A new startup called Vivaty.com is among the first companies to bring a Second Life-style virtual environment to regular web browsers. It launched today in public beta on AIM and Facebook.
Vivity has no adult-contert policy. Although mainstream websites like Facebook, YouTube and Flickr aren't always adult-friendly, many adult stars still maintain PG-13-rated presences on virtually all of the social networking websites.
Here's how Vivaty works: Users can set up a 3D, virtual version of their personal webpage. Along with a personalized avatar, users can decorate their personal space with pictures loaded from Flickr, videos from YouTube and music in MP3 format.
But unlike Second Life, which exists in a separate virtual space from the rest of the Internet, each Vivaty room has its own unique URL, and each object inside the rooms has its own URL.
"That is what is exciting about Vivaty Scenes," said tech blogger Erick Schonfeld. "It is extending the Web to 3D environments."
As of its launch, Vivaty is only compatible with Internet Explorer running on Windows machines. Firefox compatibility on PCs is next, while a version for Macs is expected further down the road. Compatibility with iGoogle and MyYahoo services is also in the works.