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World Review: IMVU
Main
Review
Compatible with Operating Systems:
   World Status: Operational
IMVU, coming from the people that made There, is a 3D interface for Microsoft MSN Messenger, which effectively turns an IM session into a 3D, visual environment for up to ten people at a time. The basic premise is more individuality, as you are given an avatar, and a couple of sets of clothes. An almost endless variety of additional outfits can be purchased, and mix and matched to create a truly individual look ? even faces, and body features can be purchased. As such, IMVU is a fairly commercial environment, but it does add a lot of functionality to a very popular IM client, allowing participants to see each other through their idealised appearance. IMVU utilises what seems to be an X3D engine, and so inherits many of the old issues with VRML ? you have to wait for the whole world to load before you see anything, which can be murder on a slow connection. Fortunately, the chat area worlds are small, big enough for a dozen people comfortably. You cannot walk around in IMVU, so you are relegated to a single point in the room, but you can move your vantage point of the room to anywhere you like ? just your actual avatar will not move. Chat appears as speech bubbles above the chatters? heads, that slowly move upwards and disappear, so if you leave the room for a moment, you may lose track of what someone has said, as there is no ?history? function. Even so, it provides an enjoyable experience, and certainly deals with the ?disconnected? feeling a long, and crowded IM session can generate. To add to the experience, IMVU largely does away with emoticons, choosing instead to do the same thing ? with the body language of your avatar. This can lead to anything from weird smiles, to some very amusing, and at times, very lewd gestures. At the time of writing, IMVU are working on multiple-avatar gestures, so you can interact bodily with your friends. Whether this is by consent or not, is unclear. 
Sub Reviews
IMVU is a very social worldlet, it is designed for pure socialisation, and small gatherings. Each worldlet is custom generated for your conversation, and supports ten people. Environments are widely ranging, and a huge number of additional locations are available for download.
Client OS:Win 2K, Win 98, Win 2K, Win 2K
World Purpose:
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