The HelloSpace team (makers of InSpaze) met with Apple CEO Tim Cook in late March (source: Twitter)
In its emphasis on the term spatial computing (instead of virtual reality or augmented reality), some observers have commented that there is a somewhat puzzling lack of social VR/AR apps for the Apple Vision Pro. Well, I recently learned (from the very active r/VisionPro community on Reddit) that there is a social app for the AVP, called InSpaze. Here’s a 15-minute YouTube video giving you an idea of what is possible now:
Please note several interesting things about this video: First, when you see the hands of the person capturing this video in his Apple Vision Pro (using the built-in video recording features), they are actually his real hands via pass-through, not an avatar’s hands!
Second, one of the features of InSpaze is real-time voice translation! One of the participants spoke a sentence in Chinese, which was translated into English and displayed as a subtitle under his Persona (at the 6:45 minute mark in this video).
There are people in this video participating around the table via their own Vision Pro headsets, in which their avatar appears as the still-in-beta-testing Personas (which is based on a scan of their real-life face, as a part of setup). While the Personas feature of the AVP can still be a bit unsettling, with uncanny valley vibes, and they appear currently in InSpaze only via a flatscreen view right now, Apple has just announced (and released) Spatial Personas, which look like this:
So, I expect it will only be a matter of time before Spatial Personas are added to InSpaze, replacing the locked-in-flatscreen look that current AVP participants have in InSpaze with a three-dimensional version. Mind blowing! It’s certainly a refreshing change from a Zoom call!
Also, note that iPhone and iPad users, running the InSpaze app, can also participate in InSpaze rooms! iPhone and iPad users actually have a cartoonified version of their real-life face, which honestly kind of matches the cartoony look of the AVP Personas. I couldn’t help but notice that one of the iPhone participants was standing outside, and the wind was blowing his hair around, which looked really weird combined with his cartoony face! Another guy (the one speaking Chinese) was behind the wheel of his car (let’s hope he wasn’t driving!).
InSpaze is already available on the Apple Store, for the Apple Vision Pro, iPhone, and iPad. It is made by a company called HelloSpace (website; Discord; Twitter/X). Apparently, it’s been quite a hit among AVP users, who seem to appreciate having a way to connect with each other in virtual space! In fact, in the first video up top, they talk about how Apple employees themselves like to use InSpaze to connect with their customers.
Things are happening so fast in this space that it’s been hard to keep on top of all the developments! I do find that a daily visit to the r/VisionPro subreddit is a very good way to stay abreast of everything that’s going on with this rapidly-evolving technology. I’m still patiently waiting for when we Canadians can pre-order the Apple Vision Pro (hopefully sometime this spring or summer). And I’m quite envious of the Americans who have already gotten their hot little hands on a unit!
Vanity Fair (foreground, in the red party dress, waving her hands in the air like she just don’t care 😉 ), at the packed Club 511 in Second Life, last weekend. Sometimes, you just want to find a crowd in SL!
For most of the past 17 years I have been in the virtual world of Second Life, I have spent much of my time alone, fiddling and tinkering with the endless options of avatar customization, at which the platform truly excels. Indeed, I gained (and still get) a great deal of personal satisfaction from designing a complete avatar look from head to toe, as cheaply as possible. As this hobby was primarily a solitary enterprise, I did not feel the need to mingle with a lot of other people; in fact, I often wanted to be alone, to work in peace.
But sometimes, and particularly during these past four pandemic years, I am actively looking for a crowd. Maybe I just want to attend an event with a lot of other avatars present, to show off a look I had just assembled. Perhaps, I wanted to do a little covert inspection of what other avatars were wearing, in order to pick up some fashion ideas for styling my own avatars. (In fact, I learn about many creators’ stores this way!)
Regardless of the reason why, from time to time, it’s only natural to want to hang out with other people—even if the venue for doing so is a virtual world! So here are some of my tips and tricks for finding popular places in Second Life.
Enjoy!
Search: Sorting Places by Traffic
Click on Search, click on the Places tab, and enter a keyword, and your search results will automatically be sorted by a metric called Traffic
The oldest, and probably the most common (and controversial!) method is to do a keyword search under Places in the Search menu, and sort by Traffic. Linden Lab calculates this metric as follows (source):
Traffic is a numerical metric calculated for every parcel of land in world. This score can be summarized as the cumulative minutes spent on the parcel by all visitors to the parcel within the previous day. (The value shown in About Land is based on data gathered from midnight to 11:59 PM, Pacific Time.) It is calculated by taking the total seconds spent on the parcel, dividing by 60, and rounding to the nearest whole minute. For example, if your parcel has a cumulative seconds total of 121s over the course of a day, the traffic score is 2.
Why is Traffic controversial? Because many stores, clubs, and other venues sometimes “park” alts (i.e., extra dummy avatars created expressly for this purpose) in order to game the system. Sometimes these alts are parked in the venue itself, and sometimes they are hidden away in a skybox located high above the venue, out of sight.
For example (and yes, in this case, I am going to name and shame the venue), Foxxies ballroom is notorious for appearing high in the Places listing when you search on terms like “formal”, which is sorted by traffic. But each and every time I have visited over the past few years, curious because I see so many green dots on the map and thinking that they are busy, only to discover that there are dozens of the same couples “dancing” and even some “playing” musical instruments—all of them bots! So please be aware that many places use this technique to game the system and make themselves seem more popular than they really are. Foxxie’s is egregious in this regard, and frankly, they deserve to be called out for it!
Bonnie Bots: Sorting Regions by Avatar Count
If you have a yen to find a crowded place, using a metric which is updated hourly, the Bonnie Bots website has you covered! Because it is updated hourly (instead of daily like Traffic), I have found that it is one of the best places to find hot events and parties. However, you should be aware that this is also subject to the same sort of “gaming” discussed in the previous section (in fact, there’s no way around it).
Just visit the Bonnie Bots website, click on the Regions tab, and sort by Avatar Count!
Also, the Bonnie Bots listing is by region, what we oldbies often called a “sim” (a 256 by 256 square kilometre), and not by parcel, as is the case with Traffic under Places search. In other words, this way of searching for hot spots is less granular; one popular parcel on an otherwise deserted and neglected SL region can pull an item higher up the Bonnie Bot rankings.
While a distressingly high number of these most popular regions tend to fall into the adult/sex category (and the Regions listing helpfully indicates where each region is rated General, Moderate, or Adult), I have also found the website to be a surprising source of popular places, which I had never encountered before. For example, through the Bonnie Bots listing, I found a venue called the Empire Club, a luxurious theatre where every Friday night, a packed house gathers to relax on its comfortable sofas and watch a choreographed show set to various musical numbers, followed by an invitation to come up on stage for some synchronized dancing to more music! I never would have found this place otherwise.
UPDATE June 3rd, 2025: There’s a new, free HUD in the SL Marketplace called Sim Hopper, which randomly teleports you to a random selection from the hourly-updated Bonnie Bots list of the hundred most popular regions. If you set it up using RLV, it will automatically teleport you when you click on it, but if you don’t want to use RLV, it will give you the SLURL in local chat, which you can just click on to go visit that location.
Destination Guide: New Ways to Find Popular Places
Linden Lab has recently announced another update to their Destination Guide, where a count of the number of avatars currently in that region is now displayed:
In addition, you can do a keyword search, and choose to sort your search results by the number of avatars present in the retrieved list of regions. (Unfortunately, sometimes the search options do not include this new feature, and I haven’t been able to figure out yet why sometimes I see it, and sometimes I don’t!)
You can also click on Popular Places in the left-hand column of the Destination Guide, to see a list of regions sorted by most popular:
Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks
If you have a favourite club or venue you like to frequent, they are almost certain to have some sort of group (a regular SL group, or a subscriber group, which does not take up one of your valuable group slots!). Join the group and stay up-to-date as to what events are happening!
Chat with your friends, acquaintances, and even strangers in Second Life. Ask them what their favourite places are to visit. You might find a new place to hang out!
I have a nasty (but illuminating) habit of perusing other avatars’ profiles, where I usually check out two key areas to learn about popular places they frequent. First, I check what groups they belong to (where, if they do not have them hidden, you can usually click through and learn more about each group, and whatever clubs or venues are associated with them). Second, I click on the Picks tab in their profile and look to see if there are any locations listed there (this is usually how I discover what stores they own, if nothing else).
(I have blurred out the name of this particular gentleman standing next to me at the new Love club)
What are your tips and tricks for finding busy places in Second Life? Please feel free to leave a comment, thanks!
A particularly popular Halloween party at the Satyr Club, last October 31st (discovered via the Bonnie Bots region listing method described above)
Love is under new management, with a new formal dress code and new rules, and I have found it to be a worthy and elegant successor to the Frank’s Jazz club(s) of yesteryear.
Vanity Fair, a photo taken by SL photogapher Aggie Rowlands in the LOVE club, April 3rd, 2024 (Flickr link; be sure to check out her photostream!)
As the uncrowned freebie queen of Second Life, I have tended to devote much of my time to posting about fabulous freebies in SL avatar fashion to my blog and to my Steals, Deals, and Freebies group in Second Life (more often lately to the latter than the former, as I have been slowly scaling back on my coverage of Second Life). But today I wanted to share a different kind of freebie: a limited-time opportunity to join a wonderful club I have found, before they start to charge a group membership fee to members!
However, I recently chanced upon a place which I have been spending a lot of time at over the past week, and I think it is a very worthy successor to the Frank’s of ye olden days! It used to be a slightly seedy tag dance club which encouraged female nudity, but it has recently changed ownership, and imposed some new rules and standards of behaviour, and a new formal, non-sexist dress code.
I must confess that it has been truly wonderful to find a place where I can get all dressed up, and hang out in an elegant, romantic ballroom, listening to the smooth musical classics of yesteryear and more recent times: from jazz, swing, and R&B, to current adult contemporary ballads: Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Eva Cassidy, Barbra Streisand, Rod Stewart, Linda Ronstadt, Michael Bublé… the list goes on and on. In fact, I often leave Vanity Fair or a similarly well-dressed avatar standing in a discreet corner of this club, turn up the volume on the stream, and have it on as some relaxing, nostalgic background music while I do something else in another Windows tab on my PC, or even while tackling the dishes or a little housecleaning!
Vanity Fair (dressd to kill in a brand new ballgown from Son!a Edge), hanging out near the bar at the new Love club. Much more satisfactory than listening to the radio!
The name of this club is, simply, Love. I am on a much-needed vacation from work this week, and have been popping in at various times of the day and night all week to check this place out. Love appears to be quite popular, with anywhere from 20 to 70 avatars at any time, both during the day with a more European crowd, and in the evening with a more North American crowd. In addition to the default Legends Jazz music stream, Love’s new owners quite often schedule guest DJs, live singers and performers, and tribute acts.
The dancefloor at LOVE is busy during the day and into the evening
The LOVE club is well-stocked with singles and couples dances
Here’s the freebie part: you can join the Love club group for free, but only today, March 31st, and tomorrow, April 1st! Starting April 2nd, 2024, Love will require a group membership to attend most events. In a recent notecard posted to the group, the new owners state:
…Pass[ing] 2500 members and still striving to provide our members with the best possible services and high-quality experiences, as well as for enhancing our exclusive offerings, we have made the decision to ask for membership fees for all new members from 2nd of April, 2024.
It means that :
From 2nd of April, all new membership will cost L$790;
Current members will naturally remain members without any fees;
Access to the LOVE venue will be then [for] group members only from April 2nd;
“Love” group members will also have special access to special Noir’Wen events, activities and offers [Noir’Wen is the name of the region where the Love club has its home].
The group membership will give us scope to schedule and plan for Live Performers (singers, dance groups, DJs and Tribute Acts), offer a stipend to our official LOVE photographer and Cigarette Girl, as well as organize specialist “themed events” on a monthly basis.
We will be arranging regular “Open Nights”, and events which will give temporary access to non group members and guests.
Under the new management team and formal dress code, we want to assure you that we remain committed to providing value and quality to your SL experience. Your continued support enables us to innovate, grow, and provide you with the quality experience you deserve.
Anyways, I have found a place I feel quite comfortable visiting and enjoying, and wanted to give Love a shout-out in my blog, and alert you that you only have a couple of days to join Love’s group for free! The name of the group is “Love” (yes, with the quotes), and here is the group’s URI, which you can copy and paste into text chat in order to join the group: secondlife:///app/group/0ecc3e77-afdf-129d-cc5a-21dd9647e9f8/about. (There’s also a group join sign at the entrance.)
Please note that, while the female dress code is now much less sexist, and any lewdness and nudity will probably get you quickly ejected, that this is a club where tag dancing is still allowed (with rules). According to “Love” group description:
Welcome to “Love” a tag dance and romance venue. For flirtatious, glamorous, charming patrons with a creative sense of distinction. A stylish, sophisticated venue for intimate and romantic rendezvous. We encourage tag dancing in our ballroom dance venue, where patrons may cut in on a couple by politely touching a dancer on the shoulder. “Love” is a friendly elegant tag venue Tag Dancing, Jazz, Music, Romance and Sensual Fetish. Formal dress code applies to all,
Also, from a notecard recently posted to the group:
Welcome to “Love” a tag dance and romance venue. Our new luxurious and high-class venue for dance, romance and seduction with an elegant and smart theme.
Tag Visitors, share dreams of intimacy and romance.. We respect diversity and cultural differences, whether this be relating to gender, sexual preferences, ethnicity, or other identities.
Please, follow some basic rules for making this beautiful place yours and give respect to all Visitors and Staff.
FORMAL DRESS CODE : is expected to be formal dress and emphasize seduction and sensuality while remaining elegant and chic.
For Men, we suggest a smart style such as business or chic casual suits or a formal tuxedo, slacks & suit jacket, or simply a blazer. It is a must for respecting and honoring women… Yes Sir. You are here to seduce and to flirt, so look like you mean to do that!
For women, we welcome your good taste and your seductive creativity, whether formal, sexy, classic or more daring… Dresses, gowns, cocktail dress, evening suits (with pants) are encouraged. Emphasizing seduction and sensuality while remaining elegant, chic and at the same time feeling desirable if not sensual.
For fetish and more “kinky desires”, we will regularly organize specially “themed” dedicated events and activities, so during these themes you can “WEAR WHAT YOU DARE”
,,,
Please give genuine respect to all. This will be the base of our flexibility and [rapport]. This is an exclusive venue for humans, and no other living species will be permitted in the club. [In other words, adult human avatars only; no furries, dinkies, tinies, centaurs, etc.]
No nudity (showing genitals), no t-shirts, jeans, shorts, sandals or beachwear.
Wear our club tag as much as possible, please. And remove any commercial [i.e. visible group] tag such as “escort”, “prostitute” or “pimp”.
No financial dealings or operations will be accepted. As well as no harassment of any kind.
Try also to remain light in terms of scripts, as it causes lag and will jeopardize movement.
If you require a change of outfit or costume before arriving in the club, you will find a cabin at the landing space to do so.
Of course, we won’t accept weapons of any kind other than your seduction and tantalizing powers.
We will not accept or tolerate any misogynistic language, behaviour, or attitudes.
We will not tolerate or accept any child related porn, relations, childlike avatars or pedophilia.
We will not tolerate any racist abuse, language, behaviour or attitudes or any racial slurs.
So, if after reading all this, you are somewhat intrigued, and especially if you (like me) have really missed the grand old days of Frank’s Jazz club, Love might just be the place for you! I have taken advantage of the free group join to sign up both my main avatars and small army of alts. 😉 I must admit that I quite like the club, my female avatars and alts have not been pestered, and it looks like I will be regularly spending time here, listening to the oldies and looking fabulous as always!
Coupon Clip, dressed to kill, and listening to the Legends Jazz sound track in the classy environment of the Love romance club under new management!
UPDATE April 2nd, 2024: Well, I do hope that you took advantage of that free group join while it was available! Here is a 40-second video clip of my main male and female avatars, Heath Homewood and Vanity Fair, out on the dance floor at Love:
UPDATE April 5th, 2024: Just a couple more shots of Heath and Vanity dancing at LOVE. This is where ye olde system-layers-and-flexiprims ballgowns of yesteryear still really shine! Some things just cannot be improved upon, after all these years.
Heath and Vanity do some groovy dancingHeath and Vanity dance the classics at LOVE
*Please note that Frank’s still has an Elite VIP club, which I believe costs L$1,000 to join as a member, but which is, sadly, a subdued echo of the original, powerhouse dance club. Vanity Fair was once a member, but as a freebie fashionista, I decided I had to keep all of Vanity’s spare group slots free for stores and events! Priorities, people!! 😉
VenusSX, one of the participants, sent me a press release about this series showcasing the state of the art in VR, taking place on the sidelines of the actual SXSW 2024 conference taking place in Austin, Texas this week and weekend (I will assume that this series is not part of the official SXSW event). According to the press release:
The organizers of the VR conference IMMERSIVE X, together with Innovation Bridge Europe, are presenting a five-part series of events called “X-HOUR” from March 7th to 11th on the sidelines of SXSW 2024 in Austin, Texas. The series will showcase outstanding and award-winning VR projects from around the world. The hour-long sessions can be experienced Onsite in Austin, in Virtual Reality and via Livestream. Registration is available at https://immersive-x.de/x-hour.
While the Metaverse is often presented as a vision of the distant future, its many possibilities can be experienced even today. This is possible thanks to a creative scene of pioneers around the world who have set out to explore this space and bring it to life with groundbreaking ideas and bold initiatives. The lineup includes the award-winning experiences “Dragon Magic: Freedom Giants” by Juliana Loh and Mada de Leeuw and “Nymphs” by ShuShuVR and Niko Lang, as well as a live DJ set by XR pioneer Celeste Lear, will demonstrate how Virtual Reality enables the expression of cultural creativity. The session “VR for Social Change” will showcase the Africa VR Campus and Center to demonstrate how immersive technologies can promote social empowerment.
IMMERSIVE X and Innovation Bridge Europe have teamed up to present some of the most cutting-edge projects at this year’s tech festival in Austin. The selection of presenters is designed to give a vivid sense of the disruptive energy that Virtual Reality has in store for social and cultural spheres. “Immersive technologies will fundamentally change the way we experience content and interact with each other in the future”, says Thomas Zorbach, managing director of vm-people and initiator of IMMERSIVE X. ”As we enter the age of digital relationships, the Metaverse offers new modes of creative expression and interactivity, and we are revealing the empowerment of somatic experiential learning in a virtual environment.”, adds VenusSX, Virtual Sensory Designer and presenter of the X-Hour session “Unlock Our Potential: PlayroomSX and the VR Somatic Experience”.
There are three different ways to attend the X-HOUR sessions:
Onsite via a rental VR headset in the following location: Innovation Bridge Europe House at the Thompson Hotel, 4th floor rooftop, 506 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, TX 78701, USA.
Virtual Reality via your own VR headset: If you have your own VR glasses, such as Quest 2, 3 & Pro, Pico Neo 2, or HTC Vive Focus, you can join our sessions from a remote location.
Livestream via YouTube: If you are not in Austin and do not have a VR headset, you can watch the X-HOUR sessions via livestream. Location: https://www.youtube.com/@vmpeople
While the constant capitalization of the word metaverse in this press release makes my right eye twitch, I did sign up for the in-VR sessions, and registration was free. For more details on this series, and to register yourself, please see the X-HOUR website.
