The Intro Guy at Bigscreen
Briefs on Social VR, Platforms for People #11
Social VR Platforms . . . . . . People . . . . . . Companies . . . . . . Society
A really nice guy met me when I first showed up in Bigscreen. We were in ‘my room,’ or at least that’s what he called it.
It was nothing at all like the way the porter at a fancy hotel shows you around ‘your room.’ The complicated controls required to access the most basic functions, like turning on a light, are much more than I can take in from one big quick demo.
They’ve got the show down pat, which is the problem. Most porters just do the performance and I have to call the Front Desk later to figure out how to close the large power-driven window drapes.
The Bigscreen guy was different.
He went nice and slow. When he finished showing me one thing, he helped me do it and didn’t move on until I did. My first reaction was a bit of irritation. When I got past that, calmed down, and actually did what I was supposed to do, I was more appreciative.
He didn’t try to do everything all at once and there was a logical order to what he showed me. He took me around to several different locations so I would see what was available, then he said, ‘now let me show you how we’ve been moving around like that.’
It worked well. He was easily the best get-started guy I’ve ever had the pleasure of learning from.
Well, technically I guess he’s not ‘a guy,’ and this is not a gender-related technicality. It is a not-what-we-consider-living technicality.
I’d call him a bot, but that term reminds me of telephone decision trees and overall automated weirdness. On the other hand, he was totally unintelligent. Like the porters, he was executing a script. Unlike the porters, it was a well-designed script that took chunking, sequence, scaffolding and rehearsal into account.
When he left and I was on my own in ‘my room,’ I felt like I knew what I could do next (there are not many options) and how to do it.
Step One. Edit avatar.
Step Two. Check out the Lobby.
People were talking and scribbling in 3D. It was a mellow scene, no one too loud, just casual conversation. Some of the voices sounded very young, probably less than sixteen.
I stayed for a while. A few people came and went but nothing disruptive occurred on this particular watch.
Step Three. Take in a Flick.
Very easy to figure out. The best ones you pay for. You want to watch with friends? They pay too. Then you can hang out together in your virtual room and watch. All pay. No Drive-In Movie-style single fee for the car.
The other movies and TV shows are free and there are plenty of hosted rooms with something going on. Some were full. I wanted one with other people, so I wouldn’t stand out. I chose one with 10 of the 12 spots filled.
It was “Star Wars.”
I saw the film shortly after it was released in May, 1977 and that viewing is still one of the most powerful media experiences of my life because it was completely new, completely familiar and completely unexpected.
Watching it in Bigscreen was a trip but it was nothing like 1977. In some ways it was the opposite. I have been expecting this for decades.
I could look around and see I was there with some other people, not a crowd though, and I could easily move away to another seat. I stayed for the scene then considered other options.
There are Productivity rooms. Twenty One+ rooms. Chat rooms, some with a topic, some wide open.
Obi-Wan is a tough act to follow so I called it a session.
Very hard to imagine a first-time going any better.
/Platforms for People #11 — previous issue, Platforms for People #10
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