One of my favorite blogs, 3pointD.com, posted about what sounded like a cool new concept - a 3D browser. The browser, 3B, allows people to websites or photos on 3D walls where avatars can wander around and look at them, clicking on any they find interesting.
The concept is interesting and I imagine that this is where the web is going in the future. The reality is pretty boring.
3B is a browser, so it requires download and installation, which was simple. On first run you create an avatar - much easier than in Second Life, but not as individual either. I wanted to check out 3B's Amazon book store, but couldn't figure out how to navigate there from the "airport" - the place where your avatar starts.
I ended up going to the real-world website and clicking on a link from there. It took quite awhile for it to load, but when it did I was impressed. Just like Second Life, you use the mouse to "walk" around a gallery-like space where the books are like paintings on the wall. Find a book that interests you? Just click on it and you go (very slowly) to the Amazon page.
Unfortunately, while the books were supposedly organized into sections - Fiction, Business, etc, when I got to the Fiction section I found many self-help books. The books themselves were not organized within the section at all. I would like to see some kind of organization - something like a bookstore with books listed by genre and then author.
The thing is, this could be a great idea, especially if clicking on the book took you first to the browse-inside pages that Amazon features for many of their books. It would almost be like visiting a real Borders, except without the irritating old lady telling a friend the details of her hip replacement.
Imagine shopping for clothes this way - especially if you could make an correctly sized avatar.
However until the interface gets friendlier, loading time quicker, and the destinations better organize 3B will remain an interesting novelty.
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