Tag Archives: online communities

Customized Reality: Creating Local and Networked Events in Jibe and Unity3d

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We all share a common physical reality.   A leaf gently falling from a tree, a chilling breeze, a startled rabbit running across a field.  We experience these things in the physical world and know that others experience them the same way at the same moments in space and time.

But what if you could change that?  What if you could customize reality so that different people perceive things happening in the world differently?

We don’t have this ability the physical world.  But it can be done in virtual worlds.

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Live Tutorials on the Web for Jibe and Unity3d

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I like to write tutorials to help people learn how to do things with Jibe and Unity3d, and you can find them all on my blog.  But sometimes it’s easier to learn by joining a live tutorial.  Doing it live also lets people ask questions during the tutorial.

I  host Live Tutorials using a web-based screen-sharing application called Join.me.  Just go to my Join.me page in your web browser and you can jump right in without having to download any software.  Once you’re in the meeting, you’ll be be added to a Skype conference call so we can communicate using voice.

My Live Tutorials are open to everyone, and each week I’ll be teaching people how to use Jibe and the Unity3d editor to do something new.

More information about my Office Hours and Live Tutorials (including a calendar of scheduled events) can be found here.

And be sure to watch the #ReactionGrid hashtag on Twitter for special announcements!

Want a Personal Tutorial on Unity3d and Jibe?

If you’d like to schedule a time for a personal tutorial to learn more about Unity3d and Jibe, you got it!  Just email me at pathfinder@reactiongrid.com and let me know what day/time works for you.  We can meet using my Join.me page and I can walk you through whatever you’d like to learn.  Beginners welcome!

-John “Pathfinder” Lester

Click me!: How to make an object move and play a sound when you click on it in Jibe and Unity3d

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I’ve been playing a lot of Portal 2 lately, and one of my favorite elements from the Portal series is the lovely Weighted Companion Cube.

Today we’ll explore how to create a Companion Cube in Jibe and Unity3d that will spin and speak to you when you click on it.

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Railing Against the Gods: The Unfortunate Metaphor of Virtual World Administrators

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Metaphors are powerful tools.

Our minds instinctively grasp for metaphors as a way to more easily understand and classify novel situations.

But some metaphors are more deeply resonant than we may initially suspect.

Which can sometimes lead to unexpected and rather unfortunate consequences in the broader cultural context of online community development.

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Anniversary Celebration of the 1939 New York World’s Fair in ReactionGrid

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On April 30th 1939 (that’s 72 years ago!), over 200 thousand people gathered across an acre of land that only a couple years earlier was an ash dump.  Thanks to four years of hard work and planning, those people were able to get a glimpse of the future.

They were attending the opening of the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

Paul M. Van Dort has organized a celebration of the Opening of the World’s Fair in ReactionGrid.  This is the first time an event commemorating the Fair’s opening in a virtual world has ever been done.  While only a few of the pavilions have been constructed so far, this is an opportunity to see the Fair and to actually walk around and explore it.  Walk through the Trylon and Perisphere, view Democracity, and travel down the Helicline. Visit the New York City Building, the Belgium Pavilion, and Westinghouse Electric.

And keep in mind that what you’re seeing is a vision of the future from 72 years ago.  It’s pretty mindblowing to remember that fact.

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How to add/edit/find articles about Jibe and Unity3d on the ReactionGrid wiki

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At ReactionGrid, we have a Community Virtual World Wiki that anyone can use to find information or add their own content.

In a recent discussion on our Jibe-Unity3d Google Group, some folks were interested in organizing and sharing information they’ve learned on how to get started with Jibe and Unity3d.

Our Google Group is the best place to have ongoing discussions and share ideas about Jibe, but the right tool for the job of organizing content is definitely our Wiki.

So here’s a crash course on how to use it!

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Making the Most of Meeting in the Physical World: Evocative Artifacts

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MIT’s Technology Review recently published an article on how CardCloud Spells the End of Physical Business Cards.

As someone who spends most of their professional life immersed in the online world, I tend to agree that physical business cards are not an ideal tool for information exchange in the physical world.

But I have a slightly different idea about why I feel that’s the case.

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How to create a “flying camera tour” in Jibe and Unity3d

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Here at ReactionGrid, we love it when people ask us questions about Jibe (our multiuser virtual world platform based on Unity3d).  Jibe is a rapidly evolving platform, and the most innovative ideas for both using and improving Jibe always come directly from our users.  Which is why we encourage everyone to submit questions and new feature ideas via the ticket system on our support portal.

Today I saw a ticket from a new Jibe user asking if it was possible to create a flying camera tour in their Jibe world. They wanted people to be able to click something and have their avatar’s camera fly around on a predefined tour path through their Jibe world.

We include in our Jibe platform a Presentation Screen System that lets people automatically set their camera view when they sit down to watch a slideshow or video presentation.  And with a few tweaks, you can use the scripts from this system to easily create a flying camera tour experience.

Here’s how to do it.

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The Riddle of the Sphinx: Using Google Warehouse models in Jibe and Unity3d

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Google Warehouse is a fantastic resource for free 3d models.  And it’s especially fun to hunt for models of beautiful historical landmarks that you can pull into your own multiuser virtual world.

Today we’re going to bring a model of the Great Sphinx of Giza from Google Warehouse into a multiuser Jibe world using Unity3d.  And we’ll script the Sphinx so it asks a riddle when any avatar walks up to it.

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Interactivity in Virtual Worlds: Using Triggers in Jibe and Unity3d

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The physical world around us is responsive to our presence.

The same experience can be recreated in virtual worlds.

You just have to learn a few new tricks.

Those of us designing virtual worlds want to make them as engaging and interesting as possible.  There are many different ways to accomplish this goal.  You can start by creating a visually interesting space.  Make it beautiful to look at.  Fill it with things that move and look alive.  Encourage exploration by rewarding people with fun things to discover.  And never forget the power of sounds.

All of these methods will help you design a virtual space that is engaging to visitors.  But at some point you’ll realize that you want to build a world that is responsive to the people who are exploring it.

Looking and listening is fun.  Interactivity is even better.

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