Linden Lab Introduces Expressive Puppeteering to Second Life

Realtime, Spontaneous Movement Brings Real-Life Expression to Second Life Avatars

BOSTON, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Linden Lab(R), creator of the acclaimed 3D world Second Life(R), today announced the introduction of expressive puppeteering for Second Life avatars. With expressive puppeteering, any resident will be able to manipulate their avatar to create real-time, gestures and movements. The animation is being demonstrated by Second Life at the SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Technologies, in Boston, MA, July 30 - August 2 (booth 310.)

The ability to add movement through the expressive puppeteering technology will be fully integrated into Second Life, allowing residents who desire a more advanced and realistic animation to enhance their interaction without having to access dedicated animation software programs. To create an animation, residents simply grab an avatar's body part and move it in the desired way. The avatar then "learns" the animation and gestures accordingly.

"The introduction of expressive puppeteering to the Second Life experience significantly heightens the realism of avatar interaction while by allowing real-time modifications in a shared space," said Cory Ondrejka, vice president of product development at Linden Lab. "We are constantly exploring and innovating new technologies that can enhance the user experience in Second Life, and we believe these animation features will open new channels of expression for our growing resident population."

"Second Life has proven to be an exciting venue for movie-making due to its ability to offer the same real-time collaboration as experienced on a real world movie set," said Paul Marino, executive director of the Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences. "I look forward to the continued growth of machinima in Second Life as innovations like expressive puppeteering allow pioneering machinima directors to advance their story-telling."

Linden Lab intends to introduce additional animation capabilities in the coming months to further enhance the realism of avatar interaction in the virtual world.

About Linden Lab

Linden Lab was founded in 1999 by Philip Rosedale to create a revolutionary new form of shared 3D experience. The former CTO of RealNetworks, Rosedale pioneered the development of many of today's streaming media technologies, including RealVideo. In April 2003, noted software pioneer Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus Development Corporation, was named Chairman. In 2006, Philip Rosedale and Linden Lab received WIRED's Rave Award for Innovation in Business.

Based in San Francisco, Linden Lab employs a senior team bringing together deep expertise in physics, 3D graphics and networking. Team members have previously worked for market leading companies such as Electronic Arts, Maxis, Disney, Macromedia, THQ, Acclaim, Hasbro, Mattel and RealNetworks.

NOTE: Second Life(R) and Linden Lab(R) are registered trademarks of Linden Research, Inc.

Source: Linden Lab

CONTACT: press, Christopher Downing for Linden Lab, +1-415-551-9622, or
downing@flashpointpr.com