Google recently announced that they are coming up with their own free-to-use virtual world much like that of Linden Lab’s Second Life. This new offering is called Lively and like with other new business ventures, Google reinvented the virtual world model and made it better.

One of the major improvements that Google added to their version of the virtual chatroom is the freedom to allow its users to create their own virtual rooms; which in turn they can embed in their chosen websites and blogs. And since the room is embeddable, it can be transformed into a widget and posted on social network pages like Friendster, MySpace and Facebook. This was the major issue lacking in Second Life, which was an overnight success that failed to sustain its initial boom. In Second Life, users are required to download, install and run a separate software package just to enter their online world.

Another huge difference with Lively is the ability to access other online content. Being that the software is from Google, users can gain access to a lot more stuff – perhaps the largest of which are videos from the widely popular online video sharing site YouTube.

Basically, Lively is much like Second Life, but in a web browser.

"It’s integrated with the Internet. It’s not an alternate destination," said Google’s Niniane Wang, engineering manager for the Lively project. "Our intention is to add to your existing life."

Each room possesses its own unique URL and can be embedded in a website through an iframe. These rooms, just like users’ avatars, are fully customizable. Backgrounds and furnishings can be changed just as easily as your avatars change clothes and hairstyles. The rooms can be also be popped out to enable users and visitors to see more of the entire 3D space.

"If you enter a Lively room embedded on your favorite blog or website, you can immediately get a sense of the room creator’s interests, just by looking at the furniture and environment they chose," added Niniane.

Gone are the days of animated emoticons and IM status messages. People can express themselves thru more mediums these days. There are a million of widgets available for embedding, each expressing certain interests that many users share and enjoy. Then there’s the Twitter Flash badge that keeps friends updated on each other. Now, there’s the Lively interaction.

"Of course, you can chat with each other, and you can also interact through animated actions. In our user research, we’ve been amazed at how much more poignant it is to receive an animated hug than seeing the text [[hug]]”

Like we said, Second Life was pretty popular when it first came out. So there’s no doubt that people are interested in this new media. Thankfully, Google has made it more accessible for the majority of us who are mostly working with browsers when online.

"We think there is a desire to socialize in this way," Niniane said. "We hope this product will help them do that."

To gain access to Lively all we need to do is download and install the software. Of course, it requires Flash in order to run as an embedded content but every browser-dependent user has that already so that’s pretty much covered. Video requirements for the virtual world are minimal – an average video card with a 32 megabyte memory will probably do. No need to worry if it will eat up your site’s bandwidth, much like other embeddable online content the rooms and avatars will be hosted by Google’s own web servers.

Although Google spokeswoman Sara Jew-Lim said that they have no immediate plans to put advertisements on Lively nor do they have a concrete plan to make profit from it, we doubt it will stay that way for long. It takes a lot of money to host these 3D spaces and Google is not one who will shy away from a profitable opportunity. There is simply too many ways to earn from Lively and putting ads is probably the simplest. They can even share some of the earnings with site owners, enticing more of them to create and embed quality Lively rooms in their sites.

The project is said to be still in its early stages but everyone already expects it to be the next big thing on the internet. We’re pretty sure fans of games like the Sims and those who played their Second Life a lot can’t wait for the official release of Lively.

In fact, other companies who have built their businesses around these virtual worlds are already jumping on Google’s train. One of them is UK-based firm Rivers Run Red, who has announced that they are already developing their own customized 3D rooms specifically for Lively.

This is definitely a way better venture than YouTube. That stinker eats up too much bandwidth and produces even far less profit. Maybe before officially releasing Lively, Google should clean up their “toilet” first. That way Lively avatars will only get to watch quality video clips on their virtual living room television sets.