July 9th, 2008
Google’s secret project turns out to be Second Life
Niniane Wang, the person behind Google’s new service called Lively, has been working on this “confidential” project since November 2005 according to her resume. There have been hints throughout the years that this might be coming, but it turns out that the rumors were true — Google made Second Life.
11/2005 - present, Engineering Manager, confidential project
* Created vision for a confidential project. Got it chartered by execs.
* Built and led a team of engineers through technical design and implementation, in C++ and Java.
Granted, it’s not exactly the same, but it’s the foundation of a system that could easily go in that direction. This is a case, just like it was with Google Talk, that they are starting with a bare-bones service that will incorporate user suggestions over the next few years. This way the service is actually built without fat.
After playing with it or a while, I guarantee people will want to have the ability to create their own items, rooms, clothing, etc. in the short term — and I can see Google Sketchup being the official tool to make it happen. Right now, everything in the catalog you can “purchase” is completely free, but I can see a day when buying stuff will cost real money — making it a potential cash cow for people with an imagination. Unlike Second Life, I suspect the currency will be real dollars, not something that’s made up.
People have already started focusing their reviews of this new service on the negatives — like how it’s pretty slow, a bit clunky and the selection of things to purchase are a bit on the scarce side — but it’s not all bad.
The concept behind the service is neat. You can create a virtual chatroom that goes way beyond the traditional, and post it on any website. Your visitors can then actually interact with each other rather than just type. Like it or not, this service has a lot of potential if suggested features are implemented rapidly, and gets a reputation of being fun, and an interesting way to make money.
Even if it doesn’t become widely adopted, it’s great to know that Google is at least thinking about new ways to communicate with people.
Garett Rogers is employed as a programmer for iQmetrix, which specializes in retail management software for the cellular and electronics industry. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
