mobile

Researchers at Bowling Green State University and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland have created technology that allows students to explore virtual representations of the real world through a PDA. According to toledoblade.com, the base data is created using a special camera with a cone-shaped mirror that can take full 360 degree images of a location. The images are stitched together in the software and the end result is small enough that it is viewable through a handheld device.

Tweaking and bug testing is going on now, and the hope is that a commerically viable form of the application will be available within a year. At that point we may see virtual representations of famous places, weather phenomena, or the inside of the human body available in a handheld device like the Nintendo DS.

Second Life resident Wrestling Hulka recently managed to put Second Life on his Nokia n800. He says he's not able to do much other than IM with friends, and that if he moves around it crashes, but it's still pretty neat don't you think?

I have an old Nokia 770, not sure i could recompile the SL linux client for that, but maybe I could get AjaxLife to run on it's Opera browser...

Gemini Mobile Technologies has received another $5 million in funding, adding to the $20 million they already had from Goldman Sachs. They are developing a 3D environment for mobile phones that is currently deployed on Softbank’s S!Town in Japan and is in a closed beta in the west.

Early reports on the world suggest primitive yet smoothly animated graphics, streaming video, and the capability to chat and share pictures with other avatars. Americans tend to buy older phones and hold on to them, but a mini mobile metaverse might change that. At the very least, cellphone companies will be encouraged to offer mobile Internet as a standard package.

Comverse software have produced a Java based viewer for Second Life according to this Reuters story today. It's hard to imagine such an app being practicle, as SL can be hard enough for most people to navigate using a regular PC, but it looks cool nonetheless and may be the start of a whole new breed of commerce, service and gameplay in virtual worlds via mobile.