Getting Up Close with the Makers of 300 Within the Virtual World of Second Life®

NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Pittsburgh, PA, United States, 03/11/2007 - Residents of 3D virtual world, Second Life®, will have the chance to rub shoulders with the legendary comic writer, Frank Miller – well, his avatar at least.

Miller, together with other key members of the cast and crew of the new Warner Bros film, 300, will be part of a live Q & A session on Thursday March 17th, 10.30am (PDT) made possible by a new service called SoundReach, developed by Australian software engineer, Gary Wisniewski.

In what could have been a technical nightmare of bringing their voices, located on opposite sides of the globe, into one place, the SoundReach system has solved the problem by requiring only a landline phone to take their voices into Second Life.

Although it might sound like something akin to the matrix, Wisniewski promises it is only voices - not bodies - which can be taken in-world using his system.

"Prior to the creation of SoundReach you had to set-up internet radio streams, complex sound recording equipment and software to enable real world voices to be broadcast in Second Life. The introduction of SoundReach means that busy people like Frank Miller can just call a normal telephone number and their voice will be streamed into Second Life", explains Wisniewski.

The system has already been used for a speech by Barack Obama supporters rallying for Second Life residents to join their in-world campaign. Over 50 people attended the event and all were listening to the presenter who had called a Chicago phone number to have his voice heard by everyone at the event.

According to Wisniewski, SoundReach makes it possible for all kinds of people to call a phone line and have their voices broadcast in-world.

While Second Life lends itself perfectly to talk shows, key note presentations, training and even annual general meetings, Wisniewski is reluctant to attempt to guess at what the system may be used for.

“SoundReach is designed to allow for one-to-many presentations in the easiest possible way. We’re removing the technical complexity previously encountered by anyone trying to get voice and sound into Second Life”.

Information on Sound Reach and other Cattle Puppy Productions' technologies can be found at www.cattlepuppy.com.