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DotSoul is an immersive 3D Virtual Reality MMORPG open to those who observe its Code. Created in 2006 by Joseph Bergeron and Laura Herrmann, it has been spoken of as the Greenwich Village/Comedy Central of the internet and one of the fastest growing virtual reality communities on line. A graphic and relationship intensive cyberpark, designed to facilitate the release of people’s subconscious, the stated goal of the park is to create a dreamscape or playground of the mind where people creatively interact, role-play and build virtual works which bear the stamp of their personal identities.
Philosophy
According to its creators, Dotsoul is meant to trigger that ability in participants to make something out of their own images. It gives people the option to live outside the corporate structure and creates room for independent self-discovery. The society is, as stated on the official website “the parallel universe inside your head”.
Built as an MMORPG and graphically similar to games like WoW, Half-Life, and the SIMS, Dotsoul has been compared with the popular Web2 sites Myspace.com and YouTube.com due to its emphasis on social networking, user generated content and the fact that it is free to the user. Unlike Myspace.com and YouTube.com, however, Dotsoul does not run on a competitive, hierarchical, corporate, economic model, but on the following cooperative, egalitarian, non-violent, intergenerational, multicultural code:
- Respect everyone.
- This is a PG rated world because like the "real world" it involves children (and a huge range of cultural experiences); Stay Mindful.
- No VR universe or world bashing in here. Support everyone, including the "competition".
If the Code is agreed to, the user gains admittance to the dreamscape of the Dotsoul cyberpark and is free to create with a wide range of media, including 3Dimensional graphics, so long as the Code is followed.
Whether this model will succeed is difficult to predict. It is also somewhat unclear whether the park is non-profit or simply non-commercial. What is clear is the ardently anti-corporate philosophy it has put forward. In a sense, Dotsoul is built on the same logic as WIKIPEDIA and the WIKI software which enables individual users to contribute to the Wikiverse which is open, non-commercial and, within the parameters of certain quality control measures, and infinitely editable by its content creators. In this regard, the WIKIPEDIA seems to be the best model of comparison for the Dotsoul project.
Built in a 3Dimensional programming language, creating things in Dotsoul involves clicking and pasting object tags which are accesible on the objects themselves scattered throughout the park. The act of making 3Dimensional spaces would appear similar to the Myspace editing programs that have become so popular in recent months with the rise of that internet behemoth. While the Myspace Editor interface allows users the ability to prgram in html without indepth knowledge of html, by cutting and pasting code, in Dotsoul users cut and paste .rwx or renderware code in order to generate 3Dimensional trees, rocket ships, flowers and moving objects.
This attempt at creating a socially conscious “parallel universe” bears some relation to games such as “A Force More Powerful” and the project at PARC. However, unlike these games, Dotsoul is predicated on an open-architecture which is dependent on its user base for its content. Unlike most VR MMORPGs online, Dotsoul seems to intend to interface with real life in ways that produce immediate results for its members.
In May of 2006, a post appeared on the official website celebrating the sale of work by Kasmira and Jason Weinberg, two Maine based artists with a large gallery inside Dotsoul. The crossover of virtual playspace and reality based economies seems a part of the Dotsoul project.
While the content in the park is user generated, there is an in-residence Master Builder, called the Michelangelo of the Metaverse by Dotsoul members. The relationship between Master builders and apprentices is an aspect of the park's dynamics. Under the tutelage of the current Master builder, Soul Tech, the first incarnation of Dotsoul is an amalgam of moods reminiscent of Dali, the Outer Limits and the original film the Matrix.
The CyberPark
AVATARS: Dotsoul’s exponentially increasing avatars range from scuba divers, tourists, hikers to Hobbits, Superman, aliens, Clint Eastwood, Ferengi to birds, grasshoppers, apes, to historical figures, such as Navahos, Caesar, Venus, Osiris, Hotep, knights, princesses, and to Sci-Fi, contemporary and customized citizens.
OBJECTS: By marrying the “back lot” concept of the classic Hollywood Studio System to VOIP themed, interactive, immersed environments and graphic interface technology that game technology has popularized, DotSoul is a synthesis of all the new multimedia web. (More)
REQUIREMENTS: For Dotsoul cyberpark these are the minimum system requirements: Pentium CPU 300 mhz or equivalent, 64 MB RAM, Microsoft Windows (95, 98, me, NT4, 2000, or XP), DirectX 7.0.
MEDIA COVERAGE & CELEBRITIES: The site is fast getting the attention of the media, among them the “Haleakala Times,” the “Las Vegas Weekly,” and the “Florida Times Union.” Celebrities, such as Brian Luff and Georgina Sowerby, the Comedy Troop 365 have posted at the site, live from London, England. Entertainers, such as, Richard Vobes also had their day in Dotsoul, and a representative sample of the new wave of independent artists emerging on the internet.
OFFERINGS: Events, such as art gallery openings, internet connections with pod casters and Myspace members, live shows, internet café exposure, DJ music, community service and outreach with nonprofit organizations such as Bridges Across Borders.org, animated video productions, games, seminars, and promotion for independent artists and entrepreneurs.
External links
- Dotsoul official website
- Laura Marie
- Florida Times Union Article
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