Google turns the Internet “Lively“ with its latest offering

10 July 2008

Perhaps Google is of the belief that man's future lies not on earth, but in cyberspace. That would explain the constant stream of innovations from the Mountain View company to make the Internet more personable and personal.

Now, in its latest addition to the aptly-named Google Labs, the company has rolled out a challenge to virtual world giant Second Life with free software that lets people create their own online 3D worlds that can be embedded on websites and melded with other online functions. This feature is called Lively Google.

Niniane Wang, engineering manager at Google, explained on the company's blog that the Lively team is working on helping people experience a new dimension of the web, by allowing them to express themselves with and without words in the web places they're familiar with.

Lively users are able to customise their avatars as they please, chat and interact through animated actions. As Wang said, Google discovered in their user research how much more poignant it is to receive an animated hug than seeing the text ''[[hug]]''.

"You can also express your own personality by customising your avatar's look, showing people who you are without having to say a word. Of course, you can chat with each other, and you can also interact through animated actions," she said.

Users will be able to watch YouTube videos and other website content in these virtual rooms, as well as show photos in virtual picture frames inside the rooms, which can be integrated in Web sites and blogs, Google explained.