Thursday, December 15, 2011
Fix available for Blue Mars and Blue Mars Lite auto-updaters
To work around the problem, please download and run the new auto-updaters below. Once you have successfully run the updater and patched to the new version, you can delete them from your hard drive.
Blue Mars auto-updater
Blue Mars Lite auto-updater
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Blue Mars+Xbox Kinect on Display at APEC!
We're part of an exhibition presented by SEE-IT, a non-profit organization (founded by our CEO Henk Rogers) whose mission is to showcase and promote innovative technologies developed here in Hawaii, and encourage more science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in Hawaii's schools.
In addition to our Blue Mars, Blue Mars Lite and Blue Mars Mobile applications, we're featuring a custom-made interactive display just for APEC, using Xbox Kinect motion sensors and a giant LED screen to enable visitors to interact with our avatars using movement.
We also released a new city in Blue Mars that will let you get a virtual taste of our exhibit, so be sure to check it out!
Friday, October 28, 2011
So what are you and your avatar going to be this Halloween?
We've prepared a special treat (or trick) for this fun holiday--click on the tombstone when you first enter the Welcome Area!
(Note: This trick is best enjoyed in Full Screen mode and first-person camera view.)
We've also added a special Halloween costume in your clothing inventory under Accessory: A pumpkin head for guys and a witch hat (with a nice fuzzy texture which can be seen on the full PC version) for the girls.
Hope everyone has a great Halloween weekend...Happy haunting!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Avatar Reality Recognized for Business Innovation in Hawaii
Please see our updated blog post live from the APEC conference!
The 2011 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) conference will be hosted in Honolulu, Hawaii, where Avatar Reality's (real life) office is located. As part of the state's efforts to promote Hawaii-based businesses to the APEC delegates, the Hawaii Business Innovation Showcase was established, to "provide an unprecedented opportunity for businesses registered in the state to showcase innovation in products and services to an international audience during APEC 2011 Leaders’ Week."
Last month, Avatar Reality was selected as one of 35 finalists from over a thousand candidates, and was recognized at an awards event, where a plaque was presented by the Mayor of Honolulu.
To commemorate this event and to share the honor with our users, we have released a virtual replica of the award plaque as a default item for everyone. You can find this item, named Apec2011_Trophy, in your inventory under the "Accessory" section (available in Blue Mars, Blue Mars Mobile, and Blue Mars Lite). You can also see the plaque displayed in the Welcome Area (right at the spawn point) in the full PC version of Blue Mars.
We would also like to take this opportunity to send a big mahalo (thank you) to everyone that has supported Avatar Reality and Blue Mars!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Transformers Wearable Items on Sale in Blue Mars
Now your avatar can become "more than meets the eye..." |
Meemo, who obtained the rights from toymaker Hasbro to produce and sell virtual goods based on the Transformers movie franchise, has teamed up with Avatar Reality to release wearable body parts of the character Bumblebee. There are 3 parts: Head, Right Arm, and Left Arm, each being sold for 500 BLU.
Here is how you can purchase these items:
- On Blue Mars Mobile for the iPhone and iPad:
- From the display avatars:
- Click on this avatar Blink for the male version, or this one for the female version.
- When Blue Mars Mobile launches and the Bumblebee avatar shows up, tap on the Item List tab on the right-hand side.
- Tap on any of the 3 Bumblebee parts to check out and purchase.
- From the Search function:
- Tap Search on the bottom menu tray, and tap Search by Item Name.
- In the search window, enter the keyword "bumblebee."
- On Blue Mars Lite for the PC or Mac:
- From the display avatars:
- Click on this avatar Blink for the male version, or this one for the female version.
- When Blue Mars Lite launches and the Bumblebee avatar shows up, look on the Item List on the right-hand side.
- Double-click on any of the 3 Bumblebee parts to check out and purchase.
- From the Search function:
- Click on the Item Search icon on the top menu bar, or select Window > Item Search.
- When the search window opens, enter "bumblebee" in the Keyword field.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Check out Blue Mars Lite – Now in Open Beta
The most notable feature is 3D Chat, which provides a new way to meet and socialize with others. By integrating Google Street View, 3D Chat allows avatars to meet at real locations all over the world and experience them together. Upon launching Blue Mars Lite, users will have the option to explore a pre-set location, such as the Las Vegas Strip or NY’s MoMA. Or, users can create their own groups by pasting the location link from Google Maps Street View into Blue Mars Lite.
Although not currently available, users will soon be able to use a Blink (Blue Mars Link) to Tweet the location of their Waikiki Beach Party, Eiffel Tower Soiree, or any other event. Invitees would then click on the Blink and if they have Blue Mars Lite, they will be taken to the location after login. Otherwise, they will be prompted to download the client.
In addition to 3D Chat, Blue Mars Lite incorporates many of the great features already available in our mobile app:
Blue Mars Lite is compatible with most PCs and Macs, and is a considerably smaller download than the full PC version. Also of note: Blue Mars Lite is fully integrated with the rest of Blue Mars, so you can access your existing friends lists and inventories from the other applications.
Please share screenshots and your event details with us on our FB page.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Explore Middletown America in Blue Mars
IDIA Virtual Middletown Project brings these studies to life in the virtual world of Blue Mars. This prototype recreates elements of industrial life from that period, specifically the Ball Glass Factory. The project incorporates various modes of learning and interaction - while maintaining the immersive experience. This simulation of industrial life, built as a prototype for a much larger project dealing will all aspects of the Lynd Study, has aimed to create a virtual living museum experience expanding the opportunities for both learning and interpretation. The approach to interactive design embeds learning and navigation experiences subtly into the project to maintain the sense of immersion. IDIA has prototyped several techniques to do this including:
- interactive objects that allow for close up inspection;
- objects that when clicked bring up web resources that show information;
- plans or photographs used in the interpretation;
- non-player character factory workers;
- a live interactive avatar of Frank C. Ball who greets visitors and introduces them to the factory;
- video and audio files of factory experts and archival films;
- an in-world interactive Heads-Up-Display (HUD) that provides deeper investigation and navigation through the factory; and
- a supporting webpage with complete documentation on all resources used in this interpretation
Find out more at the IDIA Lab website and the video walkthrough.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Blue Mars Celebrates Obon Festival
The Obon Festival is held in various times in the summer throughout the regions of Japan as well as in other countries with Japanese communities including Argentina, Brazil, China, Malaysia, the United States, and Canada. The festival is in honor of the contributions and sacrifices made by departed ancestors. The current focus of Obon is a return to hometowns, celebration of family, and honoring ancestors by taking care of their gravesites.
Obon is a summer festival, so participants often wear light cotton yukatas and enjoy summertime treats such as watermelon. Traditional music is played from the yagura, and participants perform regional dances around the tower. The conclusion of the 3-day festival is floating lanterns on the rivers as a symbolic way of lighting the paths of the ancestors. There are also fireworks displays.
In Blue Mars, we will celebrate with Japanese music selected and streamed to us by DJ Ilko. Ynaga and JamTuner are creating decorations and party favors including watermelon, lanterns, yukatas and the drum tower. Arzach has created three new colors of his kimono for ladies as well. All these will be available at the party on Friday. We will also offer BLU$ prizes for correct answers to Obon Trivia questions.
The main part of the party will be held in Tao Hua Yuan, but we may travel to Edo for fireworks and to display our glowing lanterns. Please prepare for the festival by downloading both Tao Hua Yuan and Edo for ease of participation.
We hope to see you Friday!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Blue Mars Mobile v. 1.5 Now Released!
For one thing, you can now search Best Selling items by price, making it much easier to find items that fit your BLU budget.
But here's the big news! Members can now chat with each other in groups rather than just one-on-one or via comments. Now multiple friends can join a room to discuss the latest fashions in Blue Mars or to share other online interests you have in common.
You already share tweets and post to Facebook from Blue Mars Mobile. Now you can invite your followers and friends to join you for a chat in Blue Mars! Just tell them to download or upgrade to our free app at this link: http://bit.ly/bmmob15.
Leave your feedback for Blue Mars Mobile at this forum thread.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Atlantis June Jubilee
Join us Friday, June 3 for Atlantis June Jubilee! We'll be in the Welcome Area with music and fun. The party starts at 4 pm PDT (7pm EDT, midnight GMT), but we'll be around early to help more time zones enjoy the fun!
There will be party favors for everyone and BLU$ prizes for the following categories:
Join us for underwater fun on Friday!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
New Currency Purchase System on the Way!
Please note that this does NOT affect Blue Mars Mobile for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Blue Mars Mobile users will still be able to buy BLU through in-App purchase.
We will announce when the system is back online. Also, we will do everything possible to minimize the downtime, but it could take up to a few weeks. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience, and we encourage you to purchase your user and developer BLU before May 31, 2011.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Blue Mars Mobile Augmented Reality
Take a look at our video for ideas of how you can use AR to create videos and screenshots including your Blue Mars Mobile avatar. Yes, the bear is a budding star, definitely ready for the small screen!
If you need more step-by-step instructions on how to make this happen in your own productions, view our video tutorial and refer to our developer guidebook.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Henk Rogers: Mission Mars!
During Henk's visit, he listened to the questions and desires of the member base and responded in favor of most requests. He's working on a plan for the Blue Mars platform, and once it's in place many exciting things can happen.
- New Cities? Rogers says that he has a plan for Blue Mars, and once that plan is far enough along, cities are definitely a part of it.
- Vehicles? Henk stated that vehicles were possible, but they should be added when we have sufficiently large terrain to require vehicles.
- Card Games? Henk believes card games should be relatively easy to put in Blue Mars.
- The ability to interact with objects and animals through the use of AI? Henk says that will be an important part of Blue Mars as it develops.
- Anything new? Henk mentioned plans he's working on an Adventure Engine to drive quests and related adventures.
As to the relationship between Blue Mars on the PC and Blue Mars Mobile, Henk stated that the intent of the mobile project is to drive traffic into the Blue Mars virtual world. The Mobile platform reaches a new market and new uses, but it exists as a sibling and support to the virtual world.
Henk promised more meetings with the citizens of Blue Mars who look forward to news of his plan and moving with Henk into the Martian future.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
New Blue Mars Mobile (v. 1.4) Connects Across the Net and into Reality!
In our previous mobile version we connected to the Blue Mars PC client and to Twitter. Now you can link directly to Facebook as well! With one touch of a button you'll be able to send your current screen shot to Facebook. You can link Facebook back to your avatar, too, using a URL of this format: http://p.bluemars.com/launchmobile/#username
How do we interface reality, you ask? We have added some new Augmented Reality to our Martian magic! Would you like a video of you and your avatar dancing at your next party? It's possible! Just place an AR marker at the position where you want your avatar to show up, then let the cameras roll! Your avatar will appear standing on the marker in your screen shot or video. Want to share vacation shots? Add your avatar to serve as a guide. Then share your tour photos via a tweet in Blue Mars Mobile.
The size of the avatar will depend on the size of the marker. Two sizes are currently available for printing from links at this link: http://create.bluemars.com/wiki/index.php/Blue_Mars_Mobile:_AR_Mode
Download the latest version of Blue Mars Mobile (v. 1.4) at the App Store.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Meet and Greet with Henk Rogers
Join Henk Rogers and the Avatar Reality staff Wednesday in the Welcome Area for a Meet and Greet. The festivities begin at 3:45 pm PDT (6:45 EDT, 11:45 GMT)
Find out what direction Henk has in mind for Blue Mars (PC) and Blue Mars Mobile! You can ask questions, too, but to be efficient with our time, please email questions ahead of time to josie@avatar-reality.com.
We'll wrap up Henk's visit with champagne, music, and dancing!
If you haven't yet downloaded our PC client, you can get it here: http://bit.ly/getbluemars. Please allow time for download and to create your avatar.
See you Wednesday!
Josie Blues
Monday, May 2, 2011
Congratulations to Stephany, Blue Mars Mobile Top Rated Avatar!
Stephany, always stylish, and full of encouraging comments to other top fashionistas, landed the #1 spot and wins 2000 BLU. The rest of the top 10, Kaylu, farahxox, nicci_uk, JESSET, JessicasMystery, madelicious84, sunpetal, estelleparnall, and ciara-pagie, win 1500 BLU.
Avatars rated 11-30 are also winnrs of 1000 BLU, and the remainder of the top 50 win 500 BLU.
Congratulations to you all! Look for more contests to come on Blue Mars Mobile.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Styling for BLU on Blue Mars Mobile
- Not only can you find avatars by checking top-rated, you can also get to the top of the 'Recents' list by buying new outfits and changing often.
- Make yourself more visible, literally, by adding a photo to your app profile.
- Notify your twitter followers. Remember, your tweets show up over your head! Use this link to point directly to your avatar: http://p.bluemars.com/launchmobile/#username (Insert your name in place of 'username')
- Invite your friends to download Blue Mars Mobile and ask them to vote for you! Go to "Help > Invite a Friend" to send them an invitation email.
Good luck, look sharp, enjoy Blue Mars Mobile!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Celebrate Earth Day with Blue Mars!
What connects us all? The planet we live on, for one! Let's get together to celebrate the beauty, life force, and conservation of Earth. Earth Day is Friday, April 22, and we have a party planned in the Blue Mars welcome area dancefloor.
We'll start with music, dancing, and party favors for all. DavyRocket has made some gifts for us including a beautiful Blue Earth pendant. The guys have a blue jay to wear on the shoulder, and the ladies will receive a teddy bear to hold. See all the prizes at this link.
There will be opportunities to win BLU$, too. You can win by sharing an original poem about Earth or any Earth Day related topic or by sharing a great way to conserve the energy and resources of our planet.
If 4pm PDT is a bit late for you, come by the Welcome Area early. The volunteers will be there to hear your poem or other Earth Day ideas, and you can pick up your free gifts.
For this event we have another way you can win, too! We have an Earth Day 2011 Quest set up in Misty Hollow. Here's how it works:
- Go to Misty Hollow
- Travel to Green Hill and follow the road to the river
- Click the watering can to cross the river
- Now click the new watering can for your first quest clue
- Each clue has some information and a question for you to answer
- After each correct answer, you will get more information
- Make note of the new information
- Move to the next station. Just keep going along the river while keeping the river to your right side.
- Complete all 15 stations to win our Earth Day shirt.
We're all winners when we save the Mother Earth. Enjoy the celebration on her offspring Blue Mars!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Henk Rogers Named CEO of Avatar Reality
"I believe that the full potential of the Blue Mars platform and technology has yet to be realized," said Rogers. "With this, I am excited about the innovation to come, and am fully committed to the success of the company and Blue Mars."
"We are thrilled that Henk will take on an expanded, more active role at Avatar Reality," said Co-Founder Kazuyuki Hashimoto, who will continue as President. "Our team, the product, and the Blue Mars community will all benefit from his vision, leadership and experience. With the recent success of Blue Mars Mobile, our first iOS application, and some new, breakthrough technology in the pipeline, this is an exciting time in the history of our company."
Welcome, Henk! We're happy to have you. Onward and upward to Blue Mars!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Spring Creatures in Mars Party on April 15
- Best Creature Costume (points for originality)
- Best Creature Face Paint
- Best Creature Performance by an avatar!
Music this week will be provided by 106themix. Be sure to request your favorite songs for the party playlist. Use their request line 20 minutes or so before the party starts. Choose your favorite tunes, or pick some with a creature theme!
If 4pm PDT is a bit late for you, come to the Welcome Area in Blue Mars early to show us your creature costume or face paint. We'll be sure you get the party favors, too!
If you are a Blue Mars Mobile user and you can't get into Blue Mars, show us your creature look on your BMM avatar! Message JosieBlues, so I can show everyone else the Martian Wild Thing in YOU by posting it on Flickr.
See you Friday in Blue Mars!
JosieBlues
Monday, April 11, 2011
Blue Mars Updates and Upgrades
- Vist IDIA Labs to see a new user hud interface for information and easy navigation from place to place.
- OnLand has a new automobile show room
- Fashion Esplanade has a new art exhibit by DeadLine Painters
- Misty Hollow is offering new seating postions
- Wildwood has a new spring area with egg hunt
Have fun in Blue Mars!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Blue Mars Downtime for Major Server Upgrade
Blue Mars servers will be offline this week for a major migration. It will take all day, and unfortunately most of Blue Mars--including the PC client and the iOS-- will be down during that time.
Starting Thursday, April 7, at 1 pm PDT effective all day and possibly into Friday, these servers will be offline for the upgrade:
- PC Client
- iOS app
- Most websites
Note that the following websites should be unaffected except for the possibility of broken links:
- www.bluemars.com,
- www.avatar-reality.com,
- and the user forum (http://www.bluemars.com/forum/)
Starting Wednesday, we will post periodic in-world and in-app announcements about the shutdown. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause, and we ask for your patience and cooperation as we work to get everything back online as soon as possible.
Avatar-Reality
Monday, April 4, 2011
Latest Version of Blue Mars Mobile Now Available on the App Store - New Chat Feature!
- Post comments and messages on other avatar's Information Pages
- Improved UI makes it easier to swap and discard layers of clothing and accessories
- More ways to Search, including by Price
Please help us spread the word about Blue Mars Mobile. Once your friend creates an account, we'll send both of you a reward! See the Help section in Blue Mars Mobile for details or find out more in our Wiki Guidebook.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Spring into Action in Blue Mars!
- Most colorful facepaint
- Best floral facepaint
- Most original facepaint
- Best male spring fashion
- Best female spring fashion
Participants can use posing animations created by DavyRocket to model their outfits for us. Everyone will receive a complimentary copy of these animations as well as some new spring hair and our Blue Mars Cares tees. Those modeling for us will earn some designer beads; carved shell for the guys and glowing red for the ladies.
Please select your music favorites for this event by making requests close to time for the dance. The request line is here: http://www.106themix.com/onairinfo/playlist.php You're allowed three requests per 40 min.
Spring into action with us in Blue Mars!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Blue Mars Mobile 1.2 Release
Friday, March 18, 2011
Lucky Leprechaun Dance Today!
- Green beer by DavyRocket
- Lucky shamrocks with four-leaf clovers guaranteed by SMZ-Greenie
- Kick up your heels to an Irish Jig animation too, also by DavyRocket
And who knows? There could be more! For sure there will be fun, music, and dancing as we welcome our new members and mingle with the staff and volunteers.
We expect a bit of confusion over the time change, so you'll find the vols there early and staying a bit late. Party time is 4pm PDT. That's 7pm EDT in the US, and as far as we can figure that's 11pm GMT, 11pm UK, and midnight in Central Europe.
Music provided by http://106themix.com. See our ad there! Also, close to party time, be sure to request up to three of your favorites from this link: http://www.106themix.com/onairinfo/playlist.php
See you at the party for a lucky kiss and a dance!
Josie
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Upgrade to Blue Mars Mobile is Now Live!
Other new features include in-app avatar creation and customization, an improved voting system to rate avatars, and multiple ways to search for items and other users. Additionally, account information is now fully integrated so that users who sign up via the app can use the same username and password to access the PC version. According to Kazuyuki Hashimoto, Avatar-Reality President and Co-founder, "Users now have an app where they can not only create, customize, and shop for their avatars in beautiful 3D detail, but also enjoy a constant stream of new creations from the development community. For developers, this is a huge opportunity to grow their businesses and brands, and to reach a new audience."
The Blue Mars app can be downloaded or upgraded from the App Store. For more information on becoming a developer for the Blue Mars Platform, visit www.bluemars.com
Monday, March 7, 2011
Blue Mars Version 0.87 Now Live!
- Click the little birdie icon (Twitter icon)
- Write your message in the pop up box
- Submit the tweet
Easy enough! The first time you tweet, you will be asked for permission to post on your Twitter page. After that, you can tweet automatically. You can also post pictures to twitpic.com, and share those on Facebook and other social channels.
What else is new?
- Seven new shapes in the face designer
- Bug fixes to the profile display
- Improved lighting in the Point of Sale display
We're moving forward in Blue Mars!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Sneak Peek of the New Blue Mars Mobile App
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Become a Martian Robot This Friday!
DavyRocket is going to help us with that by providing a Robot Dance animation, free to the party goers. Arzach will add to the festivities as well, with a hand-held laser pistol for the party favor list.
Those pistols will look fabulous with Arzach's cool robot costumes (available at Beach City). And for those new members who haven't found their BLU$ yet, we will offer a robotic tee to help you join in the fun.
There will be opportunities to win BLU$ prizes and one of Arzach's cool costumes, too! You can win in the following categories:
- --Best robot face paint
- --Best robot personna (costume, face, dancing, dialogue)
Friday, February 18, 2011
Developers Bring Exciting Features to Blue Mars!
We can't leave out Arzach either! This week he's added a platoon of robots to his menagerie of fantasy creatures. We'll make robots the focus of the new member party next Friday, and we're trying hard to think of a game to play with the robots as well.
Arzach and others, including DavyRocket, JadeZuma, and Anon often create prizes for us to use at our parties and events. That truly adds to the fun of the events and makes the new members feel especially welcomed.
Another contribution that developers are making to Blue Mars is to create some default clothing and make up choices for our new Blue Mars Mobile members.
This is open to all Blue Mars developers, and we're looking for submissions until the end of February. There's still about ten days left, so if you are interested, please join us! For full details, please visit this developer forum thread.
There are also a few unclaimed Blocks left in Beach City. If you have a project that you are interested in working on, please read this developer forum thread, and send a Private Message to Rosh for further deails.
This project is bringing us lots of new members, and all the fun things created for us helps to keep them. Thanks again to our Blue Mars Developers.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Looks Like Love in Blue Mars
Friday, February 4, 2011
Avatar Reality Releases Blue Mars iOS App
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Happy Year of the Rabbit!
- Chinese festival trivia
- Best party-themed outfit
- Best dragon face paint
- Best rabbit face paint (after all, it is the Year of the Rabbit!)
Join us in the Welcome Area at 4pm PST (7pm EST, midnight GMT)