Metaquette #Metaverse #VR #Bingeable #Oculus #3DTV #MetaQuest Q39

Tips & Tricks for negotiating the Metaverse with..........Pooky Amsterdam

Streaming services, TV and other channels provide immensely watchable content. People spend 4 hours a day watching, on all platforms, like YouTube. Youtube Shorts alone recently surpassed 50 Billion daily views! 

I want my entertainment to be bingeable, and fun. Right now most of the streaming screens we look at are flat, but increasingly the awesome and compelling view of VR has my interest.  We have lots of examples of concerts done for Virtual Reality as well as sports action, interviews,  training, and animation. VR can also profoundly deliver a you are there experience, witness from this years SIGGRAPH, "You Destroy. We Create" an immersive tour into Ukraine's artists consciousness and reality. Here are more examples of the kind of VR entertainment currently available. 

First Person Shooter games also abound. To be honest I am scared enough, and don't want to kill zombies in my spare time. Personally I don't want to kill anyone or anything for kicks & giggles. I dont want to even "pretend" hit anyone, and I'm not bothered about making baskets, goals, holes or home runs. When I turn on any device for an evening of good programming, I am looking for engagement with characters, storyline and inspiration.

The closer and clearer Volumetric Video becomes to me, the more I see it as the Next Big Thing. Where entertainment is more than a watching experience anymore, but at a whole new level of being there, inside the program.

Q: Can VR in The Metaverse enable immersive entertainment?

I wrote a blog about 13 years ago where someone who wanted to relax and have fun after a long day, entered Second Life to take part in The Dating Casino, a game show. As part of the audience she could send texts, respond to other people in the virtual room and participate as an avatar with a name, face and phygital identity that got noticed. Friend requests and a sign up to be a contestant for a future show had her coming back, but all as the avatar she logged in as, watched on a flat screen, controlled with the keyboard.  This is now old technology, new technology wears a VR headset and has wrap around viewing.

VR content of a theatrical kind is accomplished with something called volumetric video: catch the awesome Diego Priulsky in his TED talk 4 years ago, or see what Arcturus studio is up to here from 4 months ago.  If perception is nine tenths of reality, VR changes so much of what we "see" and take in around us. We can enter a scene, and get the close - ups we want, over the shoulder shots and / or a wide angle sense of our choosing. The dramatic, comedic and even melodic action takes place right in front, behind and around in many degrees of viewing freedom. We can be impacted not just by light, shiny objects and movement, but by depth and the color of human emotion felt in a very personal way.

Naturally, I see some kind of game show, which would be offer a high level of interaction to anyone who logs in to become a contestant and play.  Having fun with a Virtual Reality Puzzle Dash along with other people in the VR Space from all over the world is both exciting and is to come. This space is where I intend to create content, as engagement with VR, even for a limited amount of time is mind opening, and often heart opening, ie. moving in an intimate way. 

With VR, we enter to leave some of the real world behind, just as we watch TV or YouTube to get a break, to get away. In VR we move inside the screen and experience the content in a different way. No longer looking at it as 2D with a flat screen, we are inside 3DTV. With the experiences I see coming, we are involved not with animations made in Unreal Engine, but with real humans who have been filmed in volumetric video. We also have in this, 6DOF, which means we get to walk around and see the action from any point of view (or at least as far as our room space will allow.)

There hasn't been a lot of scripted programming with human actors to take advantage of how compelling VR is. The next step, imho is entertainment you can feel because you are IN the Seinfeld living room, or literally Dancing with the Stars. 

We're going to need well-produced product for this. In the beginning of the TV era, in order to have content for their programs, the broadcast networks had studios where they shot the series which ran. In order to have quality content beyond games, the VR industry needs series-like content for the headset. Content will drive adoption of VR. Entertainment content that can be experienced means a production studio that can deliver it. It needs to combine great narrative, with actors (once everyone gets off strike,) music, a CGI studio to create sets in Unreal Engine and Volumetric Video Capture. PookyMedia has a few properties we are developing for this.

The content has to be good.  A show volumized in the VR Space, entered into by someone wearing a VR Headset has a new level of sensation and interaction with what is going on around them and has to evoke a sense of humor, realness and relatability. The intensity of dramatic encounters and comedic relief is high, a scripted show is not a video game. This is not watching in the traditional sense, but a being part of, with proximity and emotion. We experience the conversation between two people as if we  are part of it. This is an incredible way to be part of a series as everything is heightened in VR, from surround sound to visual immersion, and it enthralls us in a different way. 

This is the next step for PookyMedia,  we look forward to your joining us in them, dancing shoes on of course!

If you have a question, send it to info@pookymedia.com with Metaquette in the Subject line and it will be answered.

Metaquette #VirtualComedy #AvatarComedy #Spatial #KrustyKrab #Metaverse #MetaverseEntertainment #SunkenBlimp #StandupComedy

 Tips & Tricks for negotiating The Metaverse with.....Pooky Amsterdam

Book FREE Tickets here

The Metaverse is a Media Platform, the perfect locus of People, Location, Stage and Convenience.

All you have to do is log in and become part of the show that's going on. The Metaverse is: 

Disease Proof / Gas Price Proof / Clean Laundry & Underwear Proof / Kid Proof / Makeup Proof / Weather Proof and to this day....Personal Hygiene Proof! (no smell check yet!)

If you have electricity and a computer, you can enter and become part of the fun.

Q: Can I see stand-up Comedy without leaving home, but still have the feeling I am in the club itself?

YES you can!! 

In The Metaverse! 

Once I was a former regular at The Comic Strip in New York City, back in the veritable day.  

But I made my first Virtual comedy club performance in 2003, sensing that massive multi-player online worlds would be extremely important to the future of entertainment, I have been putting on all kinds of shows for two decades. 

THIS Thursday the 22nd of June at 1 PM Eastern, I will be breaking new pixels at the Krusty Crab Komedy Klub in Spatial.io 

Book free tickets >here 

Sunken Blimp is hosting the space and it's exciting, be part of the future with us tomorrow!

Come and join the fun, see and hear for yourself how fabulous it is to be part of the action, as only you can be, in the Metaverse. Sure The Voice may allow people to vote for their favorites, but you are just a data point to them my friend, here you are a bona fide presence. 

IMHO, the brands have gotten it wrong in the Metaverse - I was reading a recent Brookings Research report on "Creating Value In The Metaverse"  there is much on how to sell stuff to people and on the hopes to engage the consumer (end user / avatar) with the product. The Metaverse is not just another place to sell stuff to people, it can be that...but it is so much more. It is an Entertainment Platform in the sense that people can take part in shows of all kinds, music, comedy, debate, create your own story, role play etc. And to also form community and friendships around these engaging activities, so people return. This is a key to stickiness!

That is where brands will find the answer - in sponsoring the content which is being created, not necessarily in creating a game where you play whack a mole with branded toilet tissue..... The advertisers will be IN the show and part of it. Think of Youtube and how powerful the content creation is there and how sponsors and advertisers have aligned themselves successfully with actual entertainment video.

*Clears Voice*

*Get me Grey Goose on the line, Tell them I'll drink a virtual martini on the show tomorrow! It doesn't matter if it's 10AM on the West Coast! I'm not driving!*

Plus the content can be streamed / filmed / rebroadcast forever and this reinforces the Media Content and the Sponsors. 

So tomorrow - Log in as a Guest, chat away in text with interesting people and WIN A PRIZE!!!! We are also have a mini quiz / trivial show with a Prize! Brush up on your SpongeBobVerse stuff!

C'mon along and enter a virtual environment where you have a name, no matter how ridiculous it may be, a presence no matter how shiny and people will be talking and interacting with and around you in this immersive journey of fun!

Because Fun is one of life's only rewards......

If you have a question please write to info@pookymedia.com with Metaquette in the subject line and it will be answered!

Metaquette #Virtualcapital #Capital #FWIW Q38

 Tips & Tricks for negotiating The Metaverse with........Pooky Amsterdam

We measure ourselves by a metric of worth in many ways, usually by how much we have and what we can spend. Money is a zero sum game. If I have $100 and I give you $20, I have $80 left. It's no mystery; it's math. There are many things on this Earth which are not a zero sum game though, and can be considered a form of capital. Love, for example, If I give you love, or friendship that doesn't mean I have less of either to give someone else. Time is another form of capital, and one of the resources we have which is not renewable. We often measure time against that other constant of money. But in the gaming world time is itself the new currency, and how much time you spend with and in a game or world or Metaverse will determine how meaningful that experience is to you. Most Metaverse experiences are elective, we are not required to go or to enter a Metaverse, in the same way we are not required to watch Jeopardy, or NCIS. The Metaverse is an elective activity, a choice for entertainment. So what kind of capital can we get out of that?

Q: What kinds of Capital can you get out of The Metaverse?

Capital is the concept of anything of value or benefit to its owners. Money is one. There are many others: Emotional Capital, or the feelings you get out of something; Physical Capital, either physical beauty, athletic prowess or the ability to lift your couch; Intellectual Capital, inspiring thought or the mental gymnastics or dance we perform to figure things out; Virtual capital, AI Capital, from ChatGPT to Lovelace Studios machine solutions will provide by our efforts, and prompts.

While the usual ways to obtain ka-ching from various Web 2.0 / 3.0 are through content creation, coin exchange or real estate, it is the Emotional Capital's general rule, "what you receive is what you invest" that matters. Connections with a complete stranger and a bond over shared interests or a similar sense of humor is one of the great fraternal delights found in a virtual environment. Joining a group of people around a hologram campfire can spark lifelong friendships. it starts when the friend request comes in and you come back the next day to say hi.

Your Physical capital in the Metaverse is one where your actual physical strength means nothing, because you can terraform with your mouse, lift a building with a click and everyone looks great in The Metaverse. It's a great equalizer when everyone is beautiful, it can mean who you are inside is more important than how you look.

Intellectual capital is abundant, an example is the victorious feeling one has upon figuring something out. Learning how to negotiate the terrain of the Metaverse, contributes to our skill sets of what we can do, and because of the proximity of many diverse people doing many different things, entering the Metaverse can lead to gaining knowledge about things we didn't know before. At the very least, getting around, figuring out the UI can be puzzle solving.  And as pre-visualization is a huge strength of the Metaverse, knowing beforehand tricky intricacies of a project by building them first virtually is another form of Intellectual Capital provided by these super platforms.

AI Capital is trumpeted as machine knowledge that will contribute to the growth of this platform. "The future of meetings is 3D and powered by AI." Runs the headline, certainly AI is capable of transactioning a great deal of writing, which could translate to conversation, as we see with ChatGPT. If the Metaverse can build itself, populate itself and make itself attractive to human interest there is a great deal of AI capital to be mined there too. The question of give and take is an interesting one as the more we give AI in terms of knowledge of how we operate the more it can also give us in terms of helping us solution the real and imagined problems we face. 

Enter The Metaverse for an abundance of capital, not all of which you can put into your bank account, but valuable nonetheless.

If you have a question, please email info@pookystudio.com with Metaquette in the subject line and it will be answered!

Metaquette #Metaverse #Empathy #FutureoftheMetaverse #Humanity #Allinthistogether

Tips & Tricks for negotiating The Metaverse with.........Pooky Amsterdam 

One of the great benefits of our modern times is the ability to share information across the world and in real time. A recent discussion on a Telegram thread created by the awesome Remco Sikkema called See You In The Metaverse  😎🚀 has sparked this blog. There was mention of bullying and toxic behavior on Discord and other platforms by someone who has first hand experience with those who create such destructive havoc. Remco said, "Somehow I hope the Metaverse brings back a form of personal safety. Because the internet cannot provide it in the end." And it got me thinking of the future, and the future of The Metaverse.

Q: Can The Metaverse bring back a form of personal safety?

That which enables people to harass, disrespect and harm others during our very short time on Earth is problematic. The moderator who was talking about this kind of egregious behavior made note of mental health issues, which makes sense. Crossing those kinds of borders where "I" think it's okay to anonymously push "you" around is not all right. This point was brought home in a conversation with a friend, who I greatly respect. He said, "'You' have no idea who 'I' am until you have walked a mile in my shoes."  

Which made me think of how the Metaverse can help people understand one another more, and if we understand each other more, maybe we will not be so ready to inflict harm. Because if I hurt you, I hurt myself. And so this is part of the Empathy Trials which The Metaverse can accomplish in ways that any other platform can not. What do I mean by this? Here is an example:

One of my friends in The Metaverse was male irl, but played as a female avatar, for a variety of reasons, he said the shopping experience was much better for one. He also noted to me that before he played as a female, he had no idea the amount of catcall and intimidating type behaviors women and girls are subjected to. His experience as a woman, informed him in ways that just being told...women are harassed on the street, could not. He had an Empathy Trial so to speak, and in that learned something very valuable.

Imagine in the future, as part of the Human Contract with our lifetime, we had to complete a form of certification which showed we understood how other people lived, and how other people felt.  Because if you knew how my life was, and that it had hardship, danger and troubles just like yours, it might reduce any need for aggressive behavior. If you could really feel what I was going through, that is.

In the Metaverse we can take on an avatar of any color, race, sex and / or religion. We could live in an area where our beliefs were not shared by the majority of others around us.  We would have to get out of our echo chambers. We could virtually live in a ghetto or slum or trailer park. We could see what extreme poverty was like and also examine how vulnerable we felt in a variety of different circumstances. Or as a man / male-identifying, one could play as female / female-identifying and vice a versa. All this could help demystify the differences between us and bring us closer together as a human species, for we are more alike, certainly physiologically in so many ways, than we are different.

And we would need to exist in this form for a certain amount of time, a time in which we might begin to identify with that other person, one whom we might not have had any sympathy for otherwise. Imagine we would learn to hate less, and hopefully begin to see ourselves as a part of a greater humanity. These Are the Empathy Trails we could offer in The Metaverse. 

The great Nonny de la Pena has created these kinds of situations virtually, with her Emblematic Group which is a triumph of immersive storytelling. Through her work, people have experienced what it is like in Gitmo, The US/ Mexican Border, Bombing in Syria and Hunger in Los Angeles, for examples. Would we not be better people if we had to face what our horrified reactions are,  how we wanted it to stop and how living someone else's life makes us feel? This opens our eyes and hearts to the "other" among us. And it has helped heal wounds, because if I can help you, I can help heal myself.

Wouldn't it be amazing if in order to go further in a game, or platform we had to participate in some kind of virtual community service as part of the TOS? Or to level up? Or as a consequence for bullying another player in the game, we would have to take on something of their persona for a while, or be banned? 

Clicking a mile in someone else's virtual shoes IS possible in the Metaverse. This should be something we desire to learn, it would make us more rounded, caring, human and less afraid. We have seen what hate, uncontrolled behavior and violence does....tragically. Both anger and fear limit greatly what we can accomplish in our very short lifetimes, we need to embrace the Family Human in all our manifestations. Let us feel better about ourselves and others through The Metaverse.

Bring on The Empathy Trials! 

If you have a question, please send it to info@pookymedia.com with Metaquette in the subject line and it will be answered.

Metaquette #Metaverse #SecondLife #VirtualWorld #Avatar #TOUR #MetaverseExplorers

Tips & Tricks for negotiating The Metaverse with.............Pooky Amsterdam 

Roll up for the Magical Second Life Tour!

Dear peoples of The Metaverse, no matter your degree of interest, Second Life should not have escaped your notice.  Here are 18 Facts of Second Life you might want to know, including that the Second Life GDP is now around $600million. Daniel Van Der Waals the dashing head of the Metaverse Explorers group has asked me to lead the tour into Second Life. 

Second Life is a user created world in many respects, and it is that which makes it so sticky. The residents of Second Life have a stake in this game, we build in this game, we literally and figuratively have skin in this game. Second Life is huge, it has everything, people do everything and anything there, it has tremendous User Generated Content in its marketplace and awesome UGC for a variety of activities and destinations.  Did I say Destinations? This guide has almost 50 separate categories, including something like 10 separate genres for music alone.  This weekend is the 16th Virtual World Best Practice in Education conference with educators from across the globe presenting their insights, methods and how to teach in the Metaverse, programs.  Sweet 16! Worth a look to see the wide variety of topics that are covered!

Second Life has its own currency, the Linden and exchange (Thank you to Tilla) which works incredibly well as people buy and sell in a marketplace with clarity as to the revenue they receive, and which they can easily withdraw too.

There is no one blog that could sum up everything Second Life has to offer, and if you ask the residents of SL, as it is called,  what is the best thing about it, most would say the people we have met, and the great friendships which transcend all platforms.

Q: Second Life will celebrate its 20th Birthday this June, is it still relevant as a Metaverse?

Yes, it is, it is the grand daddy of the Metaverse! Most Metaverses offer the same kind of things, but Second Life due to its longevity, has the experts and the expertise on what really works over time. You can stream movies into SL, you can stream your SL experience out to the rest of the world too. You can buy, rent and sell land, or build a community around your particular interests and you can dance if you want to, there are tons of mocap dancing animations to buy. 

Yes the learning curve is a bit steep, many residents tend to be interested in technology yet unlike Roblox, Minecraft or Fortnite  where most users are tweens and teens, the demographic skews to adults. Second Life is a grown up kind of place where you will meet other grown - ups, even if some of them take on a younger persona, or even a furry one. The many skins  we wear in Second Life are merely soul wrappings to who we are inside, much as our outside skin wraps our own souls. 

By the way, if you are a performer - and want to be part of the Big Birthday party, applications are now open for this! 

The learning curve is something to master though. And there are many many tutorials on how to do that.

Here is one which also includes how to download the preferred viewer for Second Life which is called Firestorm.  And here is a direct link to Firestorm, where you can click on which of the operating systems you use. In the video above, an avatar named Lux takes us through the various windows we click in a Second day. In Second Life you can communicate with the person next to you so no one else hears in whisper, or send text to the amassed audience and even shout across a Sim if needed. You can text, or talk to someone privately in the instant message box and you can use voice too. The communications capabilities are truly awesome and really set a standard for how in-world contact should be.

In a world where Metaverses will come and go, Second Life has that here - to - stay quality where investing in your inventory feels secure.  A few years back PookyMedia was asked to create a video for new users, it still has its charm though the new landing destination has changed: A Year In The Life of Second Life  One's Second Life, like one's physical life is an evolution, we evolve in our Second Lives through the skills we learn on our own and from each other. In Second Life we have the ability to do anything, but more often than not we will help n00bies with learning, no matter how old we are, we were all new once. 

Please join me on a tour of Second Life that will take in a large variety of stunning locations, impressive builds, fabulous shopping and fun activities!

If you want to ahead of the tour friend request me, please do. I am Pooky Amsterdam!

If you have a question please put Metaquette in the subject and send to info@pookymedia.com and it will be answered!

METAQUETTE #Metaverse #Musical #Mambo #Motel #Reallusion #Iclone #unrealengine #ChatGPT #Culture Q35

Tips & Tricks for negotiating The Metaverse with............Pooky Amsterdam 

The Metaverse is where the next best stories will take place, maybe even with you as a leading character starring in your own cartoon movie. The Metaverse has been front and center recently but in my own first person journey, massive multiplayer platforms have inspired me in all ways. Actually my years of virtual existence distilled itself into a Major Musical, which once produced onstage, will be streamed live into The Metaverse itself.  The vision is an uber-meta cultural configuration, moving forward onto bigger stages.  

The basis of inspiration behind my two-act 17 original song musical, whose characters are iconic both as the Players behind the denizens of Mambo Motel, and the characters they chose to represent, have roots in personal experiences. With action that occur simultaneously "behind the screen" and onstage, there are many recognizable themes, concerning relationships online we can all find familiarity with.  

I was compelled to write this play as a celebration of The Metaverse, and it's freedoms. Yet I also needed to show the pathos we leave behind in the physical world but also encounter in the virtual ones.

Tammy, who maintains her husbands avatar, TJMoney

-Trading Card-

One of the more poignant characters of Mambo Motel is the widow Tammy, who has not been able to remove her husband's account, even though he's passed away, his avatar was TJMoney. She has a small child. Isolated, worried about money and missing him greatly, she used his stored password to inhabit his Mambo, now on a daily basis. She's behind TJMoney in Mambo Motel now, running his Royal Trade & Casino empire with great skill and panache, as he sings big songs about big trades.

 In The Metaverse she has respect, opportunity to make money, friends and have fun without the responsibilities of the physical world, without the pressures of single motherhood. Tammy has her backstory moment when she has to take a call from her mother, and the audience overhears the conversation. If you have ever tried to explain a virtual obsession to someone who has no idea what you are talking about, you can relate to this video.

TJMoney mentors the show's protagonist, a n00bie named Pretender, in reality, a Prince that longs to find a place where he can escape from the ghastly media glare of his life. A place where he can just be....himself. The Prince finds the anonymity he seeks in Mambo Motel, where we all log in equally.

Q: What modern cultural works are about The Metaverse?

The Metaverse was inspired itself by a landmark cultural work.  The incredibly seminal and exciting work of fiction, Neal Stephenson's "Snowcrash" has been said to have inspired Mr. Philip Rosedale to create Second Life.  So a cultural work inspired The Metaverse, which continues to inspire, ex. Neal Stephenson is behind Lamina1 an up and coming much anticipated Metaverse. 

Mambo Motel portrays the seamlessness between who we are as physical beings on Earth and whom we wish to become in our digital presence. The Metaverse allows us to believe in our lives fantastic, as we see and speak for ourselves within this "new" being of the avatar.

AI also seems to know us well.... ChatGPT, with a few prompts was able to generate the text you will hear sent through an audiofile on Studio-Id to generate a talking character from a picture of Tammy. Here is more information about the character, yet I think you can see that the auto-generate graphics are no match for the skill and craft of an artist like Benjamin Tuttle, who is our technical director. He is using a program like Reallusion's iClone Character creator and Unreal Engine to create the video. Linked here again.  The final image is of The Royal Trade & Casino, with its spinning wheels and prizes; that set and the others were created in Second Life.

As Mambo Motel ~ The Metaverse Musical is the project closest to my heart, I want to, and will write about the characters, and scenarios while spreading some of the joyous music too in weeks to come. This work is mixed media, and multi-platform incorporating the virtual with the physical, yet contains a significant switch to underscore the seamlessness of virtual identity.  

The Players are portrayed as synthetically created while human actors portray the Mambos onstage. All of these competing aspects of our personalities, what drives us, where we find our bliss, and where we can freely express ourselves, comes to life within the virtual environment of the musical. What we can not be in the physical world, can become second nature to us behind the mask of our avatar.

The background film will also show who is playing each of the 6 lead Characters, and show us their lives behind their Mambo, with a good example seen in the video of Tammy. That scene ends with the Casino Set,  which TJMoney will stand in front of onstage during his scenes. This stage screen will also run bright digital sets, loading screens and toolbars so the audience feels they have logged into The Metaverse itself. 

TJMoney in Mambo Motel

When the lights go on center stage, we enter Mambo Motel. This is the first musical to take place in The Metaverse. Would love to hear any feedback and comments are welcome!

If you have a question, please email info@pookymedia.com with Metaquette in the subject and it will be answered.

Metaquette #AIbot #ChatGPT #MyAI #Chatbot #PersonalChatbot #Avatar Q34

Tips & Tricks for negotiating the Metaverse with.......Pooky Amsterdam

MY AI aka The PookyBot

AI is supposed to make our lives easier, better and more fulfilling.....right? Being able to prompt our way to success in all things of interest, is almost irresistible. It was irresistible enough to me, and with a recent video explaining all the steps to becoming a complete bot, I created this! 

Please click on the MY AI aka The PookyBot  below the picture of me in my fabulous almost Spring outfit, for the message from ChatGPT & me.

Q: In The Metaverse, is it appropriate to lift the words right out of ChatGPT's mouth?

If you are not doing this, then you might not be using the latest available tools at your disposal to create content. And creating content is a primary focus of any platform. You can go to Mid Journey, and get an image generated additionally, but I picked my avatar because I identify so strongly with "her" in fact so much so I can't call this an "it."

Using some original thinking, and a prompt which involved "finding oneself by losing oneself in the Metaverse", this was put together quickly and the lip sync is very good. With a bit of tweaking, the message sounds very much like mine, though I did not go for the audio clip upload which would replicate my  actual voice.

Maybe next time, as I will be using my personal PookyBot for announcements and marketing of Mambo Motel ~ The Metaverse Musical

PS > The programs I used for this were : 

Second Life for the avatar

ChatGPT for the message (somewhat augmented by yours truly)

An Upscaler for the image 

11Eleven Labs for the AI generated voice

Studio D-id for the video

I did have a Mid Journey avatar, but it felt less authentic to me, than the one above whom I have clicked a million miles in. Also I got to pick out my own outfit......which I can change, and do! 

PPS > To generate anything you want from Mid Journey, go to discord and join mid journey. Pick a noobie group and type in something that begins with

/imagine, and then your prompts, for the mid journey AI will then start to generate images for you!

If you have a question, please email info@pookymedia.com with the subject of Metaquette and it will be answered! 

Metaquette #Metaverse #Retro #Future #ThroughThePastSmartly Q33

Tips & Tricks for negotiating The Metaverse with................Pooky Amsterdam

Futurum Retro

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." As Santayana said over a hundred years ago. While we humans do tend to replicate mistakes, we also have the luxury of do-overs and for some of us in the Metaverse world, we have added benefits of experience. 

Q: Is it possible to learn from past Metaverse success to help us build these platforms of tomorrow?

Once upon A Time, when Second Life was in a hype cycle, up then down. The news didn't focus on what worked, it was: companies were misguided, didn't understand the platform,  just misspent boatloads of money and brand goodwill. Sounds familiar a bit?

To help the ever expanding Multi-Metaverse of Web 2 - 3 where more of them will come, (including retooling ones that are out there Meta / Horizon World, I'm looking at you!) I thought it would be cool  to find a few things that resonated in a deeper way. There is an arena of meaning and empathy which can be transmitted in a virtual environment, and it can bring joy.  We can think about incorporating that into our virtual future, because some bliss is what we earn at the end of a long day. Can we learn from notable experiences to improve the landscape for what lies in virtual front of us, literally and figuratively?

 In 2005, I couldn't raise $3M for my entertainment focused virtual world where shows, series and programs would be user generated. StudioDome never happened. So I found Second Life 3 years later and produced The 1st Question, a Sci/Tech Quiz Show on "Network TV." then The Dating Casino. We had a great team, and got into working on award winning game engine cinema for years. In late 2011, I wrote an open letter which highlighted some very special things I experienced in that seminal Metaverse.

It recently came across my radar....Some highlights  and comments, which might have relevance today, all the below happened in Second Life:

*********

The platform continues to enthuse and nourish many. I can give you a few first hand examples of a kind of experience very hard to find elsewhere. At a mixed reality event in 2009, I saw Helen Thomas and Bob Schieffer in Second Life. They were receiving the Edward R. Murrow lifetime Achievement Award. Ms. Thomas took questions from the audience, including mine and responded with candor and insight into 9/11, the press and the Bush administration. 

(How do we get good journalism to come to The Metaverse?)

During the interview with Holocaust survivor Fanny Starr for the documentary "Why Now?" a Catholic High School teacher physically across the country from Ms. Starr, brought her class of 14 and 16 year old girls to hear Ms Starr speak and to ask her questions about her experience in the Concentration Camps. They asked and learned what her life was like at their age. 

(How to use the Metaverse to educate about  Humanitarian Crises?)

I interviewed a cancer survivor who was one of the pioneers of Relay For Life in Second Life, who had fear of needles she couldn't talk about and many other fears she didn't want to to burden her family with. She was deeply helped by the community of cancer survivors, their families and those in every stages of the disease from all over the world. The ACS RFL in SL has raised about 4 million dollars and that is real money which goes directly to them.  Wonderful teams create architectural and thematic builds, part of a week long celebration, broadcast and parade.

(How do we engage the Metaverse to put us in touch with Global Health Issues?) 

There was a show called Virtually Speaking Science, hosted by the Meta Institute of Computational Astrophysics (MICA) whose scientists work at premier institutions like CalTech. VS Science had hosts like authors Alan Boyle  and Thomas Levenson. I was part of the listening, commenting and questioning studio audience there for interviews with Daniel Elsberg, Gloria Feldt and Dahlia Lithwick.

(How do we use the Metaverse as a Media Platform for incredibly interesting broadcasts?)

*********

This might not be for all, but these are high-level activities by anyone's standards and indicative of what can be. Nourishing beyond belief, not only for the content but for the shared interests of the heart and mind. People have the ability to meet from anywhere, anytime to expand their view and understanding.

It isn't shopping, but you can do that too. A producer of Virtually Speaking, Widget Whiteberry commented on that open letter of her experiences in SL: 

"...as in any major city one could, with a little persistence, find anything. My favorites are live music, good conversation, intelligent builds and opportunities for reflection and networking." 

(Your Metaverse needs a real directory of events and featured listings)

"....companies, who seemed to have misapprehended virtuality, confusing it for a 3-D web presence. I must have visited a dozen builds created for companies selling products and services. In all cases I could click through to a website and buy a product there. In rare cases, I could click on an information link or pick up a digital sample of whatever the product.

(Take note, you do not have to own an NFT, or figure how to get it into your wallet to make that digital connection with a product. There should be zero barriers to download for that. A company should want to send a little bit of virtual bling to their potential and existing user base.)

"I don't recall ever finding an online indicator, let alone a staff person to talk with." 

(Will people be more likely to buy with an AI bot, or Person?)

Is your Metaverse providing what your end users want? The Metaverse can deliver on many things, including deeply interesting questions and provide a forum for collaborative answers.

With, or without AI....

If you have a question, please email info@pookymedia.com with Metaquette in the subject and it will be answered.

Metaquette #Metaverse #VirtualHype #HypeCycle #DAU #MAU #Time #ROI #MilkshakeTest Q32

Tips & Tricks for negotiating The Metaverse with................................Pooky Amsterdam

Have we been to this movie before?

AltspaceVR is shuttering, Microsoft is shutting it down after its decade long run and approximately 10,000 will lose their jobs.  Meta lost $700B in valuation after pumping a lot of money in this space, which in October, Wall Street called it a train wreck, yet Meta keeps pumping money into The Metaverse. And the US Military's metaverse firm Improbable is shutting down it's US defense arm.  The Metaverse was supposed to be as ubiquitous as SmartPhones.....what happened?

There was a lot of Hype, FOMO and in the end there are just so many hours in a day for the adult end user to give to elective places to go. We aren't yet at the point where our Metaverse time rivals binge watching numbers.  Unless there is an "Emily In Paris" watch-party in Spatial with Lily Collins in the audience, which would incentivize me to get some brand spanking new virtual clothes!

And Microsoft also owns Activision Blizzard which owns World of Warcraft, among other titles. I'd love to see Balenciaga there!

Over $150B was invested in The Metaverse in 2022. And according to the Mckinsey report just cited, The Metaverse could generate $4 - 5 Trillion by 2030. Optimism is  still high. Linux is launching an Open Metaverse Foundation. And companies are still looking for the Killer app, or apps.....Can we find the place where the end users right to happiness does not interfere with profit-making? 

Q: How Does The Metaverse survive this Hype Cycle?

Does anyone remember Blue Mars? It still has 3,000 users mainly from a university affiliation. There.com? It still runs a blog and more. Even in the 1990's there were a spate of massive Multiplayer Online Games that were virtually happening even before Second Life made its debut. And Second Life is still going strong, despite having closed its VR based Metaverse called Sansar back in 2020. PS, even though SL doesn't support Sansar anymore, there is a dedicated community of people who keep it alive, and according to this events page there are things happening all the time. 

The Metaverse is Entertainment, what people get from it is what makes it tick. Here amazing people  decided the enjoyment they got was important enough to keep the platform alive without any visible means of support!

That's impressive.

The Metaverse exists, maybe not in it's ultimate mixed-reality incarnation as we are still building it, but the concept has been with us for quite a while. There is a bit of "new toyness" of this hype cycle of Web.3 and NFT gazillionaires has everyone expecting the New Metaverse to take over, on the scale of Facebook. However nothing is Facebook, not even Facebook or Meta or Horizons which are all the same company. NFT's aren't even NFTs anymore......ask Porsche.

Not everyone is going to love the Metaverse, not everyone is going to love your Metaverse, but chances are there are a lot of people who have experience in The Metaverse that this current Hype Cycle left out because they were part of Web 2.0. The Metaverse needs time to develop, needs those with prior knowledge on what makes a great user experience to assist. Because we humans are still kind of v1.0, the same problems which closed down other worlds from inactivity are still with us today. What do we want The Metaverse to do for us? Can it get that job done and pass The MilkShake Test?

In these new worlds where the virtual and the physical are one, there are still all the old problems of; why business in the Metaverse is not yet tearing it up. So the question is: Are you giving the customer what they really want for their time? At this point it takes a bit of a leap, Magic or otherwise for someone/anyone to go into The Metaverse. 

When it's as easy as turning on the TV, it will be more widely adopted. This is an entertainment option among many that competes for our time.

Does last year's $150B spend on The metaverse, mean your company's version of success is a fast ROI for the millions invested? If the measure of success is unique daily active users (DAU) and your Metaverse can't get more than 8,000 people in world at any one time but the expectation was 100,000 this week and 200,000 next week, perhaps the problem isn't with your Metaverse but the expectations for it. The goals don't seem to be to break even, but to have some presence using it as a medium for adverts, clothes, NFTs. So what you are offering the players in it besides? How do you keep this alive?

Use it as a media not a medium.

Who is going to invest the kind of money, marketing included to have a great place to play, relax, meet friends and have fun, without a guarantee? We have gone beyond the cool NFT if a blue-chip brand like Porsche can't come in and make a fortune selling them, where it's fans and wannabees can help design Porsches future in virtual worlds. That isn't good for The Metaverse? Posche should sponsor a Luxury Car Talk Show and broadcast it live: From Partyspace, Porsche Talk Live!

(AR, XR and Holographic co-reality will also become more a part of the day. As we spend a lot of time at the computer, taking augmentation with us will take us further, and get us up and outside. This might be the next wave to build on. It would be great to have an AR version of my Call of Duty Buddy as I walked down the street, a fleet of agreeable penguins or both.)

If you wanted to build a rocket ship to navigate the intergalactic gravitational superhighways, you would not need to learn how to build a plane like the Wright Brothers, but you would need to bone up on available  rocket science technology to get you to that stop. It is the same with The Metaverse, the technology that builds Multi User Virtual Environments has been around for ages. What is new is our dashboard, or the VR headsets which we need to become fully immersed. And now there is blockchain, perhaps interoperability. While that technology and those price points still have to adjust to the market and human physiology, we can still enter The Metaverse. What makes us want to find all the joys of these new worlds?

The Metaverse could be a media platform, a place to watch media alone, or with company. It is Entertainment the same way we are entertained by watching streaming series except we are the content as well. 

Cathy Hackl's amazing new What'sApp group pasted us this: 7,000 Crypto investors were asked what is the strongest Metaverse trend and just about 70% said Entertainment. This is why people keep there.com alive, why Second Life has a million MAU's after 20 years and why RecRoom, Spatial, Decentraland are places to go. Because it is Entertaining and Fun. It is all about providing entertainment to the end user, and that comes in many ways, that's our Milkshake Test, does the Metaverse experience we provide do the job of being fun and worthy of return?

The Metaverse is Entertainment, we are the media in it. Our adventures have to be part of the reward.

If you have a question email info@pookymedia.com with Metaquette in the subject and it will be answered.

Metaquette #Metaverse #MediaPlatform #Metaversemedia #MediaMetaverse #UGC #machinima Q31

Tips & Tricks for negotiating The Metaverse with........Pooky Amsterdam 

Cinema done on machine, familiarly called machinima is returning, in fact it's never left.

About a decade ago I produced a 3-day event in Second Life which saw many people from Jason Silva to Dean Takahashi to Will Wright inhabit avatars to speak on a virtual stage about Media, and the viability and future of filmed content created from virtual worlds. The Poster for that weekend is our blog picture this week. And you can find Ricky Grove, and lots of info on contemporary machinima here.

The Metaverse is a Media Platform.  A movie set, and a moving set for avatars of business and play who visit there. The First Person Story we create is part of the greater media that is The Metaverse, as it's people based. It is a UGC platform because each person's experience is singular and their own, they are creating it there. The FPSt is part of the content created in a virtual world defined as communication, moving, interaction and / or response. As we are observing ourselves on a screen or with a display, we are media, a step away from our physical bodies. 

Q: How can you use The Metaverse as a Media Platform?

If The Metaverse is media for one, it's a media platform for many.  

Taking part in any one of a myriad of virtual happenings is your introduction to starring in your own cartoon movie every night. Look at Decentraland's weekly newsletter with a constant stream of community organized events. Fortnite has a challenge tracker. Or find something here. Joining in on the fun is being part of the show. We are the media in the game.

And we can make or buy content that act like props in your digital life movie. Streamers on YouTube, VR and  video tours of favorite things to do populate YouTube.  And can you believe Spatial has become the best place to play mixed reality shooter games? It also has ingame filming options.

If a Metaverse does not have some of its users making videos about it, that's a bad sign. And if one of them doesn't have a million views, the fan base is not motivated enough. The Gamer Gods can only do so many tutorials. This classic from Sean Kruger is one for the ages though, Man vs Second Life.

Rec Room, with 7M MAU has a video of the creation ecosystem developed with Unity. That is such a wonderful step. Maybe the Metaverse with the largest UGC wins. That has been the unifying, universal model for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter et al. UGC is what we make, what we do and what we are. 

With so many streaming and video opportunities, nothing really holds us back but a cool tag and secure password.  You want to do your own videos, streams, etc? The character is your avatar, the sets and costumes are made or purchased to your liking.  In The Metaverse we are content, and create it, just like in the physical world. 

Decide what you want to get across, whether you are a brand, a concept or an individual. The Metaverse is a malleable environment and will bend to your will. The other avatars, not so much unless what you are providing is fun, fresh and interesting.

Here are some ways to use The Metaverse as a Media Platform:

• Stream live from your, or another avatars POV: Ask random avatars a question of the day.
• Host a talk show with invited guests from around the world. All you have to do is make sure they can log in, sit down and talk.
• Create a branded community and use the backdrop for a web series. Create a storyboard first of  screenshots
• Make a gameshow, open mic, debate etc with avatar audiences and film it.
• Check out what Metaverse Explorers is doing in Party.Space. Pitch Nights which bring the community together around shared interests.

In a terrific group run by the estimeable Remco Sikkema, someone posted about a movie they saw recently. And I thought we should all pile into a metaverse and have a watch party, making comments aloud like Mystery Science Theater 3000. While I am a sit forward and engage kind of person, this is yet another way to encourage media in The Metaverse.

The Metaverse is a media platform, it can stream live or pre-recorded video and events inside and / or outside that metaverse. We also can create that media and be the content within it. Let's make that meaningful and engaging.

If you have a question, send it to info@pookymedia.com with Metaquette in the subject line and it will be answered.

Metaquette #UGC #Metaverse #MetaverseofPeople Q30

 Tips & Tricks for negotiating The metaverse with.....................Pooky Amsterdam

Word-Up: a segment of The 1st Question where the panelists competed for best made up word.

I love the Metaverse. Discovering virtual worlds meant discovering a way to create content I wouldn't have been able to make elsewhere or otherwise. While I am not personally a creator of those virtual assets which are made with prims or scripts, they're essential for my use as producer and writer of Metaverse videos and real-time game shows.  I also collaborate with people I know from the Metaverse. We all work to our strengths. All of us were drawn to becoming an avatar, and we found fulfillment with our new abilities there. With resources we couldn't find elsewhere. We need to find where people get their enjoyment being in the Metaverse.

Q: What do people want out of The Metaverse?

 I think to answer this question, we should think of what people want to put into the Metaverse, and spend time with. What brings us joy? What brings us bliss? Just like on Earth, where we work on projects and hobbies which bring us the happiness of creation.  Can we realize feelings of productivity, humor and the best we are capable of in a virtual world? 

If we have a hand in creating what that is, then yes.

The Metaverse now is a shiny place, it sure looks good, and interesting! There are places to go and hang-out which are slick looking, wonderfully bright and well-designed, but often empty after the main event. I understand that AI might be populating these places soon but I wouldn't mind, for example, a cafe I could enter in Spatial, which had a real world physical outpost. Wouldn't it be cool for a coffee chain to have a virtual place and in their physical stores had some kind of way for customers to log into the virtual one? Even through a default branded avatar. This would build an almost constant presence for the cafe too, and one that might be 24/7 in it's persistency. Up all night? Well it is caffeine fueled!!

What do we want out of the Metaverse? 

What do we want can also mean what do we want to do there? Creator tools are really important. A hired Unity developer makes a ton of stuff yet there is a look which creates a sameness to the landscape. When more people can make their own digital things, then walking through the Metaverse has the feel of the hands of many.  Hiring someone, or "someones," could be the only way to get started, but don't we want to build worlds where we, the end users can also become involved with creating assets for the platform? Isn't that what the company would want too? The Metaverse must have content.

Isn't it preferable to have a user base so involved that it's working on creating all kinds of items for their fellow denizens of whichever world they were in to use? Is your Metaverse just a place to pass through and look, or kind of shop? Or does it offer a way for people to work on things, work on something fun in your world because they want to? Are there appealing Calls-To-Action anywhere beyond an NFT or XR code? For many, the Metaverse is elective, time not binge-watching or doing the laundry.

Love fashion? There should be a fashionista hangout in The Metaverse where you can show off your latest great creation, or purchase. I hate being in the metaverse all dressed up with nowhere to teleport.  Want a place to virtually swan around in, and maybe run into other people in the Fashion biz.  Sports? Music? Wine? What kind? A Metaverse must let their users create groups, with the ability to invite people into them. Groups build community too.

Want to offer your interest set to others? Want to learn? There should be some kind of Message Board for people to post their skills if they are looking for a fun project to work on. Maybe a musician can work on a theme song for something or a music venue needs a musician? UGC is one of the strongest pulls to any of the incredibly successful social media platforms out there now. We love it.

While you can't cook food you can actually eat yet in VR, XR or the Metaverse, if you liked French seafood wouldn't it be great if there was a wonderful real little restaurant off the coast of Montpelier, and the owner had a cool virtual restaurant to hang out in? Fruit de mer foodies from all over the world could talk about recipes they wanted to try, or were trying.  The Chef could have an AMA. People would bond over their shared passion, talking about their travels to great seafood experiences, sharing media and discussing how to aid the oceans health. What happens? A fan base for the restaurant, bonding experience, something fun to relate to and a place where other people talk about cuisine you love.  

You dont even have to leave your pajamas, but it does seem a perfect opportunity for a travel agent to visit. Buying the trip to that restaurant in France and booking it in The Metaverse? Why not? If the coin is one both parties are willing to trade in? And the platform gets a small currency transaction fee. 

The UGC becomes part of what people come to your Metaverse for. Giving tools to your user base to create programs looks like a huge benefit. I created two shows, 20 people could create how many more? Buzzers and game boards should be accessible as content, or some kind or adaptable User Interface.  Allow the program creators to have a commercial interest in their own enterprise as that will also encourage content. A program can have sponsors and physical world connection to prizes. Being an avatar in a game in The Metaverse means you have a presence, you are not just a data point voting for a winner. It is a higher level of being there.

People in the Metaverse should be able to create their own programs that other people take part of either as panel or audience. The Metaverse is even more than a place to watch a show or video, it should be a place to create original content. Plus the results can be filmed with in-Metaverse tools and shared. The Metaverse could host avatar based content which also acts like soft advertising for The Metaverse. It becomes an ecosystem. 

FaceBook, YouTube, Instagram and other social media channels all have users uploading content. They are huge because of UGC.  What other people can produce is exciting, we have to give people a way to make their content, whether film, texture or thing.  The Metaverse has the ability to become a place where people go to see what other people have created, and take part in it. The Metaverse has to encourage engagement where people want to spend time as their avatar, doing things only the avatar can do, with other people whom they meet only because they are an avatar. 

Somethings happen more organically, like someone setting up a weekly recurring poetry slam where people can hang their own poems on the wall, drop in, always open and get to know one another. Other things need planning, pre-production, sound checks and some guarantee of an audience, like a game show with a script, host, panel and studio audience. Doing both of those changed my life, and my name.

There is a Euphoria that comes over us when we surf the Internet, our dopamine is released, we love being online. Being in The Metaverse should be part of that lift, that feeling of accomplishment, of engagement, of surprise and pleasure. We all know what businesses want, to make sales, improve workflow and seem cool. What people want is what the Metaverse will evolve into, and those that give folks the ability to make their dreams come true will prosper.

If you have a question, please email info@pookymedia.com with Metaquette in the subject matter and it will be answered.

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