Infographic by computer school.org

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I came across this very interesting presentation by Tish Shute titled “AR Wave: A Proof of Concept”. AR, incidentally, stands for Augmented Reality. I then found this video that shows AR Wave in action, check it out:

Trish adds the following in her presentation:

The main advantages of using a OT system like Wave for games is twofold;

1. For making simple games it takes far less investment as all that is required is basicbot-coding. You dont even have to run your own server if you dont want, provided theres a Bot-supporting server or something like Google App Engine you can use for your game code.

Wave takes care of accounts, transfer of information and the propagation of changes over the restof the infrastructure.

2. If you want to make a more advanced game (something like WoW or Secondlife), theres still some big advantages to using Wave. You can build your own custom-server to handle complex game events and actions, but by conforming tothe WFP standard for serverserver interaction, you allow anyone to both view or join your game with little to noeffort required. When users can just view or try your game with a single click, you stand a lot more chance of getting them hooked on it. Having to signup, login, and potentially download a client is often far too much effort for people that just want to try something quickly.

With OT you can even create multiple servers worldwide with a persistent and constantly synching world between them…all with no extra effort on your part. This means a faster experience for the end user, while still having a consistent game world for the user. (No need for separate worlds for the user to login too due to server load restrictions)You could even make your game support user generated content, or overlap with other game worlds…if you wish.

This is just a handful of advantages really (more that Markus suggested)

OT is what makes multiuser (or multiplayer) interaction possible. In Networked games you have a scene graph that is kept in sync between the clients by sending changes of its nodes states between the clients (or between the clients a a centralized server).

In Wave OT does this for the nodes of an XML document (aka a wave).The catch is that requirements for document editing and requirements for game scene graphs are somewhat different.For example regarding real time requirements vs. correctness.e.g, the way Googles OT implementation works, a client cannot send out a new change before the last change has been acknowledged. This is because OT has to guarantee consistency which isnt that important in a gaming scenario.

Also of course the scene graph example is rather simplified. Modern network games are a lot more sophisticated than that But the scope of Wave is much broader that game design, so a specialized AR Game Engine will most likely be able to offer more in terms of performance and possible gaming scenarios.

You can visit the ARWave.org site to find out more or to contact Trish with any questions you may have.

As always, please leave your comments and thoughts regarding the efforts of ARWave below. We love to hear what you think.

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Something I have been meaning to do for a while is post all the videos on Google Wave from I/O 10. So, here they are, enjoy:

Google Wave API design principles: Anatomy of a great extension

Waving across the web

Open source Google Wave: Building your own wave provider

Making smart & scalable Wave robots

Google Wave Media APIs: Attachments can surf too!

Google Wave and the enterprise environment

Google I/O offered 90+ sessions featuring highly technical, in-depth content covering a number of technologies and developer products. All videos and slides are available below. You can check out all the videos from Google I/O at their site here.

As always, please leave your comments below. We love to hear your thoughts.

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I have been fairly silent on this site for quite a while, every since I came back from Google I/O 10 actually. To say I was disappointed with the announcements surrounding Google Wave at the I/O would be a profound understatement. I didn’t want to come back right away and start hammering on Google for how, I feel, they have dropped the ball on what could be such a valuable business tool. Instead, I wanted to take some time and think about the whole problem.

To be fair, the developer team should not be the ones that are the whipping boy here. But, like the actors and actresses that fight for paparazzi time in the beginning….you can’t complain when that comes back full circle. This is, of course, in my mind the first problem that I have with Google Wave…why are the developers out in front of this! Google should have a clear business plan for Google Wave and have Management and Public Relations folks out explaining how they envision Google Wave being adopted.

But, let me take a step back. Google Wave was, to me, a great leap in bringing Web 2.0 to the business community. In fact, I would go as far as to say that it is the biggest advance for business computing since Virtualization. Moreover, Virtualization is a great example of a business model Google Wave should be trying to follow. I have been harping for a long time here about how Google Wave is best suited for small to medium workgroups that have to collaborate on a specific work-flow…see my post on Gravity as an example of what I mean. However, the argument that I hear most often to counter that thought is that the business community is usually the last to adopt new technology. Ok…., how then do you explain Virtualization. It was adopted by business early and almost universally. Now, of course, businesses are really pushing the limits of what they can do with Virtualization, including the military (which is always the last to adopt new IT tech)….see Multiple Independent Levels of Security (MILS) as an example of what I mean. My point being, that when a product is identified as being a business multiplier and marketed properly to the business community they are indeed first adopters.

Unfortunately for Google Wave, the Google Development Team does not seem to embrace a business vision for Google Wave. They continue to think of it as a social tool for the cloud. I strongly, strongly disagree that it has any real value in that realm. I would be focusing all my efforts on building an appliance that businesses can purchase and connect to their private servers. You build specific extensions that support their specific workflows and mass market the savings that will be realized by business when they adopt. You only have to take a quick visit to any of the Virtualization companies websites to see the myriad of offerings they have to support businesses that want to adopt virtualization….everything from product, certification, consultants, etc. This is the model that will make Google Wave successful. But it is not a model that seems to be of any interest to Google.

Why is that you may ask. Well, I think, that Google’s real business model is all about the ads. Everything else that they do is only about how to support the ad end of the business. Thus, they want you to be in the cloud all the time, they want to you to be going to webpage after webpage and viewing more and more ads. They have no interest in building or marketing something that takes you farther away from their ads. So, I doubt very much that we will see a Google Wave appliance any time soon. So…, rather than aggressively market Google Wave to business and talking about how a Wave appliance would benefit business they flounder around trying to make a case for real-time comments/blogging, etc. They need to get serious and think of this technology as a serious business multiplier. Make the case that any business that does not have Wave is just losing money and not being efficient.

There is a real business model here for somebody to build a Wave appliance and market it. I think that Microsoft will probably pick up on this in their next round of development for Office 2012 and beyond. Microsoft understands the enterprise community and is never one to let somebody else’s good idea go to waste.

I am confident that we will eventually see real-time collaboration at the office with business using their own private servers. Unfortunately for Google, it does seem that they will not be the company that brings that to market. Again, in my mind, it is the only real logical mass use case for Google Wave. Everything else is just fluff and not very serious or useful.

Time will tell if I am right or wrong. In the mean time, I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject, so please leave a comment below.

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Web Reservations International has launched the first collaborative travel booking on Google Wave.

Hostel WithMe’ application launched on Google Wave.

World’s first real-time collaborative accommodation booking tool.

Detailed information, photos as well as live availability of 24,000 hostels and other budget accommodation from Hostelworld.com

Discuss and vote on each hostel with everyone who’s going. Columbus Internet, the company behind the trip-planning applicationTravel WithMe, and Hostelworld.com, the world’s leading provider of online reservations to the budget, independent and youth travel market today announced the launch of Hostel WithMe, the world’s first real-time collaborative accommodation booking application.

Hostel WithMe utilizes Hostelworld.com‘s vast inventory of properties in 180 countries, which each include detailed descriptions of the facilities and high-quality photos. Live availability and pricing information is available on all the accommodation presented and a link is provided to allow secure credit-card booking. Google Maps and Google Streetview are also integrated so users can check out the location and area surrounding their accommodation.

When several people are using Hostel WithMe simultaneously, and one of them views an accommodation, this is visible to all the others in real-time. If the accommodation is potentially suitable, it can be added to a shortlist of proposals, which each person can comment or vote on.

Hostel WithMe is also an ideal tool for organizing travel for a group. The organizer can identify appropriate accommodation in advance, and then submit a list of proposed accommodations to the group for commenting and voting. For the first time, the 89 percent of people who don’t travel alone (only 11 percent do) can use the internet to conveniently make joint decisions on their accommodation.

Hostel With Me is provided as a gadget within Google Wave. Google Wave account holders can find Hostel WithMe in the Google Wave Extensions Gallery or go to www.goo.gl/GPFo.

Santina Doherty, VP of commercial development at Hostelworld.com, commented: “As market leaders in the budget accommodation space, Hostelworld.com is committed to innovation and the use of best-of-breed technology, which is why we’re excited to be partnering with pioneering products like the Hostel WithMe app. By allowing our product to be available through the app on Google Wave, a whole new audience can now enjoy the value and choice that is featured on Hostelworld.com.”

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A while back in January I wrote a post titled Top 10 Uses for Wave…Right Now! In that post my number one use was for coding, here was what I wrote back then:

Coding. This is my number one use case for Google Wave right now. You have got to try it. You do not need to be ocean’s apart, in fact…being in the same room right next to each other works best. Try it…you will agree with me that this is the number one…by far…best use case of Google Wave right now! Also, there are some pretty good extensions out there you might want to try. Take at look at the extension list if you want to try one or two.

Well…., now there is a really, really great extension out there…brought to you by the folks at wave-vs.net…..check it out:

I can’t tell you how happy I was to find this site. Funny enough it just showed up on my site here on Friday as a Google Ad. I clicked on it and was amazed. I find it very interesting that Google is not extoiling all about these guys on their own blogs. Also, I found it funny that the story of the day on Friday was all about how cool it would be to imbed a Wave as an iFrame! Are you kidding me! There was also some other lame post going around about live blogging with Wave that made a lot of noise on Twitter. Useless! Stupid! I really am getting very disheartened with how this being marketed and how that marketing is seemingly embraced by Google. Really missing the big boat guys!

Regardless…I definitely digress! wave-vs.net is a great leap in Google Wave extensions. These guys have taken the one thing that this technology is really, really useful for…right now…and made a excellent product that they can take to market. Yes, take to market. wave-vs.net is not free. In fact, price list ranges for $65 to $1100 EUR depending on your package. That, in my business mind, is the best news to hit Google Wave since Google I/O 09….somebody is going to make profit of this product and develop serious extensions that are very useful and will be a game-changer for those that will use it for development.

For that alone I am naming the wave-vs.net folks as our April Developer Spotlight. Congratulations guys (and girls) you have truly made a great product that will be heartly embraced by any developers who give it a try. Here is a little bit more about Wave-vs.net that I took from there website:

wave-vs.net is a Plugin to enable Pair Programming built-in Support on Core Editors and Designers in Visual Studio.Net 2008 and 2010.

Using wave-vs.net you can share Project Items and Develop together in Real-Time.

wave-vs.net Current version supports Remote Pairing for main Visual Studio Code Editors and Designers, we continue working to extend wave-vs.net capabilities.

If you are interested to know what Project Items/File Formats are enabled for Remote Pair Programming using wave-vs.net take a look on Visual Studio Integration information.

wave-vs.net does not only implements Pair Programming features. To make Pair Programming experience in Visual Studio.Net

• Federation Server Architecture for Geographycally Dispersed Setup
• Integrated Chat Client with Conference Rooms
• Wave Enabled – Pair Programming – Collaborative Development
• Major Source Control Systems Integration
• Completely Integrated in Visual Studio.Net

Do you want to see a Complete summary Feature List? go to Full Feature List.

For those of you that can’t wait to rush over to wave-vs.net and use this, please come on back and leave a comment regarding your experience with the extension. Also, feel free to leave a comment on my earlier rant if you wish.

As a disclaimer I am in no way getting any type of financial commission or royalty from this product (other then it randomly showing up as a Google Ad). I stand to gain nothing whatsoever from the developers. I am just very keen on what they are offering as I see it as truly making Google Wave better for all.

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The other day my friends over at Itensil contacted me and said they were interested in recruiting folks that would be interested in previewing an evaluation of their collaborative workflow product. I mentioned that my readers are the exact audience they are trying to reach with this product and I would be happy to post an article that called my readers to action to help out a company that is doing what I have been screaming for so very long here at The Shiny Wave – make a business workflow collaboration gadget! Which, in my mind, is the true power and promise of Wave.

So,….a little bit about the Itensil:

Itensil has developed a Wave gadget to deliver its SaaS team workflow product and is recruiting qualified business knowledge work teams for a preview evaluation.

The Collaboration Enabler includes simple, ready to use apps that guide Wave teams to:

• Develop ideas and make decisions faster and more accurately
• Create and implement action plans to achieve goals
• Capture and reuse successful team interactions and
• Bring new team members up to speed without slowing the group.

It also contains online workflow authoring and data management design tools to edit apps and create new ones.

See how it works in a 5-minute demo at www.itensil.com/demos

A limited number of free preview evaluation accounts are available to knowledge work teams that are familiar with Wave and looking for a better way to collaborate on loosely structured activities than email attachments; enjoy exploring new technologies; and willing to provide constructive feedback to the Itensil product team.

Itensil will provide online coaching and support, and special introductory pricing for evaluators who decide to adopt Collaboration Enabler. If this preview trial offer is of interest to you, please submit the form on the website (linked from the demo page) or contact Itensil by email at info@itensil.com.

Thus, if you are familiar with Google Wave (why would you be on this site if you’re not) and want to use it to do business collaboration….you are the ideal candidate and could start an evaluation immediately. Not only will you get a great product that will help you in your work, you will also be providing the team at Itensil with constructive feedback that will enhance the features of this great product.

For long time readers of this blog, this is exactly the type of product we have been waiting. An extension that truly unleashes the collaborative business power of Google Wave. The Itensil product really bring the power of web 2.0 to business. Again, if this preview trial offer is of interest to you, please submit the form on the website (linked from the demo page) or contact Itensil by email at info@itensil.com. Don’t forget to come back and leave a comment about your experience with Itensil!

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So, a funny thing happened on the way to Google I/O, Google Docs started to look like Google Wave. See the video below to get an idea of what I mean:

So, it seems that Google is moving forward in getting Google Docs and Google Wave merged together! I assume this was released in Google Docs as that is now in production whereas Google Wave is still in development. I gather that the next version of Google Wave (probably to be unleashed at Google I/O 10) will highlight the integration of Google Docs.

Of course, the Google Wave’ish qualities now available in Google Docs was not the only thing they upgraded. As shown in the video, they also announced the following (copied from the Official Google Docs Blog):

A better document editor
We’ve brought the responsive, real-time editing experience you’ve come to expect from our spreadsheets over to documents, which means you can now see character-by-character changes as other collaborators make edits. We also added another popular feature from spreadsheets: sidebar chat, so you can discuss documents as you work on them with colleagues.

The new technical foundation also helped us improve document formatting, which means better import/export fidelity, a revamped comment system, real margins and tab stops, and improved image layout within documents. These improvements have been highly requested, but previously impossible to create with the older documents editor on older browsers.

A faster spreadsheet editor
With the new spreadsheets editor, you’ll see significant speed and performance improvements — spreadsheets load faster, are more responsive and scroll more seamlessly. We’ve also added a host of often requested features, like a formula bar for cell editing, auto-complete, drag and drop columns, and simpler navigation between sheets. And as always, real-time collaboration in spreadsheets is easy with sidebar chat and the ability to see which cell each person is editing.

A new collaborative drawing editor
In the year since we launched the Insert drawing tool, we’ve received many requests for the ability to collaborate on drawings and make them accessible directly from the docs list. The new standalone drawings editor lets you collaborate in real time on flow charts, designs, diagrams and other fun or business graphics. Copy these drawings into documents, spreadsheets and presentations using the web clipboard, or share and publish drawings just like other Google Docs.

I can’t tell you how excited I was to see Google Wave type functionality unveiled in Google Docs. This comes at a great time too. Microsoft is getting ready to up the ante with Office 2010 and venture into cloud computing with their Office Suite. Will Microsoft Web Apps Force Google’s Hand and hasten the pace of development in this area? I certainly hope so.

I am even more excited for Google I/O 10 now. I mentioned before I plan on attending and now am very excited in anticipation of big news.

What are your thoughts on the updates to Google Docs? Will this revitalize Google Wave? Are we on the cusp of an all out Office Suite war for our collaborative hearts and minds? Leave your thoughts and comments on the subject below.

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Ever wish there was a helpdesk that you could use to get feedback on the problems you are having with Google Wave. Well, there is. Fernando Fonseca started one and it works pretty slick. You go to the HelpDesk Wave, post your problem or concern and the folks there get back to you. Here is the description of the Wave that they give:

Wave Helpdesk – Wavers Helping Wavers

Please enter your help question below as a reply or look at unanswered questions to provide answers and to collaborate.

This wave is moderated.

Please refer to Moderating Your Waves to understand the guidelines for moderation.

Your question may be answered already at WAVE FAQ – check it out first.

Please use Spam and Abuse reports – Wave User Black List to report any spam and wave abuse (phishing/trolls).

In order to keep this wave manageable Q&As will be removed periodically.

New and relevant Q&As will be added to the FAQ.

For informal discussions or orientation on Wave features, please go here to chat with others: Newbies Chat Room (to be updated soon)

This wave is in no way supported by or associated with Gooogle, and is maintained by voluntary users.

The only problem with this Wave that I wish the owners would fix would be to archive some of the questions that have been listed rather then just removing them. Removing them is good, it keeps the Wave clean and fresh and ready for you to ask your questions. But, sometimes you may not have a problem and are just interested in reading some of the past concerns folks had.

One thing that has been happening with too much regularity lately on Google Wave is trolls and spammers doing damage to Waves. At the Wave Helpdesk they provide a link on how protect your Wave from these a**holes. Here are their instructions:

To protect your public content and also allow public participation, follow these instructions.

A troll/spammer’s actions may then break or destroy the public participation, but will leave the protected content unaffected, and the damaged discussion can be deleted leaving the wave clean and tidy to start again without having to abandon the entire wave.

• Create a new wave.
• Add the initial content (optional).
• Add only trusted participants to the main wavelet with full access.
• Add Public (public@a.gwave.com) to the main wavelet with read-only access.

If you want to allow open participation,

• Add a reply, then whilst editing the reply add a private reply (using the blip’s dropdown menu “Private reply” option).
• In the newly created private reply add Public (public@a.gwave.com). By default it has full access. That’s required.

Note: An inline reply could be used instead of a reply.

In case that the private reply including Public with full access be spamed or victim of abuse then:

• Change the access of the spammer/abusive user to read-only
• Delete the unwanted content or use Playback/Restore

In case that the private reply become broken (for example by a troll or spammer) then:

• Take note of the username used to spam or broke the private reply.
• Delete the blip containing this private reply and add a new one.

NOTE: When the blip is deleted, a refresh or re-open of the wave is needed, as the deleted wavelet will still look like it has not been deleted.

• Add the offending username and change its access to read-only immediately.

Visit the Wave for more other information and links that they also offer on this subject.

Have you used the Wave HelpDesk? Leave us a comment and tell us how they helped you.

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For long time readers you may think by reading the title that I a doing a “best of” edition already in the short life of this blog. But, you would be wrong. Yes, the  very first Developer Spotlight that we did back in September 09 highlighted the folks at Wave.TO. The fact is, they have earned the honour once again…and in a big way.

First, I just want to say that there was a lot of developers to choose from this month. My sentimental favourite was the MindWave gadget because it works with a 3rd party application that I use on my laptop seamlessly and that, for me ,is a huge, huge step in the right direction for Google Wave extensions. Plus, Mashable has a big developer contest going on, so some really excellent extensions are being released for the competition.

I don’t know if the Wave.TO folks are entering or have entered the contest. But, if they haven’t, they should. Because in my mind they have the hands down winner!

The Robot that I want to bring to your attention is called Mr. Ray. Below is a video describing the problem Mr. Ray is trying to solve, the Wave.TO description of the robot and a video of Mr. Ray in action:

Mr-Ray provides a way to include non Google Wave users in a Wave. When a Wave changes an e-mail is dispatched to all e-mail participants with a link. When they follow this link they can view the Wave and interact with it. It’s almost as good as having a Wave account! To get stuck in use the extension installer and select “New Wave with e-mail participants” from the New Wave menu or add mr-ray@appspot.com. To give Mr-Ray a go you can use the sample wave or if you’re not sure what to do and want to see it in action watch the following video…

So you have to agree these folks have done a great job at designing something that the whole Google Corp couldn’t do (or at least, haven’t done up to this point). Integrate Google Wave with Email (GMail). Now perhaps Google is working on something much more elegant. We have to wait and see. Perhaps they will just buy the Wave.TO folks…that would be a good start if they are not working on something else.

Regardless, this excellent work by Wave.TO earns them the March Developer Spotlight honours, and this month that has a little extra meaning, as the competition is extremely stiff. Great job by the great developers over at Wave.TO. Keep up the good work….even if  you become the next Google purchase (they are kind of in that mode lately).

Have you been using Mr. Ray? Let us know how it worked for you. Leave a comment below. Also, visit the folks at Wave.TO and leave a comment on their site and show your support for their great efforts.

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Lately the gadgets that have been released for Google Wave have been increasing in quality. If you recall, not very long ago the folks over at Mastering Wave wrote a post titled “Google Wave Gadgets Lack Quality“, which questioned the quality of many of the extensions being made. At the time, he was right. There was a real lack of quality in what was being offered. But, I think over the last little while we have seen the quality of these extensions increase dramatically.

Firstly, I would draw you attention to a gadget I wrote a post about a few weeks ago called MindWave.

The post was titled MindWave: My Favourite Google Wave Extension Ever! It was and still is as far as I’m concerned. I have used it now in two different projects and although it is still limited it has one really big feature….it works with other stand-alone applications I have on my desktop. Thus, I can work on it as I wish a then upload to share, and vis-versa. Priceless! Can’t wait for the improvements that they are working on with this gadget.

See the YouTube video explaining MindWave:

Next, a gadget that was made by the people at Quaker Oats called Grocery List. See the screen shot below:

Their description of the Gadget is one that can be “used for your grocery list needs – share with your family, sort the list automatically, print and take it to the store, and more!”

Check out the Live Demo and then download and install the Gadget XML and give it a try!

The last gadget on my list that I want to draw your attention to is  called yourBrainStormer, which is described as:

This gadget allows users to share ideas across more efficiently during brainstorming session. The interface is intuitive and easy to use. Hint boxes will be displayed to guide new users on how to use this gadget. User will be able to view the description on each node by clicking once on the node. Users can choose to print the data. Animation Changes in the gadget will be accompanied with a simple animation.

Here is a screenshot of the gadget:

What does it do?

This gadget allows users to share ideas across more efficiently during brainstorming session.

What features does it have?

• Simple UI The interface is intuitive and easy to use. Hints boxes will be displayed to guide new users on how to use this gadget.
• Useful Tooltips User will be able to view the description on each node by clicking once on the node.
• Print Outline Users can choose to print the data.
• Tracking Changes This gadget can record down changes made on the data in the gadget
• Animation Changes in the gadget will be accompanied with a simple animation.

What’s next?

• Voting Features!
• Drag and Drop Nodes
• Advance Display Settings such as user defined number of node display per page

Check out the Live Demo and then download and install the Gadget XML and give it a try!

I think that once you use these gadgets you will find them to be a big leap in quality from many of the extensions that have been built. I am quite convinced you will be impressed with the quality being offered by these developers. I hope this will be a taste of what we can come to expect for future developments.

Make sure you come back to let us know what you thought of these gadgets. We love to hear your thoughts and read your comments.

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