Voice awareness for non-voice users

Isn't a live audio stream also live ?

voice is here to stay so I don't see that being an issue.

I'll come see you Marin ... if you're on at an hour I can realistically get online (yeah yeah yeah so that *is* probably 3am my time ... my sleep pattern is shot to hell )

This does tie in with my point about the nuances which are just never there in text, even with those who have a strong and distinctive internet presence.

Hmm. My crash frequency doesn't seem to have any relation to whether I have Voice turned on or not. It's still higher than I'd like, though.

Ahh I see, so if it didn't sound bad, it would be fine?

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Are gender bending avatars that look bad are not good either?

But if they look good, its fine?

Theatre and lectures are definitely a place where Voice is a great tool. I don't know about audio streams, but is using the in client voice less complicated technically? I know the problems audio streams can give sometimes with dropouts, etc.

I was mainly wondering since Audio streams are independent of SL voice and thus separated to an extent from the voice conversation.

And of course people can leave the voice off (for whatever reason including not listening to people who DON'T turn their mics off during the performance.)

If voice is easier for performance then its easier though. Im sure its much easier if there is more than one speaker.

This makes me wonder if being able to ONLY allow members of a group to "speak" in voice would be useful option for performances, or lectures, etc.

Thus you could prevent interruptions.

Maybe live if it's a DJ. But we are talking about actors together, each at their own computer. Timing is everything. Delay in the stream would be a killer and I doubt more than one audio stream could happen at the same time.

I'd think it would be more real time. I've heard audio streams drop out and then be in a loop where they come back at the same spot several times before catching up. That could cause problems for a stage production.

k so its about more than one performer as a big reason.

That was in my post above just now -

I do wonder about the group thing though since SL uses that for other features.

If everyone could hear but only the actors could speak during the show might have some value.

OK I am probably repeating something I skimmed over, so sorry ahead of time if I do that. Wouldnt it just fix the situation all together if ANYone could see the white dot above the heads of those using voice? Period? So, you see someone with a white dot and the green waves (I think thats right) and you would know they are talking. Dont have to have it turned on, it just shows it.

I've used voice a few times, its no biggie really. I'm also shy enough around people I dont know that I would end up typing my replies even if I am listening in with a mic. Luckily I can type fast.

So what harm would it be for SL to just show the dot n waves to everyone, not just those enabled. Those without a dot over their head obviously wouldnt be using voice, those with dot/waves are. It lets those without see if people with are talking to each other and not wander confused at the silence.

Exactly what I'm after.

Edit to say that I don't really care about the waves. Just seeing the dots would be enough. Would probably require having voice enabled to see the waves anyway.

I wouldnt mind seeing the waves because I will bet you a lot of the time voice is on for people, but they arent talking. This way if you see the waves you know people are talking and thats why chat might be silent. Maybe even an optional animation for people that are talking over voice, since when we are typing the avs type. Would be cute to see the mouth flappin away

I know I read somewhere that voice channel moderation capabilities are slated soon, so it would be possible to control who's audio could feed into the channel.

Other posts about lag: If you have a really low-end client machine (like a couple of mine), just having voice enabled will use enough more memory that you may see some performance impact. Bandwidth is less likely to be a problem as long as nobody is using voice in your vacinity--and even then, the voice stream doesn't demand that much bandwidth. (Although, I guess if you're on a bit-metered Internet connection, it could be a consideration.) Even without any voice sounds, though, there are various degrees of handshaking that goes on every time you cross boundaries between parcels with different voice settings, and especially when crossing sim borders or TPing, so if those have been problematic, disabling voice completely may be worth a try.

It wouldn't be a problem, IF I had the ability to turn off those indicators when I choose.

I do roleplaying. When I have an RP session going, Voice is banned. I only want to experience the other avatars as they present the character, in visual presentation and text. Seeing that dot over the heads of some people is a visual distraction, entirely out of place in the situation. It's like seeing that an actor in a Shakespearian play has a cell phone clipped to the back of his belt. It ruins the mood.

I will not EVER go around in public with Voice Chat turned on and the spoken chat audible, because I don't want to accidentally encounter one of my roleplaying friends, and be forced to hear a deep male voice coming from someone that I had accepted as a tiny female fox. For me, that would forever shatter the illusions that they had created with that character so far.

On the other hand, if I am standing in a public place like a mall, and the only person near me starts chattering away audibly, I'd like an indication that he was doing so, so I could tell him politely "Sorry, I can't hear. You'll have to type to me."

That certainly makes sense - I think it could almost be considered necessary.

Completely agreed Ceera, having the option to see the dot or not is important too *nods*

TBH what people do doesn't worry me, in the abstract. I personally - PERSONALLY - prefer that women are women and men are men. I abhor deceit however - and some of the most entrenched people simply can't admit the truth to ANYONE and are caught forever in that deceit.

So yes, liars, I have no time for at all. Some people are exploring their sexuality, and their identity and that's fine for them but I am not in a relationship with them so I take it on face value.

I more care that they are nice people, preferably not stupid or with issues.

The thing is - with the voice changers, they do not work. They just don't work ... and most people are savvy enough to think that's not a woman.

The reason why they are my pet peeve is exactly that - they sound bloody awful.

As to people not being who they present themselves to be, I've had a few shocks and a few people whom I have deep suspicions about. This is a world where you can be anything you like, ultimately.

This is taking what I was talking about in a direction which is not really relevant to what I was saying. Aural quality is not a moral debate after all.

Maybe they assumed people who didn't want to use voice didn't care to see who was doing?

Or that they might not want their system resources/bandwidth eaten?

Kathy, the waves are REALLY useful. Quite often I have voice enabled but no sound going through (when I am listening to music for instance) so I can then tell if someone is talking to me. Usually, so I can say "Sorry no headphones on" (kind of true if no voice input).

This will be interesting. I wouldn't think that SL voice would be a great performing arts choice, since it is spatial - the volume being proportional to the distance of the viewer from the stage. In RL theatres use amplification and speakers to combat this. It has always seemed to me that in SL the audio volume falloff is rather swift, which would restrict your audience size even more than the sim limit would, perhaps.

I suspect that low-end PCs that do not have audio chips capable of "rendering" sound may have even lower volume than SL voice is intended to have. My tiny laptop will run SL quite reliably, but to hear any SL voice all sliders, both in Windows and SL, have to be maxed. This is not the case with an audio stream, which is not spatial, and thus does not rely on audio rendering.

If they did, I think it's an odd assumption. I'm sure many of us don't care about listening into voice, or participating in voice, but it would be nice to know when it is being used, otherwise the potential for miscommunication is huge.

I don't know about bandwidth/resources, but I would have thought there would be an easy, fairly resource-light way to indicate when people are communicating via voice to those who do not use it. I dunno. <shrug>

For those of you concerned about people "lying" about their genders and such, why don't you try doing what I do. I am not friends with a person. I am friends with an avatar. I am therefore never hurt or let down. I have no expectations. That silly green tiny dragon is my friend who happens to be a silly green tiny dragon. End of story.

My point is that

It either should be okay for people to be gender benders inside SL

Or its not.

The voice changer aspect shouldn't be part of that.



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I agree that people should not lie about gender to those they are in relationships with. I have been lied to by people I've had relationships before. It hurts when you realize the person was putting on an act.

But thats quite different from using a voice changer with strangers or those who don't want to know.

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The quality of course isnt a moral debate. -but-

At some point in the future of course it will be impossible to tell the difference between those using voice changers and those who do not.

When that time arrives will there be a difference between people using a opposite gender Graphic Avatar and an opposite gender voice program?

There's an option to Hear Voice Chat from camera position. Dunno if it works, but if it does, you should be able to zoom in and hear better at the same time. (A combination of opera glasses and an ear trumpet. )

We use the camera position for voice, not the avatar position. This works great. Each listener can then adjust volumes on individuals separtely.

It works. I think it is actually the default since I don't remember checking it off. I found out rather unpleasantly how well it works when I zoomed in on a friend to look at the details on her new clothes and almost went deaf when she spoke.

That being said my limited experience with voice is that I do not hear it often in vicinity. Some of my friends use it inconsistently when it is just a few of us hanging out in a semi-private area but even then we usually end up voice conferencing since we start to wander around a bit. I only listen and have never had any problems with anyone by only listening on voice. I have rarely ever been asked to use voice and have never had anyone bug me about it when I declined. Anyone who would do that is not worth my SL time.