Customer needs: Finding all the pieces. SpotON3D?
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Maria Korolov recently posted a blog All the pieces are there.
It was about
In her systematic way, she listed what she considered the requirements for this project. She also assessed the current state of open sim capability to meet these needs in one place. You can read her assessment here:
All the pieces are there
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I recently evaluated SpotON3D: SpotON3D. The first 20 minutes in the 3D web
So I looked into how well SpotON3D could meet these needs. Take the first three:
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Maria Korolov recently posted a blog All the pieces are there.
It was about
"a business group in my area that recently expressed interest in setting up a virtual space for its members. The idea is that they could have meetings there, and individual members could get office space to use for their own projects and collaboration."
All the pieces are there
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I recently evaluated SpotON3D: SpotON3D. The first 20 minutes in the 3D web
So I looked into how well SpotON3D could meet these needs. Take the first three:
- First piece: easy install
- Second piece: easy login
- Third piece: voice
My experience (with a PC running Windows 7) gives an emphatic yes. I think the Facebook plug-in is so much better than the method offered by Second Life that it will become the method to beat for entry to virtual worlds. (Kitely also offers Facebook entry.)
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Since I have not evaluated SpotON3D with respect to the other features, I asked Tessa Johnson for comment. Tessa is Co-Founder & COO for SpotON3D. She is known in Second Life as Tessa Harrington. Below I have summarized her comments.
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Fourth piece: OAR and IAR exports and imports
My summary of comments:
- Imports and exports: yes, with proper protection for IP
- OAR and IAR are not generally accepted for transfer.
- Special cases are possible with IP protection
- IP is short for Intellectual Property
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- HotSwap* service might meet some such needs
- Free content and custom creations are available.
*Hotswap is much like having a whole sim in a holodeck (Startrek, TNG), with multiple scenes available in the same sim. If you want a different environment in your sim (change from offices to woodland, for example) you just load a different scene.
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Businesses and organizations may like the extra protection against IP violation.
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Fifth piece: hypergrid switch
My summary:
- Hypergrid is not available because of IP concerns.
- Multigrid teleporting to a grid you can log into is available.
- For Multigrid you provide your login credentials to SpotON3D,
- which uses them to log you into the other grid.
Sixth piece: Maintenance and support
My summary and observations:
- They claim good maintenance and support.
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- I have found live representatives available whenever I entered.
- I have found the grid to be lag free when I have been there, but have not seen it under heavy loads.
- There is a user group in Facebook that a potential customer could query.
Seventh piece: price and scalability
My summary and observations:
Pricing : http://spoton3d.com
They offer a range of options. A feature that looks particularly attractive is BoostCLOUD which provides on-demand scalability. BoostCLOUD brings in dedicated servers to boost the capacity from 35 guests to 125. This service is available on demand for an hourly fee. This looks to me like an attractive way to have scalability.
They offer a range of options. A feature that looks particularly attractive is BoostCLOUD which provides on-demand scalability. BoostCLOUD brings in dedicated servers to boost the capacity from 35 guests to 125. This service is available on demand for an hourly fee. This looks to me like an attractive way to have scalability.
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Conclusions
SpotON3d seems to meet most of the requirements listed by Maria Korolov. Where it does not meet the requirements, the main obstacle is security and particularly Hypergrid security. Maria has written about that issue recently:
"there is another impediment as well — the lack of hypergrid security."
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The issue is rather technical and not something people looking for business group offices will want to deal with. They are likely to view it as irrelevant to their interests. On the other hand, while the capability may be a deal-breaker for Maria's group, other business groups might not see a need for it at this time.
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Video-Machinima
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Conclusions
SpotON3d seems to meet most of the requirements listed by Maria Korolov. Where it does not meet the requirements, the main obstacle is security and particularly Hypergrid security. Maria has written about that issue recently:
"there is another impediment as well — the lack of hypergrid security."
A modest proposal for hypergrid security
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The issue is rather technical and not something people looking for business group offices will want to deal with. They are likely to view it as irrelevant to their interests. On the other hand, while the capability may be a deal-breaker for Maria's group, other business groups might not see a need for it at this time.
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Video-Machinima
- Videos from virtual worlds Summary
- Hobbies: Doing video/machinima in virtual worlds
- Music Videos from virtual worlds Summary
- Art videos from the virtual world
- Comedy videos from the Virtual World
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- Thinkerer Melville/Selby Evans
its always hard to have the best of everything, and seems security is what will have to be worked on this one, awesome find still =D
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