SceneCaster, which I covered from DemoFall 2007, is back at Demo 2008 with an add-on to the product, which it is calling SceneWeaver. The service, which lets you create 3D rooms, now lets you link rooms to each other. So if you click on a door you can hop to the room it opens in to. That's more than just a small feature: It lets users create entire worlds. Not that they will. But they can.
Users can also create links to objects, which might make for cool retail experiences.
Also, the service now adapts its 3D display to the device viewing it. Even an old browser without the 3D plugin, or Java, can access SceneCaster content. It will be flat and static, but it will at least be there. Alain Chesnais, SceneCaster's chief technical officer, told me this, plus the portal feature, will let users build Myst-like apps.
A mobile player is coming soon, as well as an iPhone-viewable site for the service.
SceneCaster is trying to build a "YouTube of 3D," with embeddable worlds and pervasive distribution. It's a big goal, and perhaps not quite the right analogy. Creating YouTube content doesn't take much more than pointing a camera at someone or ripping off AVI files. Creating SceneCaster content, no matter how good the authoring environment, requires more of a commitment.
SceneCaster lets you build custom rooms and stock them with real furnishings. (Image based on SceneCaster template.)
SceneCaster is launching its service today that makes it not too difficult for anyone to build a virtual room and then stock it with furniture and decorations.
It's not a virtual world. There are no in-scene avatars (at least not in this version). All it does it let you build interactive scenes. But it's very interesting, and potentially useful. For example, if you want to create an interactive representation of your retail shop to embed on your store's site, this is the tool for you. Users can then fly around the room and see things from any angle.
Also, if you want to see what your room will look like with new furniture, you can use SceneCaster's rich database of furnishings (it interfaces to Google's library of SketchUp drawings) and try things out in the room you've built. What's cool, from a business perspective, is that SceneCaster links these items to online commerce. So if you really like that virtual Eames chair in your virtual room, you can more easily buy the real thing. SceneCaster, of course, extracts some revenue for itself from these links.
SceneCaster lets you build custom rooms and stock them with real furnishings. (Image based on SceneCaster template.)
(Credit: CNET)
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