Joint discussion panel with Lisa Laxton of Infinite Metaverse Alliance and Frank Rulof of Thales Group covering OpenSimulator related R&D

1. SceneGate, DreamGate,
IMABox & EchoVoice R&D
AVATAR-FOCUSED VIEWERS FOR OPENSIMULATOR
DOCKER-BASED OPENSIMULATOR GRID
DEPLOYMENT
VOICE APPLICATIONS FOR OPENSIMULATOR HG
LISA LAXTON
FRANK RULOF
OSCC21

2. 2
Active Projects
▌ SceneGate
OpenSimulator only, focused on accessibility and onboarding
Foundation for Future Viewer SceneGate 2.0
▌ DreamGate
Based on Firestorm for OpenSimulator, focused on accessibility and onboarding
▌ Echo
Ground up EchoVoice code development for the Hypergrid
▌ Helios
OpenSimulator Decentralized Grid with VM and Docker R&D
▌ Selene
Hypergrid community collaborative creative commons efforts
▌ Eos
OpenSimuator 0.9.x software and Docker R&D (DreamGate & IMABox)

3. July 2021 Hypergrid Survey
30 QUESTIONS
111 RESPONSES
MOE OF 9.3%

4. 4
Key Research Conclusions
▌ 1) How are users engaged with respect to system and mesh avatars?
Takeaway: Viewer appearance tools are widely used.

5. 5
Key Research Conclusions
▌ 2) What do users look for or acquire in the existing marketplaces?
Takeaway: Viewer outfit tools are likely widely used.

6. 6
Key Research Conclusions
▌ 3) What percentage of users create avatars and associated virtual items?
Takeaway: Viewer appearance and upload tools are likely widely used.

7. 7
Key Research Conclusions
▌ 4) What is the impact of virtual environment settings, immersive features,
or accessibility options?
Takeaway: Know your audience when you design your world.

8. 8
Key Research Conclusions
▌ 5) Are language translators, mouselook, and voice commonly used aspects
of the user experience?
Takeaway: Voice is a vital component of the User Experience.

9. 9
Key Research Conclusions
▌ 6) What percentage of users create content other than avatar related
content?
Takeaway: Viewer build and import tools are widely used.

10. 10
Key Research Conclusions
▌ 7) What activities around the Hyperverse are most common?
Takeaway: Avatars around the Hyperverse are social.

11. 11
Key Research Conclusions
▌ 8) Does the average user have accounts on more than one grid?
Takeaway: Most Hypergrid users have more than one virtual home.

12. 12
Key Research Conclusions
▌ 9) Can we estimate the actual number of unique users from reported data?
Total number of unique users is at least 15838
▌ 10) Based on grids reporting relevant data, what is the size of the
Hyperverse market?
Total known Hyperverse market size is at least 36018 avatars
Takeaway: Two distinct markets exist on the Hypergrid.
Note: Grids reporting relevant data sourced from Hypergrid Business Survey results courtesy of Maria Korolov, thank you.
https://www.hypergridbusiness.com/statistics/

13. 13
R&D Drivers from the Survey
▌ SceneGate Roadmap - priority adjustment
CEF Updates
Add Bakes on Mesh Support
Add Animated Mesh Support
Estate Updates
Environment updates
▌ DreamGate Installer - spinoff
Estate Management
EEP Support
Live Stream Support
▌ EchoVoice Campaign – launch
Funding to Accelerate Development

14. Project Updates
SCENEGATE
DREAMGATE
IMABOX
ECHOVOICE

15. 15
SceneGate Viewer
▌ Current Development State
Project SceneGate includes future viewer efforts dubbed SceneGate 2.0
Pandemic impacts to team availability and schedules
New Linux version with voice, sound fixes, and CEF updates in work
- Builds and runs on 18.04 Ubuntu, needs updates for 20.04
- Open issues to be addressed with package release
New Mac version with third party library and CEF updates in work
- CEF updates required manual changes to directory names with spaces
- Builds but crashes when run, troubleshooting in progress
New Windows version with third party library and CEF updates soon

16. 16
SceneGate Viewer
▌ Current Roadmap SceneGate 1.x
Next Public Beta Test
- 3rd party library and build environment updates
- CEF Updates
- Preference updates based on user feedback
Next Closed Beta Test
- Support Animated Mesh
- Support Bakes on Mesh
- Support Estate management changes
- New feature work (advanced mode, notecard panel, fonts)
- SL hardcoded decoupling
- Issue fixes
▌ Future Viewer SceneGate 2.x

17. 17
DreamGate Custom Installer
▌ Based on the latest Firestorm for OpenSimulator viewer
▌ What’s different?
Graphics settings
- Mid-range laptop
- Low end desktop
User preferences
- Onboarding
- Usability
Starlight CUI skin
- Accessibility
- Color/contrast
▌ Next version
Voice Patch

18. 18
IMABox
▌ Current development State
2020 R&D Conclusions:
1) Docker advancements improved ease of use
2) Tweaked docker deployment is comparable to bare metal performance
2021 Research Goals:
1) Implement and test
docker-based Eos grid
deployment
2) Establish better system for
grid & region performance
monitoring
3) Gather metrics for multiple
docker grid deployments
2022 Development Plan:
1) Compile and test IMABox instructions
2) Release IMABox to the community

19. 19
IMABox

20. 20
EchoVoice
▌ Current development state
Evaluation and new design complete
Commercial or funded projects are higher priority
▌ Pending crowdfunding to accelerate development
Y=Yes, N=No, P=Possible, O=obsolete, S=SDK/API available
Voice Evaluation Matrix
Vcomm
Mumble
Vivox
V5
HiFidelity Agora Freeswitch Jitsi Discord
Open Source Y N N N Y Y N
Spatial features Y Y Y Y N N N
Supports all Operating
Systems Y N Y P Y Y Y
Integrated with
OS/Viewers O S S S Y P N
Seamless user connection Y Y S S Y Y N
Can be locally hosted for
security Y N N N Y Y N
Bridge to other voice
systems for HG N N N N N N N

21. 21
EchoVoice Feasibility Use Case
Typical Monthly Grid Cost Example:
25 participants
60 minutes per hour
4 hours per day
5 days per week
50 weeks per year
125,000
Participant Minutes Estimated Used in One Month
Formula: Monthly Cost = Participant Minutes * Price Per Minute

22. 22
EchoVoice Alternate Pricing Comparisons
Pricing Evaluation
Matrix
Per Min
Per 1K
Min
Per
Month
Eq Per
Min
Monthly
Cost
Avail
Min
Dev
Needed
EchoVoice Mumble
Murmur (SelfHosted) $ - $ - $ - 955000 Yes
EchoVoice Mumble
Murmur (Hosted) $ 11.50 $ 0.00009 $ 11.50 955000 Yes
Vivox (5000 ccu tier
free) $ - $ - $ - 955000 Yes
HiFidelity $ 0.00350 $ 0.00350 $ 437.50 0 Yes
Agora (10k free min
per month) $ 0.99 $ 0.00099 $ 113.85 0 Yes
Freeswitch $ - $ - $ - 955000 No
Jitsi $ - $ - $ - 955000 Yes
Discord $ - $ - $ - 955000 No

23. 23
EchoVoice
F e a s i b i l i t y A s s e s s m e n t :
1) Most grids in the HG community are non-revenue earning.
2) Per 2015 Virtual World Survey > 38% report under $10K USD annual income.
3) Average event donations 100 $G or less than 1 USD.
4) Using HiFidelity, average weekly event can cost $12.50/mth equivalent to 3125 $G.
5) Using Agora, you get 10,000 free minutes per month but that is exceeded with three average
weekly events.
C o n c l u s i o n :
Per minute paid voice solution not feasible for the HG community at large.

24. 24
EchoVoice
Decision Matrix
Monthly
Cost
Avail
Free
Min
Viewer
Comp
HG
bridge
All
OS Spatial
Self
Host
Open
Source Dev Hours
EchoVoice
(SelfHosted) $ - 955000 Y Y Y Y Y Y 1310
Vivox (5000 ccu
tier free) $ - 955000 Y N N Y N N Unknown
HiFidelity $ 437.50 0 N N Y Y N N Unknown
Agora (10k free
min per month) $ 113.85 0 N N N Y N N Unknown
Freeswitch $ - 955000 Y N Y N Y Y 0
Jitsi $ - 955000 N N Y N Y Y Unknown
Discord $ - 955000 Y N Y N N N 0

25. 25
EchoVoice

26. 26
Links
▌ July 2021 Hypergrid User Survey Report
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MwObfirYuVMwNx8QnvSLBmZLftZe8Whe/view?usp=sha
ring
▌ Project SceneGate Roadmap
https://bitbucket.org/imadevelopmentteam/scenegate-
viewer/wiki/Development%20Resources:/Project%20Roadmap
▌ Project EchoVoice Blog
https://echovoice.infinitemetaverse.org/
▌ Project EchoVoice GoFundMe
https://www.gofundme.com/f/project-echovoice---social-impact-tech-for-good

27. Questions or Comments
before the
Future Viewer presentation?
LISA LAXTON – LISA@INFINITEMETAVERSE.COM
FRANK RULOF – FRANK.RULOF@HOTMAIL.COM

28. 28
Future viewer roadmap
▌ Separate the rendering part
from the rest of the viewer to
integrate a new type renderer
( more modern rendering
engine)
▌ Separate the rendering part
in such a way that 3D
headsets work on a constant
frame rate. Allow different
rendering engines at build
time
▌ Allow a user configurable
MMI
▌ Allow to connect and select
multiple VOIP providers