After 12 years of experience with the implementation of
Second Life, Linden Lab is testing its new platform: "The Sansar
Project". The word Sansar means "World" in the Hindi language.
A group of designers were invited to help with the tests and,
at the moment, they are experimenting with this new concept.
The new platform promises to be more democratic, making it
easier for people to create and share their creations. With reduced barriers
for these creations, the Sansar project aims to target a wide range of people
who may have interest and are trained to develop professional quality and more
realistic ideas.
The new platform also intends to expand its capability and
hopes to be available not only for gaming and entertainment, but also for
education, architecture, business meetings, and other purposes.
Sansar will enable users to immerse in a 3D experience with
more realistic motion, better sound quality and lighting.
The reason why Linden Lab chose to create a new platform is
because any improvement that can be currently made in second life, cannot
embrace the new technologies available. The best thing to do or the easiest way
to go, in technological terms, is to create a new platform, compatible with all
existing tools.
Linden Lab aims to provide
this new platform in 2016.
The question we all have is: Will Second Life still exist
after Project Sansar?
When asked about this issue, Linden Lab said it doesn’t have
plans to discontinue Second Life. So the answer is yes, it is believed that SL will live after the project Sansar open its
doors as a parallel universe. What is not known is whether the same name will
be retained.
I talked to some residents to learn about what they think
about Sansar project:
Camury: "What are your concerns
and fears about the Sansar Project coming in 2016".
Joymell resident: "I think the SL will continue.
Even with the limits for the absorption of new technologies, many changes have
occurred in the last two years. I have no worries or fears, I am anxious to
know is how is this new project. I imagine that this new platform should
provide more tools to users. "
Brenda Jac resident: "I know the new project and my
fear is having to change my avatar. I would not want to lose it. I just hope we
can migrate all we have to Sansar, if the SL cease to exist. "
Pryamel resident:. "I did not know about this new
project of Linden Lab Anyway, if Linden
Lab chose to create a new platform many changes must take place soon. I am
optimistic and I think the changes are for the better. Maybe we'll have SIMS
with no lag, right? :-) "
Dinodasilvasauro resident: “I am a little worried about paying
issues. A game with this size is not cheap. There are big chances for it to
have an entering fee, or just be free at the beginning and you have to pay for
everything else. I’m afraid it won’t be as open as they say. But, let’s hope
I’m wrong.”
Baudrillard (somnabulist): “oh right i heard something about
sl2 awhile ago...i have spent many hours developing photography techniques, so
would be a challenge to have to adapt to a new viewer...heres my big concern:
the phrase "monetize"... this is what happens on facebook, to target
people for advertising...i think monetizing is dangerous for creativity...also
will i need a new computer to get a decent viewing experience, seems like this
3d occulus is a central feature and i for one,
am not going to buy an occulus... im not interested…”
The fact is that Second Life is still very popular, housing
about 900,000 active users per month and generating a significant amount of
resources with e-commerce. The platform, when it was created, innovated in many
different fields, such as: virtual reality, user-generated content, e-commerce
and virtual currencies. Many new ideas have emerged from this experience and
will just get better.
Whether you remain in Second Life or move on to Sansar is up to
you!