I was discussing with some folks that use OpenSim and SecondLife about the possibility of interfacing the Virtual World with the real world. I thought it would be cool to have a virtual solar panel and when your avatar is near it a USB charger would activate on your PC to charge your electronic device. We couldn’t think of a way to make it happen.
Then I was playing with a friends Xbox and his controller had a rumble pack inside it. Why couldn’t you use something like this? If your avatar was near an object, it would activate your game controller/black box and depending on what signal is sent to it various things would happen.
For instance you could have a little motor in your virtual world that only operated when the sun was up. When it is daylight in your game a signal would be sent to your black box and it could operate a motor. If you turned on a light in a dark virtual room, a USB lamp could turn on.
I wonder if the virtual world software is able to send feedback like this, and if not what could be done to make it happen?
Tags: avatar, feedback, open simulator, osgrid, second life