Since it’s officially summer and gas prices are so very high, I thought I’d take MVF on some virtual road trips. We’ve talked mostly about Second Life here because it is one of the largest virtual environments currently being used. But its not the only one — more keep appearing every day. Today we’ll take a trip to There.com I’ll also not that these will usually be quick first looks. We’d appreciate hearing form anyone who’s doing more advanced development in these spaces.

There.com (the .com is needed to keep yourself straight…otherwise things get confusing fast. Where? No, There Oooh. Who’s on First?) was started in 1998, but has since split into two companies , Makena Technologies, which manages There.com and Forterra Systems, which builds virtual simulations for corporate and government training programs. In 2007 Makena also landed a contract with MTV to use the There engine to build “Virtual Laguna Beach,” an online world based on the program of the same name. MTV has continued to expand it’s virtual offerings through VTV (Virtual MTV).

Basic membership to There is free and Premium memberships with additional features are available for a fee. You need a PC (sorry Mac fans, you’re not welcome…and you have to run it through IE, no Firefox need apply). After signing-up and installing the client you’re off and running. Like other virtual worlds, There.com features chat and IM for communicating, the ability to join interest groups, and teleportation to different areas in world. Premium accounts also have access to Voice Chat.

There.com is also based on user-generated content, but with tighter restrictions than Second Life. All content in There.com must comply with their PG-13 guidelines. All content created by users must pass through a review by There.com staff to make sure that “inappropriate content” is not introduced into the system. The submission guidelines specifically note that “Female and male forms depicted on artwork must also comply with the Minimum Coverage Requirements.” If you’re making clothing for avatars figuring out the “minimum coverage requirements” is easy, you just run your design through some There.com supplied software called….wait for it….”Fig Leaf.” This makes There.com a potentially interesting place for museums who want to reach family-oriented audiences. Not being an educator, I’d be interested in hearing how real-life museums deal with artwork that doesn’t meet “minimum coverage requirements” in their educational programs.

There.com charges users based on the content that they upload, in part to defray the cost of reviewing all the submitted content. From wandering around the world, it appears that developers are limited to the basic templates listed on the specs sheet. Compared to Second Life, There.com has a more cartoon-like feel because it uses simple textures on its objects. This does give There.com interface a faster, smoother feel than SL, but it may also prove to be challenging for making representations of museum artifacts. It would likely work better for the kinds of interactives being built by the Exploratorium.

There.com offers a variety of “islands,” “neighborhoods” and “developments” where users can acquire spaces. Custom and private islands are also available. And if you’re MTV or a well funded museum, you can develop stand-alone customizations as well. In fact, MTV’s use of the platform suggests that much more can be done with Makena’s technology.

With the exception of the”There Museum of History” and the “There Buggy Museum”, I haven’t discovered many overtly labeled museum activities here. A few art galleries are listed. Like many other virtual worlds, getting around and finding things is still hit or miss. Sometime going outside the world is still better than what’s offered inside. Often when you first start exploring it’s a big, empty place.