Email2IM - Practical Kinetic Art

One of the scripted objects I created and sell is Email2IM. This single prim object allows me to respond to IM's via Email when I am not logged in to Second Life. I find it quite useful and a great aid in allowing me to assist my customers. I use it almost daily.

Email2IM requires that the single prim object be rezzed somewhere with scripts enabled. I decided to make it something I would want to have in my home in Second Life so I added some texturing and a variety of geometrical deformations to the script. The Email2IM prim became a kinetic art object that is pleasing to watch and changes continually. Voila, art meets practical!

Here is a video of the Email2IM prim hovering over my house:

 The Email2IM Owner Manual is available in PDF format on Scribd. From the manual's introduction:

The Email2IM object enables the owner to email a message to a Second Life resident.The object acts parses incoming email and relays the body of the message as anInstant Message to the Second Life resident whose name appears in the Subject lineof the email. Owners of the Email2IM system are thus able to respond to forwardedIM's even when not online by simply sending email to the object's address with thename of the resident as the subject line.In addition, the Email2IM object changes shape and texture, acting as an art object soas to be pleasing to the eye while in use.

Email2IM is available on the Second Life Marketplace for L$195

Pandorabot & Actorbot Add-On

Disclaimer: I am reviewing my own products in this post. They're cool relatively inexpensive products though so I forgive myself :)

The Pandorabot from Restless Studio is not your typical chat bot. Yes, it chats with you in local chat using an artificial intelligence programmed at pandorabots.com in the AIML programming dialect. However, the Pandorabot will also query Wikipedia for appropriate responses, check your spelling, send email, greet new arrivals, and deliver a notecard, landmark, and user guide. All for L$245 and consisting of only a single prim (the perched 3D sculpted parrot Pandorabot is 12 prims). If you don't have a place to rez objects there is a wearable 3D sculpted parrot Pandorabot (11 prims).

For an additional L$150 the Pandorabot can be integrated into an Actorbot to create a realistic 3D animated avatar bot that includes all the Pandorabot features as well as the programmability  of the Actorbot from Sine Wave. The Pandorabot Actorbot Add-On kit consists of a Pandorabot V4, an Actorbot integration script, and a script that can be used to position your Actorbot on a prim and animate it according to what is in that prim. Watch a demonstration Pandorabot Actorbot in this short YouTube video and visit the Restless Studio demonstration Pandorabot Actorbot.

Both the Pandorabot and Actorbot Add-On come with extensive documentation available in PDF online and plain text inworld. Here's a few photos to give you a sense of the Pandorabot look:

Pandorabots are available on the Second Life Marketplace (search for "Pandorabot Missy Restless" or just "Pandorabot"). The Pandorabot Actorbot Add-On is also available on the Second Life Marketplace (search for "Pandorabot Actorbot").

The PDF documentation for the Pandorabot and Actorbot Add-On is available online at http://www.scribd.com/missyrestless . There is also a Pandorabots Blog with lots of How-To's, many more pics, and updated info/links.

Quantum Matrix 3D Math Art

Second Life artist/builder Gingered Alsop has recently created a new device that automates the generation of beautiful mathematical 3D sculptures. Called the Quantum Matrix, these creations must really be viewed firsthand to fully appreciate. I'll attempt to present here a few snapshots, a video, and several links to view a demonstration of the Quantum Matrix. The Quantum Matrix will be on display at the University of Western Australia 3D Art & Design Challenge. Go see it!

This is a video I made of photos Gin and I took at her lab.

Parameters for prims and mathematical equations are provided via notecards to a sophisticated LSL script to generate these awesomely beautiful works of art.

Gin owns Phi Designs which runs an in-world store with demos. See my review of the Chamber, a particle lab by Phi Designs.

Many more photos of the Quantum Matrix (those used in the video above) can be seen at my Flickr photostream.

 The artist herself! Photo taken by Gingered Alsop. Gin is way super smart, funny, sweet, nice, and as you can see, cute!

Reduce Lag, Remove Scripts

Lag or latency in Second Life can be reduced by residents diligently removing resize/recolor scripts from hair, shoes, boots, jewelry, and other attachments whenever possible. Most apparel or attachments that enable the user to resize or recolor the item include scripts which, once used, can be removed. This reduces Sim latency and can provide the user with a better real-time experience in Second Life.

Before deleting scripts, make a copy of the original script enabled item. Most vendors provide items like shoes and hair with "Modify/Copy/No Transfer" permissions. This allows the user to make a copy of the original as a backup in case you ever need to go back and resize/recolor/reconfigure the object. Unfortunately some vendors provide their products with "No Copy/Transfer" permissions which makes it impossible for the user to make a backup copy. In the case of "No Copy" items the owner is forced to decide between keeping the script functionality or reducing the lag induced by the item. Vendors who do not provide copyable items should read my Request to Second Life Vendors.

Once a backup copy has been made (if possible) and the product has been resized or otherwise configured to taste, you can delete the script(s). This is usually accomplished by simply clicking a "Delete", "Delete Scripts", "Remove", or somesuch button in the item's resize/configure menu. Most vendors will include a notecard with specific instructions for how to remove any scripts. Often this entails issuing a command on a channel the item is listening on. For instance, scripts in Kalnins shoes can be removed by issuing the command "/76 deletescripts" in local chat.