ResLive: In Tune with the Virtual World

[Olaf Quintessa]

The trend towards browser-based virtual worlds takes a step forward with ResLive, a Unity-based world dedicated to live music which is being developed by the Sine Wave Company. ResLive (Resonance Live) opened its doors 6 months ago and is currently in beta phase, but already has a growing community of resident djs and music-lovers.

I first heard about ResLive when the RED crew announced they were playing online a couple of months ago. Always up for some techno and curious to check out something new, I hopped inworld to see what was going on. So far ResLive consists of ten lounges scattered across various regions, most of which are hosted by radio stations such as PBB, Proton Radio and Play.fm. The experience is similar to Second Life, with about the same level of avatar realism, although the lighting and shadows look more sophisticated. Animations and camera movements run smoothly with very little lag on my computer (a mid-range laptop running Vista, now in its 4th year), and the UI is easy to get your head around. At the moment avatar customisation is limited to a (fairly large) inventory of clothes, skins, and accessories, while there are about 20 dance animations to get your avatar moving.

One of the big differences is that ResLive far outstrips SL in terms of user concurrency, with up to 5000 people able to attend an event at a time. Facebook and MySpace integration is also a nice touch, making it possible to hop inworld with one click. Access is free, with premium memberships available in future, while a ticketing system makes it possible for future events to charge for entry or restrict numbers (anticipating the day that Richie Hawtin makes his virtual world debut).

 

 

Wondering how things were working out for the RED crew I had a word with Marley Cole: "We like the fact that Reslive is browser based. It's very easy to jump straight in - there's no software to download and you go straight to where the music is. We're generally getting a steady increase of listeners as the word spreads, and we have a number of guests lined up to play exclusive sets for us: Donnel Knox (Sonic Mind), Fanon Flowers (Sonic Mind - Live/Dj), N-Coder (Nigel Wilton), Roger 23, and Victor Martinez (Sect Records)"

 

Impressed by the ease of access and huge potential for a browser-based music world, Olaf Quintessa got in touch with Aubrey Fry, the Creative Director for ResLive, to find out more.

 

With a variety of social worlds already out there, what made you want to set up a world which was dedicated to music events?
The Sine Wave Company has been working in the virtual world sector since 2006 and many of our employees have been building these types of social spaces for years. We did our first virtual music event back in 2006 and until now have been limited by third party virtual worlds capabilities. We built ResLive to open up the possibilities a browser based virtual world platform holds. The amount we can do with it is endless.

When you were first designing ResLive and planning how it would work, what were the most important things you wanted to get right?
The frame rate and concurrency.

Will users be allowed to do any designing or building of their own in ResLive?
We will be opening up rooms for users to customise, but this is some way off. As the platform grows we will be adding all sorts of features like this, but we are more interested in building new regions at the moment.

 

How customisable will avatar clothes and animations be? Will users be able to shop for these things?
We are about to open a new section in the UI which has a store front and will have more assets released each month. A ResLive currency will be in place soon, name pending :-) And we will be working on a purse system, where you buy a bulk credit.

 

 

What events do you have in the pipeline? Any memorable events so far?
We are setting up projects with Oribital and Juno Reactor. So far John Dahlbacks events have been good and Joti Sidhu is always rocking our world. There is too much to mention!

 
Can you tell us a bit more about your plans to host mixed reality events which take place simultaneously in ResLive and in live music venues in real life as well.
We have some in the pipeline, unfortunately I am sworn to secrecy.

 
What are you planning to offer for premium members?
We will be releasing unique and limited content to these users, such as dances, clothing and tickets.

 
What do you think about the trend for making virtual worlds available on mobile devices like iPhones? 
It can only be a good thing. We can publish ResLive on the iPhone and we will be making this available in the future.

 
Last question - What are you listening to at ResLive HQ at the moment?
I am listening to a lot of PBB radio, which is one of the internet radio stations we have in ResLive. PBB is owned by Laurent Garnier, the techno god/king - He plays the most amazing selection of different stuff on there, check it out!

 

Linkage

ResLive website - Get inworld here
http://www.reslive.com

 

Upcoming events in ResLive
http://www.reslive.com/events

 

ResLive on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ResLive/135703326441856

 

RED Hastings website
http://www.red313.co.uk/

 

Screenshots

(Above: Avatar standing in ResLive)

 

(Above: Near one of the outdoor stages in ResLive)

 

(Above: Visiting the RED stage in ResLive after one of the events, and trying out some of the dance animations)

[Mznu Newman]

coool

[Ashling Alchemi]

hehe...sinewave dances...now if I could just figure out how to -stop- dancing...

[Olaf Quintessa]

Thanks for the comment! Hope to catch you inworld soon :)

[ValiT]

yeahh thats a cool thing  :)) i am already in to there and it looks great and seems to make soon a huge impact for the techno scene .. and i am still looking to find a way to make a region there to for my label and radio and of course to make patys and have artists playing  :)  

thank you Olaf for this great news    YOU ROCK !!!