Is Google thinking of adding customizable avatars to Google Earth or more?
Last weekend a rumor circulated that Google is working on something called My World that will add avatars to their Google Earth product and possibly be expanded into a full blown virtual world/social networking hybrid (Orkut3D?).
The rumored description by ARS Technica sounds believable:
ASU students received a questionnaire yesterday, screenshots of which were originally posted by a MacRumors forum member, that hinted strongly at Google’s plans. Specifically, the questionnaire intro says that students will be able to test a product that will be publicly launched later this year by a “major Internet company,” and the graphic makes reference to 3D modeling, video gaming, and avatars. It proceeds to ask questions about students’ involvement with social networks like MySpace and whether they have Gmail accounts.
Video games? Could Google be looking to expand their iGoogle product to include MMORPG? With news of Metaplace and the Sony PS3 Home project both arriving in Spring 2008, does this add a third player with a big G in their name to the space? Wouldn’t surprise this writer, as Google doesn’t really have a serious gaming platform — yet. Sure, you can add widgets to your personalized Google pages, but that’s nothing on the scale of what a real gaming platform could provide.
Though this is only barely related, this also reminded me of the commercial traffic tracking software, Visitorville which will show you real time visitors to your website, including buses with the Google logo on it when somebody arrives at your website from a Google search. Imagine if Google could wire up something like that where your customizable avatar plays in part what’s happening in real time — or close to real time as possible — on your website or personal home page? With Google Analytics, search, orkut, Sketchup (for the 3D avatar creation) they have a lot of the necessary pieces to glue together.
Or is this all just somebody’s 20% project at Google and nothing serious? As usual with rumors, Google isn’t talking, but that shouldn’t prevent the rest of us from having fun speculating at what the Wizards of G are secreting from the rest of us in Kansas.
If you’re looking at an interesting perspective of the other side: pulling Google Earth data into Second Life, take a look at fellow VTOR author, jvastine’s post: Google Earth & Virtual Reality.
September 26th, 2007 • 
TD Goodliffe • 
3D Landscape, 3D Modeling, Graphics, Second Life, Virtual Life • 
comment | September 26, 2007 at 02:13 | individual comment-link
It is clear what Google Earth is heading to. A virtual one-on-one ++ environment.
Within the next decade the basic GE will span the whole known universe, at any level of magnitude. A dynamic environment, including sophisticated physic engines. Any device will offer both a portal as means for input into this GU. Endless layer structures will provide any functionality thinkable. We’ll live in an personalized augmented reality world.
Data will be super structured by then, interconnected, tagged, weighted. Data will come to you anywhere you are, highly relevant, according to your wishes and needs, in any desirable form, from any corner of the world. New data will be constantly added by both any kind of input (visual, textual, sound, sense, smell) as interaction.