Letter From The Future

BY STAFF WRITER JELLIE ARROWMINT

Dear all,

I write this as a means of giving you hope and to have something to look forward to. If I remember rightly you would have recently heard reports that there had been many sim losses, and the word was the future could have looked bleak for the users of Second Life. To give you reassurance I have decided to approach you with this letter in the hope that you know it is worthwhile carrying on and that your thoughts of SL being no more are put to rest.

The date is September 22 2016 and I have just logged out of Second Life after standing by the harbor at Penny Lane sim speaking to Shauna. The weather was quite pleasant and although I did get a little chilly I really just logged off to have a sit down; I’m not getting any younger you know! Shauna is well. Her efforts to create and control other sims are well under way and she should succeed in owning and running a quarter of SL within the next few months. You did hear right, by the way. I could feel the weather, I did stand by the harbor; and that’s all thanks to the latest version of SL ‘Total Immersion Second Life Beta’.

Needless to say there have been a few hiccups in getting here, and the teleportation system problem of landing you on the very edge of the sim didn’t go down well (because landing in water doesn’t always), and at times it was more of an effort to TP to the right spot than it was to swim to shore. This error got fixed after just a few months.

Let me give you a clue as to how ‘Total Immersion SecondLife Beta’ works. Without going into too much detail, it just involves a kind of hologram system that completely surrounds you so that you get a completely immersive experience. You can purchase glasses that give you finer detail and almost act as a camera. The sensors on the glasses pick up signals that tell the system where your body is and how it’s moving. This way movements are less rigid and look completely natural. Because the sensors are so sensitive you don’t have to be doing the full range of movements you’d think you’d have to, and depending on your setting, a small wriggle of your feet can look like you’re walking down the street and you have the much-loved ‘Automatic’ setting that makes it look and feel like you are dancing/walking etc. This is great for those days when you just don’t have any energy. It’s also been called a lifeline for those of us who are differently abled and struggle to get around in our first world.

I think that’s enough detail for now. I would talk about flying but I’m not going to spoil it for you. All I’m saying is it’s amazing and has opened up a whole range of sims for us to enjoy. Lag is not so much of an issue these days but does occur occasionally. Thanks to the 4TB of memory in every pc made in the last few years, and an endless and 99% effective internet connection, lag is almost a thing of the past.

The future of Second Life is great: You feel like you’re wearing your outfit, you could almost be in that club, and dancing with your loved one is almost like the real thing. Total Immersion Second Life Beta is something to look forward to, so I encourage you to stick around and experience all it has to offer.

Regards,

Jellie Arrowmint

Gesture Creator for Penny Lane & Strawberry Fields

Promoter of Seren Haven Originals: Galleries 1-3

Member of The Vellatron Corporation