear is also annoying. It often got to the point where I just turned Weblin off entirely.
- In the 2-3 months I’ve been using Weblin, I never found anyone I really wanted to maintain contact with (back to my first point in this list, which points out that most Weblins were just hitting on me). I did run into someone I knew from the Netherlands once (and I didn’t know he had a Weblin).
- <PERSONAL NOTE>Frankly, I was just a little creeped out…and I’m not exactly the shyest person on the planet. Knowing that all these other people were seeing the same thing I was seeing in some fashion was a little unnerving. </PERSONAL NOTE>
Overall, I was just not that impressed with this as a service. I am forced to relegate it to the realm of “Has Potential, Is Kind of Cute, That’s It.” Patrons of Ohio’s libraries are most likely not aware of Weblin and there is no real compelling reason to have one, other than to experiment.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO ME, LAURA?
- This is not (at least, not yet) a service that really is useful for public libraries.
- Having a female avatar is less likely to be productive than having a male one, IMHO.
- The “Send webpage as email” function is unique enough that I’m leaving Weblin installed for use, as needed.
- This application has a long way to go to make it more usable for the general public.