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Frenzoo gets more funding for Me Girl

May 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

We’ve been following Frenzoo since 2009, and over that time the company has shifted very squarely into the mobile market.

This week they’ve raised another $1 million of venture capital to primarily develop its ‘Me Girl’ 3D fashion applications (here’s a link to our 2010 story on the 3D fashion move Frenzoo made)

The full press release reproduced for you below. Congrats to CEO (and expat Aussie) Simon Newstead and the team for their ongoing success – it’s no mean feat to keep the momentum going in the application space and they’ve managed it over a significant period of time.

Frenzoo Raises $1 Million to Create 3D Lifestyle Mobile Games for Women 
Major investors include Efficient Corporate, Siemer Ventures, K5 Ventures and Metaverse Services

Hong Kong and San Francisco, CA – May 10, 2012 – Frenzoo (www.frenzoo.com) the pioneers of a new class of 3D lifestyle and fashion mobile games, today announced it has received US $1 million in new seed funding from investors based in Asia, Europe and the United States.

Investors include: Efficient Corporate, the investment vehicle of Hong Kong-based angel investor Tytus Michalski; Siemer Ventures, an early-stage, cross-border venture firm with offices in Los Angeles and Asia; K5 Ventures, a pan Europe- and Asia-based group focused on media and commerce; and Metaverse Services, a China-based leader in game content creation. They join existing investor Ambient Sound Investments, an early stage venture firm backed by the founding engineers of Skype.

In addition, joining the Frenzoo board of directors is Doug Glen, a veteran gaming and entertainment executive whose previous roles include Chief Strategy Officer of Mattel; CEO of Imagi Studios; and Director at Harmonix, the creators of Dance Central and Rock Band. Also joiningFrenzoo as an advisor is fashion stylist and blogger Jasmine Webster. Founder of the popular DressMe blog, Webster has been nominated as a “Marie Claire Fashion Blogger of the Year” and selected as the “Style Judge” of Fashion One TV’s soon-to-air “Correspondent Search.”

Frenzoo will use the funds to accelerate the launch of its Me Girl brand of titles (www.megirl.com) that offer lifestyle and fashion mobile games for all ages. Data from mobile analytics firm Flurry shows that women make up a majority of the mobile social gaming audience. The Me Girl titles aim to be the first 3D games crafted specifically for this market.

“We believe there is a tremendous opportunity to combine the best of mobile gaming with the world of fashion and lifestyle,” said Frenzoo CEO & Co-founder Simon Newstead. “Our goal with Me Girl is to leverage glamour and emotional appeal to create fun, accessible gaming experiences. With our innovative 3D platform, we can create interactive characters with natural movements and expressions that really bring the whole story to life.”

“In the mid-1990s, Mattel pioneered computer entertainment for girls,” said Doug Glen, who currently serves as Entrepreneur in Residence at M-Lab, a technology incubator.  “Games like Barbie Fashion Designer were hugely successful, in part because the market was so underserved. Fifteen years later, the girls’ and women’s market in mobile entertainment is now underserved, and Frenzoo is releasing wonderful games that have raised the bar to an exciting new level.”

Added Tytus Michalski of Efficient Corporate: “I believe that Frenzoo’s technology is the key to engaging with players on a more intimate level, and is truly a game changer.”

Filed Under: Australian News, Fashion, General News, Virtual Worlds Tagged With:

Virtual Ability Mental Health Symposium 2012

April 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I received a message today from Alice Krueger (SL:Gentle Heron) at Virtual Ability Inc, about an upcoming symposium. Save April 28 as the date – there’s an amazing array of speakers and topics. You can read the schedule below or check out Virtual Ability’s blog.

The full details:

Our society too often takes mental health for granted and too frequently stigmatizes people with mental health issues. The Virtual Ability Mental Health Symposium 2012, on Saturday, April 28, offers a variety of perspectives for thinking positively about mental health.

Presentations will take place at various locations in Second Life.  The full schedule is posted below, and at www.virtualability.org/symposium2012.

Alice Krueger, president of Virtual Ability, Inc., notes, “A symposium is a formal meeting where individual presentations are followed by discussion. We intend these sessions to encourage audience participation with the presenters and especially with the content the presenters share. Mental health is too important a topic to ignore.”

SCHEDULE, PRESENTERS AND TOPICS

 

COGNITIVE REHABILITATION

PRESENTER: Dr. Tina Garcia

Saturday April 28, 2012, 8:00 am PDT

 

“VODKA AND SALIVA” FROM PAUL BROKS’INTO THE SILENT LAND

READER: Alice Krueger (Second Life Avatar: Gentle Heron)

Saturday April 28, 2012, 9:00 am PDT

Health & Wellness Pavilion, Healthinfo Island, Second Life

Gentle Heron will read aloud (with text) a chapter from Paul Broks’ book Into the Silent Land. This essay explores the nature of self-understanding. We will discuss the viewpoints presented, and think about how we view ourselves as individuals unique among all of humanity.

Author Information: Broks is a consultant in neuropsychology at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, UK. He was a runner-up for the Wellcome Trust Science Prize, and writes about his work as a neuropsychologist in magazines and newspapers as well as this book of essays.

Presented simultaneously in voice and text.

 

PATHWAYS TO MENTAL HEALTH

PRESENTER: Frank Hannah (Second Life Avatar: Frederick Hansome)

Saturday April 28, 2012, 10:00 am PDT

Blue Orchid Cabana, Virtual Ability Island, Second Life

This lecture introduces a concept of mental health that will probably be new to you. You will be able to use it to develop a rock-solid self concept, learn to make wise choices, accomplish more and improve your relationships.  This approach to optimum mental health helps prevent the mental and physical problems that may otherwise occur. Handicaps don’t count here: everyone can develop optimum mental health!

Presenter Bio:  Frank Hannah (SL avatar: Frederick Hansome) is a retired mental health counselor with over 20 years clinical experience in private practice. He holds a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology from Nova University (now NovaSoutheastern).

In SL, as the alt “Plato Greybeard”, Hannah moderated a philosophical discussion group for about 2 1/2 years at Plato’s Academy. He closed the Academy to use his SL time to promote mental health. Please visit his website: www.PathwaysToMentalHealth.com.

Presented simultaneously in voice and text.

 

WHY VIRTUAL COUNSELING SHOULD BE VIEWED AS ADVANCED TELEMEDICINE

(Keynote Presentation)

PRESENTER:  Dick Dillon (Second Life Avatar: Coughran Mayo)

Saturday April 28, 2012, 11:00 am PDT

The Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability Island, Second Life

We will discuss a variety of ways in which the characteristics of virtual world platforms, when used in the service of counseling, are not only as good as “real life,” but usually better.

Among the issues to be reviewed are “24/7 durability,” role plays and scene changes, and “I am my Avatar and my Avatar is me – or NOT”

Presenter Bio:  Dick Dillon has been in the mental health field for over 30 years in a variety of management and administrative positions. He recently left his position as Senior VP of Planning and Development for Preferred Family Healthcare to open his own consultation firm, Innovaision, LLC – dedicated to helping nonprofits realize the potential of using virtual worlds and other technologies.  Through his SL avatar, Coughran Mayo, Dillon has spent over 5 years actively involved in Second Life, working for the NonProfit Commons initiative and building and hosting the Preferred Family HC sim. He has made numerous presentations and been interviewed on Metanomics,  Rockcliffe University’s “Inside The Avatar Studio” program and other inworld news and issues programs.

Presented in voice, with text transcription.

 

COUNSELOR EDUCATION IN SECOND LIFE

PRESENTERS: Dr. Debra London and Dr. Marty Jencius

Saturday April 28, 2012, Noon PDT

 

THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF PTSD

PRESENTER:  Anya Ibor

Saturday April 28, 2012, 1:00 pm PDT

The Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability Island, Second Life

The brain is an amazing organ. Injuries such as those which are associated with PTSD may never heal. But the brain is “plastic,” which means the functions damaged by the brain injury can be relearned by other parts of the brain.

Presenter Bio:  Anya Ibor is the Founder and Executive Director of Fearless Nation PTSD Support, a 501c3 NonProfit Organization dedicated to providing free public education, support and advocacy for the understanding of PTSD. Since 2009 Fearless Nation has provided a virtual therapeutic support group.

Presented in voice, with text transcription.

 

MENTAL HEALTH AND THE IMPORTANCE OF PEER SUPPORT

PRESENTER:  MermaidSue Bailey

Saturday April 28, 2012, 3:00 pm PDT

Yellow Hibiscus Cabana, Virtual Ability Island, Second Life

MermaidSue Bailey will lead a discussion on the importance of peer support to good mental health.

Presenter Bio:  MermaidSue Bailey is facilitator of the self-help group “When Life Goes Out of Control,” which is in its second year now and becoming a useful weekly fixture for its increasing group of members, all of whom either have a disability themselves or a family disability which impacts on daily life.  In RL, Sue works as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist in the United Kingdom, in private practice and within the hospice movement. She has two teenage daughters and is a school governor.   In theory she doesn’t bring her professional life into Second Life, but experience in group therapy, as well as being a woman with a disability, gives her useful skills in facilitating more informal groups in virtual settings – but very much as a member of the group also in need of support from other people with disabilities.

Presented in text, with voice transcription.

 

MENTAL HEALTH ISN’T ALL MENTAL

PRESENTER: Roberto Salvatierra (Second Life Avatar: Roberto Salubrius)

Saturday April 28, 2012, 4:00 pm PDT

The Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability Island, Second Life

Roberto was diagnosed with agoraphobia. He was unable to continue medical school, and became confined to his home. He will tell about his experiences, and what he learned about his health.

Presenter Bio:  Roberto Salvatierra, (SL avatar Roberto Salubrius), was born in San Jose, Costa Rica, in 1975. He had a bilingual education, and since an early age he worked with computers. At age 19, he started having panic attacks, until it evolved to agoraphobia by the time he was 24. He went to Medical School, where he got a minor on medical sciences and was going for his degree as Medical Doctor until his agoraphobia caught up with him, short of finishing Medical School. Since then he has been working on Second Life as a full time programmer for his own company, Techno Kitty Development, and for co-owned animation company Medhue Animations. In his free time he does a lot of medical research, especially on Mental Health, Cardiology, Endocrinology and Dysautonomias.

Presented in text, with voice transcription.

 

MENTAL HEALTH AND MINORITY COMMUNITIES

PRESENTER:  DyVerse Jeffery-Steele

Saturday April 28, 2012, 5:00 pm PDT

Yellow Hibiscus Cabana, Virtual Ability Island, Second Life

April is (US) National Minority Health Month. Minority communities face unique problems related to mental health.

Living in poverty has the most measurable effects on the rates of mental illness. Minorities are overrepresented among the lowest socioeconomic groups, and thus have higher rates of mental illness than do non-Hispanic whites. Racism and discrimination cause increased levels of stress, which can adversely affect mental health.

Presenter Bio:  DyVerse Jeffery-Steele is a peer support leader for chronic illness and the issues that arise from illness.  He has been a peer support leader in Second Life and in real life for HIV/AIDS and diabetes, and the mental health issues that come with those diseases.  A strong supporter and user of social media and virtual worlds for health support and education, DyVerse has an office on Health Commons island.

Presented simultaneously in voice and text.

Filed Under: General News, Health, Virtual Worlds Tagged With:

Federal Virtual Worlds moving beyond Second Life

April 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Several years ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration maintained more than a dozen virtual environments for online visitors to explore in Second Life. Now it operates just one.

For NOAA and other federal agencies, the focus of virtual world activity has moved beyond Second Life and diversified onto other platforms and gaming engines, according to Eric Hackathorn, a 3D Web designer for NOAA and one of the federal pioneers in virtual worlds.

“Virtual worlds are in need of some rebranding,” Hackathorn told Federal Computer Week. “Historically, virtual worlds were synonymous with Second Life, but that is no longer the case.”

While several agencies, including NOAA, NASA, Defense Department and National Library of Medicine maintain a presence on Second Life, several current initiatives have shifted to open source and in-house platforms and interagency efforts, he said. For example, DOD’s PTSD Experience invites users to learn about post-traumatic stress disorder.

“There is a lot of activity and many different use cases,” Hackathorn said, with initiatives for training, innovation and research in 3D and gaming environments.

The upcoming Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds’ annual conference starting on May 16 will highlight some of those programs.
See on fcw.com

Filed Under: Alternatives, From the metaverse community, General News, Virtual Worlds

Campus Tour wins US Virtual Worlds Challenge

April 11, 2012 by 1 Comment

Congrats to Andrew Hughes and the team at Designing Digitally for their win in the 2012 Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge (see the full press release below).

You can also see our own interview with Andrew from November last year right here.

 

Designing Digitally, Inc. Wins the 2012 Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge


ITS INNOVATIVE VIRTUAL CAMPUS TOUR PRODUCT CAPTURED ACCOLADES

FRANKLIN, OHIO – Designing Digitally, Inc. took first place honors in the Familiarization category in the 2012 Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge with its 3D virtual campus tour of the United States Air Force Academy.

The Ohio-based tech firm used its 3D Virtual Campus Tours product to create a virtual replica of the campus that the Air Force Academy now uses for recruitment purposes. Designing Digitally, Inc.’s submission for the challenge was two-part. The first featured the first generation product the Air Force Academy currently uses. The second included enhancements Designing Digitally made to its campus tours product following the creation of the Air Force Academy’s virtual tour.

“We are honored by this incredible recognition,” said Nick Taylor, Director of Development. “We have been fortunate to have a fantastic partnership between ourselves and the United States Air Force Academy. Special thanks to the United States Air Force Academy for choosing Designing Digitally, Inc. to build this product.”

Designing Digitally’s 3D Virtual Campus Tours product is not only innovative, it’s also flexible to meet client needs.

“Our system allows for multiple types of virtual campus tours, including self-guided and admission representative-led options,” explained Greg Wark, 3D & Virtual Development Team Leader.


3D Virtual Campus Tours is meant to replicate the campus experience. When creating a virtual tour, Designing Digitally makes certain that each campus is built as photorealistic as possible. The company has more than seven years’ experience building virtual campuses in 3D, which surpasses others in the industry, said Wark.

“The system we create runs in a basic web browser on our clients’ websites,” Abby Hughes, Director of Client Relations, added. “Each tour is fully customized for the client. We can also incorporate interactive games such as virtual parachuting, basketball, hockey, flight simulator, trivia and more to enrich the experience for users.”

While the current version of 3D Virtual Campus Tours is so advanced it won this national award, Taylor said that’s not good enough.“We are constantly updating the system to be more and more innovative and to help our clients take a proactive approach to college recruitment.”

The system was originally designed to serve as a solution to a problem many campus recruiters face – the cost of travel. The idea was to enable students to “travel” to a campus without having to physically be there. The notion being: If they can see it and enjoy it, they’ll be more likely to attend, Hughes said.

“This product does exactly that by allowing students to walk around as a 3D avatar that looks like them,” Taylor said. “They can visit the dorms, walk around the campus to see how far the dorms are from the food courts, classrooms and other points of interest. It’s just like being there – only more cost effective.”

For more information, visit http://www.3dvirtualcampustours.com.

Filed Under: Education, General News, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: ,

Teleport Between Kitely Worlds | Kitely Blog

March 30, 2012 by 2 Comments

Teleporting between Kitely worlds finally works! If you try to teleport to a world that is online then you’ll be teleported to it immediately. If you try to teleport to a world that is offline then the world will be started; you’ll remain active in the world you are currently in; and once the destination world is ready you’ll be teleported to it automatically.

Teleports are also connected to the website: if you click “Enter World” in a World Page, and you are already in another Kitely world, then you will be teleported to the new world. This means that you no longer have to close the viewer to switch between worlds.

Via blog.kitely.com

Filed Under: From the metaverse community, Virtual Worlds

The Lab: the great work continues

March 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment

In June last year I profiled the superb work being done by Stefan Schutt and Dale Linegar at The Lab.

If you haven’t read that profile then definitely read it now, or even better listen to this interview with Melbourne’s RRR, recorded this week.

If ever there was a program involving virtual environments that deserves major league support, it’s The Lab. Go have a look in detail for yourself.

Filed Under: Australian News, General News, Virtual Worlds

Eve Online FanFest panel accused of mocking suicidal player

March 28, 2012 by 1 Comment

CCP has launched an investigation after an Eve Online panel at its FanFest convention was accused of mocking a suicidal player.

Eve Online player Kestrel wrote to CCP and Eurogamer today to complain about Thursday’s Alliance Panel presentation.
The presentation, delivered by one of the CSM council members and moderated by a CCP employee, featured an in-game communication between two Eve Online players where, according to Kestrel, one of the players clearly indicated suicidal thoughts and showed “obvious” signs of severe depression.

“When this communication was shown to the audience the presenter, along with part of the audience of players and CCP representatives present all had a good laugh,” Kestrel said. “The presenter went on to encourage other players of Eve Online to harass this player in the hope that he would eventually be compelled to act on his suicidal thoughts.
“This player’s in-game contact information was provided. I found this section of the presentation to be in extremely poor taste.”
The panel was broadcast online as part of the streaming of the popular FanFest event, which showcased Eve Online, Dust 514 and World of Darkness.

In response, CCP issued a statement criticising the “abhorrent behaviour” that occurred.

Via www.eurogamer.net

Filed Under: From the metaverse community, Gaming Worlds, General News, Virtual Worlds

Post-apocalyptic Steampunk Pirates in Second Life

March 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

If I could find something about vampires or Alice in Wonderland I think this build would manage to incorporate most of the major themes we love inworld. It might sound a little strange, and it could be that the owners would describe it differently, but I think this combination works and it’s a great place to visit.

My journey began today with this photo↑ by LookatmyBack. I know he likes steampunk so I thought I’d check out the region and see what was there.

Via honourmcmillan.wordpress.com

Filed Under: From the metaverse community, Virtual Worlds

Great overview of VWBPE 2012 by Daniel Voyager

March 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Early this morning I logged into Second Life to visit VWBPE locations around the grid and started to collect notecards/freebies which was fun. As you can see today I have updated my blog for VWBPE 2012 which I hope all my readers will like. I went over to the first event on the listings called Conference Orientation Meet-and-Greet where the SL community started to catch up and hang out.

Via danielvoyager.wordpress.com

Filed Under: From the metaverse community, Virtual Worlds

Linden Lab clams up on metrics

March 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Tateru Nino has a great story on how Linden Lab will no longer be providing SL economy metrics:

Essentially, over the years, the figures have been progressively stripped of the supporting data that gave them meaning, and now hardly anyone can understand what’s left. That kind of makes it a waste of time to extract the data and generate the reports in the first place.

Of course, the other side of the coin is this: When a company stops reporting some key statistic, it is almost always because the figure suddenly has gone South or otherwise looks bad. The Lab has stripped key items out of the reports on a number of occasions, as I mentioned, and it doesn’t take any great stretch of the imagination to figure that they were taken out because those figures were going sour, or that they appeared to be going sour because other data that would have aided in the interpretation of the figures was absent.

The latter tends to have a bit of a snowball effect. You stop publishing a metric that might be misinterpreted as bad, and then eventually its absence makes another metric misinterpretable as bad, until you’re left with a small set of metrics that don’t tell anyone anything terribly useful.

Here’s a post I did in May 2007, showing how far the transparency has declined. Here’s hoping this decision isn’t indicative of a more fundamental decline.

Filed Under: General News, Metrics, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: ,

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