On the same day Linden are revealing their intention to help us bring data into the Second Life environment, Daden have also released a pwoerful extension to the inworld web browser.

As this video shows, it takes the basic concept of HTML on a prim and brings some of the browser interface tools from the web into it. With this controller you no longer need to constantly re-enter urls into your land settings to display a page, a menu driven control allows you to keep bookmarks, move back and forward in your history and more. I've been testing a preview version for a while and the official release tidies up some loose ends to make it more manageable. An additional land router is included for those who need it.

Although we still can't import anything the Linden inworld browser will not normally accept (Flash being the most obvious), there are extra tricks you can play if you have need for web presentations inworld. The two I use most are ...

1. Auto-refresh - include a refresh metatag in your webpage code to move on to another web page after a set number of seconds. Web pages thus behave like a slideshow and indeed, there is nothing to say the pages can't simply be "slides" anyway.

2. Auto-Scrolling - This is done by putting a javascript on your web page and works best if the page is actually an inline frame on a static webpage design made for the general landscape image format of an inworld screen. The commonly found javascript variants move the page down while the viewer reads it (you set the speed) and usually starts again from the top when reaching the bottom.

Both these techniques work well with the Linden browser and can provide an automated viewing experience. Do bear in mind though, that like "non-streaming" media files, the start and finish point is dictated by the point at which the individual viewer enables it.

Best of all, Daden's viewer control overcomes this by virtue of the way it works. Post a simple display page and tell your audience to turn on the media viewer. Then use the Daden control to load material when you want it to appear/start. You have complete control and your viewers see everything in-synch (subject to the normal bandwidth-type interuptions that are common on the web itself anyway).

The metaverse is destined to become the principle interface of the future - maybe even becoming an OS or desktop shell in it's own right. The traditional web will be just a part of that greater 3D experience and the more we see tools like this being developed, the more immediate such prospects seem. Daden's toolbox is rapidly becoming an essential feature set in this path toward augmentation.

Check back a few posts for a video of their Google Maps display and a virtual Birmingham.