by Surfdaddy Orca
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - Building a furniture store or decorating a home in a 3D virtual world such as Second Life (SL) is a lot of fun, but it can take a while to learn how to get around, use the in-world graphics tools, buy land, build and decorate a virtual store or mall, and then advertise it.
SceneCaster, a Toronto-based company, today announced a revolutionary new solution for would-be 3D world creators: a browser plug-in that anyone can use to paint a 3D "scene" within minutes and export it to a social networking site such as Facebook or Flickr. SceneCaster bridges the gap between the virtual and real worlds and connects the online 3D experience to e-commerce sites such as eBay and Amazon and product catalogs from leading manufacturers and retailers.
Students, housewives, small business owners, creative professionals, and others can use drag-and-drop tools to create 3D spaces quickly. The tool is integrated with Google's 3D Warehouse, which includes a library of 3D models created in SketchUp – with just about anything you'd want to furnish your virtual scene. Start with an existing 3D model and drop it on your scene. Or, create your own model using SketchUp or another 3D graphics tool and drop it onto a SceneCaster scene.
Then things start to get interesting. The idea is that you can look at someone's virtual scene and click over to purchase the real item online. For example, if you like a virtual mattress in a particular scene, you can buy the actual mattress from one of SceneCaster's partners. Companies that have already partnered with SceneCaster include iStockphoto, Kohler, Oddcast, and others.
SceneCaster is being characterized as marketing "glue" between 3D virtual worlds and the 2D web by no less than Sandy Kearney, Global Director, Emerging 3D Internet and Virtual Business at IBM. “SceneCaster is one tool in the 3D Internet landscape that helps make immersive, social media accessible to everyone,” said Sandra. “By providing an easy-to-use environment and a wide range of content, SceneCaster offers an exciting marketing opportunity for virtual environments.”
SL designers and content creators, for example, can create 3D objects using standard graphics tools, import them into SL, and drag-and-drop versions into a SceneCaster scene. This link between SL and the 2D web can help pave the way to SL sales through eBay and Amazon.
The link between virtual goods with real world goods will reach Internet users outside the "walled garden of 3D environments" says Mark Zohar, founder and CEO of SceneCaster. Rather than downloading special virtual world software clients, you can use a standard browser to create scenes.
SceneCaster's initial plug-in support for Internet Explorer and Firefox running Windows is expected to extended to the popular Macintosh Safari browser soon.
See http://www.scenecaster.com/
The semi-annual DEMO conference takes place in San Diego this week. Produced by Network World Events and Executive Forums, it focuses on emerging technologies and new products that are hand-selected from across the spectrum of the technology marketplace.
Visit http://www.demo.com/conferences/demofall07.php?
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