Linden Lab Speaks About The Bots

 

With all the talk about the Bonniebots, and Linden Lab having to suspend comments on several threads on the official forums about them as well as talking to the staff behind the bots, it was no surprise they would eventually say something. And on Friday afternoon, February 3, they did, posting a statement in the official blog under "Balancing Initiative and Privacy."

We know there has been quite a bit of discussion about Scripted Agents/NPCs lately.  Linden Lab is committed to continuing its excellent track record of keeping your personally identifiable information safe and secure.  We understand that there is a certain amount of information a “bot” service has been collecting and displaying on their third party website that is causing unease in our community, and we’re working on the best way to address these concerns.

Linden Lab is having conversations with the parties involved, however this should not be taken as an endorsement of any sort. We have spoken several times in an attempt to get a full picture of the situation. These discussions have been mutually beneficial, and will help us as we look to update our policy on Scripted Agent/NPC operation in Second Life.

We recognize the need for improvements in specific areas, so in the near future we will be making adjustments to policies where needed.  We have seen many requests from the community with a wide array of suggestions, and we appreciate all earnest and civil engagement. Internal discussions will continue beyond the Scripted Agent/NPC Policy, and any programmatic changes will be communicated as those roll out.

Thank you to everyone who engaged in this topic and added your voice.  While we have had to shut down several discussions that became unproductive, we have welcomed feedback through support contacts and have been using this feedback to inform our decision-making. We are listening, and are working to make sure that Second Life is a welcoming and engaging world for all our Residents (and their automata). 

 

The parts "as we look to update our policy on Scripted Agent/NPC operation in Second Life," and "in the near future we will be making adjustments to policies where needed," suggests there *may* be some changes as to what information bots can collect in the future. But this is not a sure thing.

Voice Morphing

Changing one's voice in Second Life is not exactly new. I heard stories about software that when installed on your computer would change the inflection of one's voice, from male to female and vice-versa. Other equipment could do the job as well. One male DJ friend of mine once demonstrated this when he used a second computer to log-in an alt he sometimes used for a roleplay sim, and used his equipment to alter his voice that made the voice coming from the avatar closer to a girl's.

Now Linden Labs itself will be offering this service. Almost overlooked in the midst of the Linden Labs' layoffs, the 2.1 "Alpha" viewer has been released with the option of "Voice Morphing."


Voice Morphing is a feature that Residents have been asking for almost as long as we've had voice capabilities inworld. Simply put, it's the ability to change your avatar's voice to match any one of a number of tones and characteristics. Want to sound like a robot, a furry, or the opposite sex? With Voice Morphing, that ability is now just a few clicks away. The ability to change what your voice sounds like inworld will not only make it a richer and more interesting experience to be part of a community in Second Life, but will also help introduce voice to Residents who have been reluctant to use it in the past because they were uncomfortable making their real voice heard inworld. With Voice Morphing, you can be whoever you like in Second Life in voice as well as in appearance. As a first step, we're introducing 25 voices, available for purchase via subscription in five packs of five each, with the following themes: scary, feminine, masculine, tiny, and techie. You'll be able to sample each one for free to find the morphs that work best for you.


To both try out the voices for free, and purchase them, one goes to "Voice Island," in the sim of the same name at (131, 125, 22). Buying a "pack" of five morph voices will cost 750 Lindens, with five packs up for purchase: "scary," "feminine," "masculine," "tiny," and "techie."

It will be interesting to see how much this development will affect Second Life. The posts on the official Linden blog suggest roleplaying uses for characters, as well as allow those too shy to use their own voice to use another. When mentioned in the Residents' Disscusion forum posts though, the first thing brought up was about those using voice to make sure they were picking up a girl for a fast date, and how paranoid they must be feeling now. Some thought this might be the end of many in SL acting like playboys. Some were more skeptical, saying some wouldn't be so easy to fool by voice morphing they've seen in the past.

For the Blog posts about Voice Morphing, click Here and Here.

Click Here for the "microsite."

Bixyl Shuftan