Sansar News

Lab executive, Pete Linden, who leads the marketing team and is also known as Sansar_Peter on Reddit has been answering questions this week about the new Sansar VR platform.

Most relevant to Second Life users, is how Sansar will compare with Second Life.   As the Lab has always stated, Sansar is not intended to be a replacement for Second Life and is certainly not SL2, but its own unique platform, offering the latest cutting-edge technology with a focus on 3D VR.

When asked about VR Headsets and will they be required for Sansar, Pete says:

Great question. No, it's not required - but definitely recommended. Every experience created with Sansar can be accessed with an HMD (currently, Oculus Rift & HTC Vive) and/or via PCs. 

Certainly you can still create, explore, and socialize in PC mode, but the experience is definitely richer in VR, and I'd encourage you to think of Sansar as a platform for VR experiences (that can also be accessed in PC mode) in the near term for a couple of reasons. The VR experience is more engaging, not only visually, but also in terms of interactions with other people and the virtual environment. For example - picking up a sword and having a duel with someone else, or shooting hoops on a virtual basketball court with friends, or even just waving to someone you meet are all a lot of fun in VR and are interactions that don't really make sense (and aren't currently possible) in PC mode. 

Asked about whether SL users will are going to like Sansar, he replied:

To be totally honest, I think there will initially be a mixed reaction from SL regulars. Some will love Sansar and what's possible with this platform from the start, while others will be disappointed that it doesn't (yet, at least) meet their expectations or hopes of what it should be. 

I've seen both reactions from SL creators who have joined preview. Some are excited about what they can create and do now, and what they'll be able to do in the future. Others - particularly if they're expecting Sansar to be "SL2" - can be disappointed about things not working the way they're used to in SL, capabilities that are important to them in SL but not (yet, at least) available in Sansar, etc. 

We try to be as clear as we can in repeating that Sansar isn't intended to replace SL nor to be a sequel version of it. I'd encourage SL regulars to check out Sansar from that perspective and to bear in mind that even when we open creator beta, there will still be many features and further functionality yet to come.

All that said, creators in preview have already made some awesome social VR experiences with Sansar, and some of my personal favorites have been made by SL users, so I'm eager to see the swell of creativity when we open creator beta and even more creators join.

Sansar is due for open Beta release during this summer.

To find out lots more information about Sansar, check out the Reddit forums

 Pete Linden visits London City