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Hi HN! One of the creators here. It's a cross between Zoom x Pokemon. You only get audio and video from people you're standing next to, and as you walk away f

by liamuk 6y ago

Hi HN! One of the creators here. It's a cross between Zoom x Pokemon. You only get audio and video from people you're standing next to, and as you walk away from them, the video fades away and the audio drops off. With current video chat apps, you lose many of the dynamics of real life meetups. In particular, you lose the ability to have multiple people in the same shared space having multiple conversations. In real life events, you can talk to a few people at a time while still being able to quickly go from one conversation to the next. With video chat, you have to talk to everyone at the same time. Online Town is meant to fix this. The way it works is, when you're near someone you get their audio and video, when you walk away from them their video drops off, and their audio fades out. So you can have multiple conversations within a single virtual space. Join me in the public room! Would love to get your all thoughts on it :)

genejaelee 6y ago
Surprised no one has replied here. I've been thinking about the same problem for the past few weeks regarding real life group dynamics in digital mediums. Interesting stuff, wish you all the best
betoharres 6y ago
not sure nothing happens when I get close to someone. Using Firefox 69 Dev edition on a desktop without webcam but with mic
djaychela 6y ago
Hi. I think this is a great idea - particularly as I'm unable to visit my girlfriend and 4 stepkids in the lockdown (I don't live with them), and I've been having meals with them (Saturday breakfast is a 'thing') via standard video call. Just tried online town (I'm on Firefox 75 on Windows) with my girlfriend (she was on her ipad), and I could see my video in a box, and she could see her video in a box, but we couldn't see each other. The fade in/out worked on distance, but only of the box - no audio or video of each other. She was also initially unwilling to enter the room as she thought she'd be in a room with three men (from the sample image given when visiting a room link) - I know it says 'on the left there's an example', but maybe that might need replacing? Really great idea, though, and much needed at the moment!
- Peter_Ryan86 6y ago
  >and 4 stepkids What are you doing, mate?
a3_nm 6y ago
This is a great feature. Having been to a 100-person conference on Zoom which tried to emulate social activities by splitting large groups in Zoom breakout rooms, there is clearly a need for a service like this. Congrats on shipping!
mattio 6y ago
I am building this too atm, but a slightly different implementation (python backend en typescript frontend). I started saturday; I've had the idea longer, but that it's more like a feature than a product kept me from building it. Nice work, keep it up!
pgt 6y ago
Hi Liamuk! You won't believe this but I was working on this exact idea all of yesterday and shipped a basic version with proximal audio and a 2D canvas to display players. It's not ready for HN traffic yet, but I joined Online Town and ran into Cyrus. We had a great ~10 minute video chat in the middle of the street about the possibilities of virtual realms. I've just popped him an email and sent some techno recommendations :). Good luck with Online Town! I think we'll see a whole spate of similar ideas focusing on a variety of niches.
- ooobit2 6y ago
  Please have a monetization plan concurrent during development. If you guys can start this off with a business model that doesn't become susceptible to anti-consumer behavior (a-la Facebook and Google nefarious data terms, Twitter and Reddit political bias) this could be scalable and sustainable. Pool whatever community resources you can, but don't go Zuck.
- jvm___ 6y ago
  I'll see if I can lookup the post here about almost exactly what your talking about. https://meet.primrosevr.com/#FromGithub https://meet.primrosevr.com/#FromGithub
- mattio 6y ago
  I am working on the exact same thing since a week now. =D
Andoryuuta 6y ago
This is very neat. The whole idea of having multiple ongoing conversations in the same world that you can just walk closer to hear reminds a lot of Sun's Project Wonderland from ~10 years ago.
feydaykyn 6y ago
This is a great idea, and the others projects you're working on are very interesting too! One thing I wanted right away was to enlarge the video feed of one person so I could better see him, attend a presentation, etc. The other "need" is that I wanted to interact more with the environment and play with others, even if I have no specific idea. Anyways this was very fun and I'll try in my company next week, many thanks again!
itsalidoe 6y ago
great idea. Been on a few times trying to get your attention.C Can we chat about this further - jiwanix@gmail.com

by liamuk 6y ago

genejaelee 6y ago

Surprised no one has replied here. I've been thinking about the same problem for the past few weeks regarding real life group dynamics in digital mediums. Interesting stuff, wish you all the best

betoharres 6y ago

not sure nothing happens when I get close to someone. Using Firefox 69 Dev edition on a desktop without webcam but with mic

djaychela 6y ago

Hi. I think this is a great idea - particularly as I'm unable to visit my girlfriend and 4 stepkids in the lockdown (I don't live with them), and I've been having meals with them (Saturday breakfast is a 'thing') via standard video call. Just tried online town (I'm on Firefox 75 on Windows) with my girlfriend (she was on her ipad), and I could see my video in a box, and she could see her video in a box, but we couldn't see each other. The fade in/out worked on distance, but only of the box - no audio or video of each other. She was also initially unwilling to enter the room as she thought she'd be in a room with three men (from the sample image given when visiting a room link) - I know it says 'on the left there's an example', but maybe that might need replacing? Really great idea, though, and much needed at the moment!

Peter_Ryan86 6y ago
>and 4 stepkids What are you doing, mate?

a3_nm 6y ago

This is a great feature. Having been to a 100-person conference on Zoom which tried to emulate social activities by splitting large groups in Zoom breakout rooms, there is clearly a need for a service like this. Congrats on shipping!

mattio 6y ago

I am building this too atm, but a slightly different implementation (python backend en typescript frontend). I started saturday; I've had the idea longer, but that it's more like a feature than a product kept me from building it. Nice work, keep it up!

pgt 6y ago

Hi Liamuk! You won't believe this but I was working on this exact idea all of yesterday and shipped a basic version with proximal audio and a 2D canvas to display players. It's not ready for HN traffic yet, but I joined Online Town and ran into Cyrus. We had a great ~10 minute video chat in the middle of the street about the possibilities of virtual realms. I've just popped him an email and sent some techno recommendations :). Good luck with Online Town! I think we'll see a whole spate of similar ideas focusing on a variety of niches.

ooobit2 6y ago
Please have a monetization plan concurrent during development. If you guys can start this off with a business model that doesn't become susceptible to anti-consumer behavior (a-la Facebook and Google nefarious data terms, Twitter and Reddit political bias) this could be scalable and sustainable. Pool whatever community resources you can, but don't go Zuck.
jvm___ 6y ago
I'll see if I can lookup the post here about almost exactly what your talking about. https://meet.primrosevr.com/#FromGithub https://meet.primrosevr.com/#FromGithub
mattio 6y ago
I am working on the exact same thing since a week now. =D

Andoryuuta 6y ago

This is very neat. The whole idea of having multiple ongoing conversations in the same world that you can just walk closer to hear reminds a lot of Sun's Project Wonderland from ~10 years ago.

feydaykyn 6y ago

This is a great idea, and the others projects you're working on are very interesting too! One thing I wanted right away was to enlarge the video feed of one person so I could better see him, attend a presentation, etc. The other "need" is that I wanted to interact more with the environment and play with others, even if I have no specific idea. Anyways this was very fun and I'll try in my company next week, many thanks again!

itsalidoe 6y ago

great idea. Been on a few times trying to get your attention.C Can we chat about this further - jiwanix@gmail.com