3D chat gallery: The wild world of IMVU

This summer, Nielsen Net Ratings released a study of the fastest-growing instant-messaging clients from August 2006 to June 2007. The big winner was Meebo--the Web-based cross-platform chat app that lets AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, MSN, and Meebo's own users talk amongst themselves anywhere they've got a Web browser and an Internet connection.

It's easy to chat in 3D with IMVU.(Credit: IMVU/CNET Networks)
The second-fastest growing chat client was more of a surprise. IMVU--which gained 154 percent more users over the year studied--is a 3D chat client that allows you to create your own avatar (covered previously) and interact with other users in a proprietary "metaverse."
IMVU combines the virtual reality of more robust universes like Second Life with the social-networking aspect of popular sites like MySpace and Facebook. Users get their own Web pages with photo galleries, buddy lists, blogs, profiles, and message boards that they can customize all day long. You can use the Web site to find people you might be interested in, and then chat with them live using the IMVU Messenger 3D application.


IMVU is a cool new way to hang out and have fun with your friends online! Just like an old-school text-based messenger, you download IMVU's software onto your PC. But with IMVU you create your own avatars who chat in killer 3D scenes. Check it out and experience 3D chat for yourself.

Version 388.0 adds bug fixes and a few minor performance improvements, such as better buddy-request management.

Note: The IMVU 3D instant messenger requires free registration at the IMVU Web

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