Whats the next big thing

Well maybe your wish has been answered... just picked up on this post

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Groovy. I like seeing more work in this direction.

You can... simply use the templates for the avatar head, apply your fav picture of your face, cutting out things like eyes, mouth etc as shown on the template and apply it as a tattoo in the apearances menu. The only issue you may have it getting the skin shade correct to match your body.. or you could just wear a scarf LOL...

I hope that avitar movement can soon be accomplished using the mouse instead of the arow keys. If that is too far away in time - how about being able to place a target location you want your avitar to move to (near or far) and then click to go there. At the present I spend frustrating moments just trying to cross a room and go through a doorway - without missing it, hanging up behind some wall or backing up several times to get a better angle.

Basic physics issue there.... the mouse is a 3d device.. cursor keys work one at a time 1d.... FlyCam is about the only thing that works 3d in SL, but that doesn't move your avatar... Maybe Havoc 2,3,4,5,6, etc might allow this?

Next big thing? Teledildonics.

The mouse is clearly a 2D device, it moves in any direction along the PLANE of my desk. It does not rise or fall from that surface.

WHooo Hooooo!

Perhaps she means 3D in the way you could usw the scroll wheel to control Z axis, then again why not have a 3 d mouse, might be a bit tirinfg to use , but could be great once you got the hang of it.

You mean Client > UI > Double-Click Auto-Pilot?

After reading the question the above is answering I hunted the Double Click Auto Pilot option down in the SL Release Candidate version and tried it - it not only didn't work, it also caused objects in my vicinity to flicker. I've not had that result from any other version I've used double click auto pilot with.

I don't think double click auto pilot really works quite like one would want, in the sense of using the point at which you double click as the destination. It seems to be taking you to x and y coordinates rather than the x y and z coordinates of the object or terrain element you click on. I'd also like to be able to select a point on the sky and just start flying in that direction till I make it stop.

I just tried double click auto pilot in the release candidate version again and it persists in not working, so it might be good for those who like this feature to install the release candidate version and test it out.

One BIG feature would be having the avatars meshes totally redone, with a clean, homogen UV mapping, and clean joint deformers. Seeing what the most recent SL competitors made in terms of avatar graphics, I even think its an imperative move if we want to stay in the run.

A new, improved avatar could live together with the original one, for a certain amount of time, to allow everyone time to adapt, I particularly think of clothing and skin makers.

Also, wearable flexi sculpties, that actually follow the avatars rigging would be nice. Make a sculptie piece of clothing, wear it, it follows your bones rotations.

I definetly think if this is not done quickly, we are in serious trouble when it comes to seduce new residents, if they ever take a look at what sony does....

Ever used a mouse in mouse look?.. Of course you have and it can move your view in 3 directions.. same can be said of a joystick or gampad.. try doing the same movements with the cursors.... point explained.

Let me see....
I move the mouse right, I look right. Same left. One dimention down.
I move the mouse up, I look up. Same down. Two dimentions verified.
I....I uh....fail to see how I can do anything else.

Unless you mean using the mousewheel, which causes ZOOM, but zooming in and out is NOT the same as trucking in and out. Trucking being a movie term which is when they truck, or move, the camera on tracks closer to the subject.

How you can tell the difference:
Ever seen a shot where it's a closeup of the character's face and it looks like they zoom in on his face *even more* yet it doesn't show more of his face? I.E. you can see the top of his head and his shoulders the whole time.
That's a combination of trucking in and zooming out at the same time and is used for dramatic effect, such as showing surprise.

Inversely you can truck out and zoom in for a "long hallway" effect.

And in either case:
Moving the mose -> rotation (look left)
Mouse wheel -> translation (move forward)

Um, actually they do have mice that operate in 3 Dimensions. X,Y,Z axis, etc.

Not always the cheapest things, but neat.

http://www.3dconnexion.com/index.php

http://www.cylo.com.au/index.html

Cant seem to find the one I saw a few years back, where there was a 'ball' you grabbed onto and moved around.

There's also some "presentation" mice that allow 3 dimensional access.

Cant find a 4D mouse tho!

You damn well know that's not what I'm talking about. Or anyone else in this thread who said "mouse."

http://www.germes-online.com/catalog/96/97/520/20936/ds_2016_mouse.html

Yea, I agree thats only 2 Dimensional.

Not to worry Tod, the old guy got his knickers in a twisty... a mouse can move in 3 planes.. diagonally (left/right and up/down at the sametime) while in and out (zoom) at the same time oh and if you have programmable buttons on your mouse like mine, you can set them to PageUp and PageDown to move up and down while you do the other movements as well at the same time.. Unlike Cursor keys... which are limited to a single press timerate to prevent mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmuuuuulllllttipplllleee kkeeeyyyyy prrrrreesssssessss.

Yea, there's that. But the Height Slider doesnt go low enough (5'1"

flexibility with creating avatars? IMHO, the avatars on some video games come out looking almost as good (like Final Fantasy 11) even though there is much less focused on appearance. Also, again IMHO the child avatar is legitimate character on SL and should have more specialization rather than a bastardization of the adult char. Particularly the male child, which tends to look a bit odd to me using this process. Flame on lol.

EDIT: I probably should have posted this in the suggested features section. Oh well

My guess is this will be a few big things down the road.. Though it would be nice to see stuff like http://grail.cs.washington.edu/projects/graph-optimal-control/ implemented

This is the next big thing : -

http://ulaluma.com/pyx/archives/2007/09/rest_to_lsl_via_python_and_comet.html

I'm looking forward to windlight, but the great quantum leap in graphics will come when proper shadows are introduced and light is stopped from shining through objects (unless they are transparent, of course!). Then, I think we will be 'almost there' with graphics.

Also further modes of adjusting prims, like push / pull deforming of selected areas and the ability to make angled intersections between hollow prims and 'trim off' the unwanted bits would be good.

The problem with any graphic updates, it will disclude many more users using Intel onboard GC's, and all those GC's that only just make the grade now.

Personally, when SL starts using the standard internet browser and becomes a pluggin, then it will open up a much wider userbase and you can match such things as media to suit your own choice of player pluggins. Graphics will be easier to handle as the system will be rendering the environment, rather than using pluggins created by LL or 'a another' 3rd party.

The reason that maybe some time off, is security. Many browsers can be redirected and elements of the 'focus' stolen and that could lead to loss of IP rights, even accounts. The biggest move will be the full takeover of the RL currencies, CC and paypal etc and the micro economy evaporates. This will no doubt happen not long after the serverside elements become open source. To survive, LL will have to retain securely, the API calls of account verification and IP rights. Time will tell.

On board Graphics cards are for basic spec office machines, you won't see highend games setting up to run on them. If you want all this 3d rendering etc then you need a serious graphics card otherwise you will be stuck in Commodore 64 Graphics world............