Second life gets a voice

As PC's and consoles grow ever closer:

it was announced that Linden Lab will integrate the Vivox voice services into the fabric of Second Life. Second Life Residents will be able to speak with one another simply by walking up to other Residents and talking. There will be no need for a separate application, download, or login. Much like the experience of the Million Minutes program run this past fall by Vivox in-world when several Residents gathered around the microphones for group conversations. But now, no need to download a separate application. Spatial audio is also a feature and will allow residents to hear each other based on their positions - on their left, right, far away or nearby. Other capabilities will include controls for both Residents and land owners to manage participation in conversations, friends lists, presence, speaking indicators and tools that will allow people to stay connected in and out of world.

Second Life plans to start a private Beta in the next couple of weeks.

This is a tremendous step for Second Life and for Vivox. Real time communication gives users a lot of choice and opportunities to connect.