Independent hosting news blog…

My take on “voice” is that it is an essential new channel for SL, but that it is not mandatory to use it. I’ve voiced (hehe) this in responses on other blogs. IMHO, in situations needing rapid interaction, the push of information or when there is a low level of keyboard skills then voice will be the channel of choice. Mundane examples include: teaching classes; business presentations; client meetings etc. I’d note that, since voice meetings will not be “automatically minuted” (unlike chat/IM), it may prove necessary to employ a minute-taker.

What I like about chat (and IM) is its asynchronous nature. It may take time, but I can consider what I want to say more carefully. In a voice conversation I’d look pretty dumb if I was… well… dumb, so it is normal in voice to respond immediately. It also provides a natural barrier between my RL self and my SL self - I’m not sure that I want to immerse myself to the extent that I am talking in RL (and overheard by everyone around me), in order to be heard in SL.

Anyhoo… the most interesting area of impact is among the role-play communities in SL. Even with filters to tweak voice to match the avatar persona, role-play is suddenly reliant on good acting skills. Perhaps this will result in a partitioning of such communities into “role play leets”, who can actually act and will want to RP together, and “role play proles” who have to stick to chat to cover up their acting deficiencies.

In any event, “voice” is to be welcomed as an additional channel, augmenting what SL already has. It may prove seismic in its impact, as you suggest - but my view is that, for the near-term at least, it will be just another facility. It will also be interesting to see how a “voice etiquette” develops.