Nu Vibez and Roleplay Guide Magazine - February 2014 | Page 41

An Open Le er to the Lindens, Hypergrid Business Report - p5 technology as well, including for vision therapy, trea ng PTSD, virtual simula ons for training health care prac oners, trea ng phobias, and training amputees to use prosthe cs. Right now, most of these applica ons are built on top of Unity and other professional 3D development engines, probably because right now, only development kit versions of the Oculus Ri are available. As the Oculus Ri gets into consumer hands and as prices drop and compe tors appear, the technology will become more mainstream and more people will be interested in crea ng their own virtual environments, both for personal and business use. About Maria Korolov Maria Korolov is editor and publisher of Hypergrid Business. She has been a journalist for more than twenty years and has worked for the Chicago Tribune, Reuters, and Computerworld and has reported from over a dozen countries, including Russia and China. The company or group first out of the gate stands a good chance of becoming the de-facto standard for virtual worlds. It could be Apple or Microso with a proprietary pla orm, or Google with an open one, or an out-of-le -field startup with something else en rely. By teaming up with OpenSim, Linden Lab has the opportunity to make its approach to the metaverse the dominant one. A choice of viewers, mul ple hos ng op ons at all price levels, free do-it-yourself so ware, brandname recogni on, both proprietary and open source server so ware and a ready-made universe of worlds to explore would make the Second Life-OpenSim metaverse a tough combo to beat. And Linden Lab, as the leading company in the space, a force to be reckoned with. Last updated by Maria Korolov at January 26, 2014. Nu Vibez Magazine - February 2014 - 41