Talking about Voice

Voice in SL. Seems like everybody's talking about it, blogging about it...

Increased emotiveness in communication - voice gives far more information than written communication.

From a business perspective it'll be conference calls with body language and a sense of space. What kind of effects will it have on business uses and uptake of SL?

Dramas will heat up faster. Writing engages different facilities, and allows most of us a moment to reconsider our words before sharing them.

Will noise-restriction on parcels affect voice?

Performance of spoken or sung art without having access to a media stream will get a lot easier. Poetry night, book readings anyone? I wonder if the sound quality will be good enough for music.

Financial costs to users and landowners has not been stated yet.

New forms of user-designed annoyance. Spoken spam, griefing, a new channel for harassment believed to be unlogged.

I like being able to log presentations and meetings, it lets me scroll back if I miss something.

I really dislike the idea that recieving spoken sound is entirely decided by the configuration of the land. If I want to go somewhere with land on without hearing voice, why should I have to turn my speakers off?

Can I turn the ability to receive voice IMs on and off? By person?

Increased bandwidth demands by SL for those who pay by bandwidth used. How will this affect SL's international growth?

Changes in how people socialize in SL. This happens with every grid or client change. I'm interested in seeing how it plays out. Will there be new forms of stratification? Isolation? How will the experiences of the hearing and speaking impaired fare? What'll happen to multinational groups and relationships - will accents and language comprehension divide or strengthen?

Will translation to print services become common at events?

I can work several IM conversations at once. Most people can't do that with voice.

We'll be able to walk on the grid and talk at the same time.

Attractiveness of spaces with regards to whether or not they have voice enabled... Will it draw in the crowds? Certain crowds? Drive them away?

The idea of public sandboxes with speech enabled isn't pretty.