Second wind blows, Second Life gets graphics upgrade

Second Life's rapidly growing community is getting a power boost to enhance the user-created world, as creator Linden Lab acquired the graphics technology from Windward Mark Interactive.

Aside from getting the five founders of Windward in their Boston office, Linden Lab  will also earn:

• Windlight - an advanced atmospheric technology, uses patent-pending algorithms that simulates light affected by real-world factors like dust and moisture in real-time
  
• Nimble - a realistic 3D cloud simulator using advanced physics models
  
• Other intellectual properties

Windlight will be open source and available to PC users immediately, with a Mac version to follow. This time around, we'd probably see hotter babes that would eventually get awarded on male-oriented magazines.

Both sides are excited about the acquisition. Linden Lab Founder and CEO Philip Rosedale said "We're excited to bring this technology to Second Life and pleased to have such a talented team of developers join Linden Lab." Coming from Windward's president Asi Lang, "It will be exciting to see how the Second Life community will further advance our technology when it is open sourced.”

Rally up, it's time to create the ultimate Second Life utopia!

Second Life's rapidly growing community is getting a power boost to enhance the user-created world, as creator Linden Lab acquired the graphics technology from Windward Mark Interactive.

Aside from getting the five founders of Windward in their Boston office, Linden Lab  will also earn:

• Windlight - an advanced atmospheric technology, uses patent-pending algorithms that simulates light affected by real-world factors like dust and moisture in real-time
  
• Nimble - a realistic 3D cloud simulator using advanced physics models
  
• Other intellectual properties

Windlight will be open source and available to PC users immediately, with a Mac version to follow. This time around, we'd probably see hotter babes that would eventually get awarded on male-oriented magazines.

Both sides are excited about the acquisition. Linden Lab Founder and CEO Philip Rosedale said "We're excited to bring this technology to Second Life and pleased to have such a talented team of developers join Linden Lab." Coming from Windward's president Asi Lang, "It will be exciting to see how the Second Life community will further advance our technology when it is open sourced.”

Rally up, it's time to create the ultimate Second Life utopia!