Google Makes Chat More Lively

The latest project out of Google Labs gives chatters avatars and virtual spaces to interact, like a scaled-down version of Second Life.

Goofy animated avatars and colorful fantasy worlds may sound like the stuff of a new Wii game or time-killing mobile app, but they’re actually part of one of Google’s most playful new projects yet. The company strayed from its utilitarian side on Wednesday with the launch of Lively, a new chat environment that adds graphics and animation to the usually plain world of chat.

With Lively, Webmasters can set up a virtual “room” for visitors to drop by and interact in. They can select everything from the wall décor to furniture, while visitors can create their own Sims-like avatars to play around with. Rather than merely chatting, users can walk around and perform different actions – like giving a hug – the same way they might in a more immersive game like Second Life.

Engineering Manager Niniane Wang created the concept as a “20 percent project,” Google’s term for an out-there side project that it allows employees to indulge with 20 percent of their time. The idea was to create a virtual space for Web surfers to interact with one another in a more interactive way than the more conventional chat.

Users can try Lively by merely visiting a Lively-equipped page, or create their own custom rooms through Lively.com.