I recently caught up with a cool IM technology, chatting 3D style. IMVU, the 3D IM, allows you to create an image of yourself through an avatar. This self-representation is viewable by all members of IMVU and you can pick whoever online to have a chat.
Instead of chatting in a window, the chat is held in a private "room" in the setting of a coffee outlet, a sunset backdrop, a room, etc. The conversations appear in bubble forms. This is the part that is difficult to keep up because they disappear upwards and you might just miss some parts of a conversation if you don't read the messages before they find their way off the screen.
Some very innovative things you can do while in the chat is to make your avatar do some actions like nodding along, clapping, doing some flips and dance moves. You can also interact with the other avatar you're with, doing stunts like punching and kicking each other, or a friendly handshake to a romantic hug and kiss scene. It's real fun to watch the actions.
You also earn points as you have more chats and whenever you invite someone to join IMVU. These points are used to do virtual shopping, buying all sorts of outfits for the avatar like tops, pants, shoes, hairstyles and even make-up. Pets are available too! This buying scheme is innovative in itself. There is a "Try card" to be purchased by cash in order for your avatar to try on the items before a purchase. Other purchases that require actual cash transactions are purchases like extra points and adult content. I think this is a clever business model by whoever created this.
As with everything, there must be a downside. The program slows down the use of the computer once in a while. I think it is not quite stable as it crashes sometimes. For beginners, it is also quite complicated to use as there are too many terms to learn that are not found in our normal IMs like Yahoo! and MSN. Anyway, through a lot of exploring, one could easily find their way about and enjoy all the features.
For now, I'm happy to just play around with it as a source of amusement. Below are some moments I've captured - a picture of my avatar and all the naughty things she's been up to.
This girl sure knows how to pose for the camera, huh?! Her name's RoyalPink.
That's RoyalPink and HugoAgogo at Buckstars Coffee, having a romantic moment.
Instead of chatting in a window, the chat is held in a private "room" in the setting of a coffee outlet, a sunset backdrop, a room, etc. The conversations appear in bubble forms. This is the part that is difficult to keep up because they disappear upwards and you might just miss some parts of a conversation if you don't read the messages before they find their way off the screen.
Some very innovative things you can do while in the chat is to make your avatar do some actions like nodding along, clapping, doing some flips and dance moves. You can also interact with the other avatar you're with, doing stunts like punching and kicking each other, or a friendly handshake to a romantic hug and kiss scene. It's real fun to watch the actions.
You also earn points as you have more chats and whenever you invite someone to join IMVU. These points are used to do virtual shopping, buying all sorts of outfits for the avatar like tops, pants, shoes, hairstyles and even make-up. Pets are available too! This buying scheme is innovative in itself. There is a "Try card" to be purchased by cash in order for your avatar to try on the items before a purchase. Other purchases that require actual cash transactions are purchases like extra points and adult content. I think this is a clever business model by whoever created this.
As with everything, there must be a downside. The program slows down the use of the computer once in a while. I think it is not quite stable as it crashes sometimes. For beginners, it is also quite complicated to use as there are too many terms to learn that are not found in our normal IMs like Yahoo! and MSN. Anyway, through a lot of exploring, one could easily find their way about and enjoy all the features.
For now, I'm happy to just play around with it as a source of amusement. Below are some moments I've captured - a picture of my avatar and all the naughty things she's been up to.
This girl sure knows how to pose for the camera, huh?! Her name's RoyalPink.
That's RoyalPink and HugoAgogo at Buckstars Coffee, having a romantic moment.
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