Brian Boyko of Network Performance Daily reports that Linden Labs will soon begin “a by-invitation technical trial available to about 1000 simultaneous audio users, after which a public beta will be available. VoIP is expected to become a standard feature in future versions of Second Life, (emphasis mine) and the roadmap includes letting users eventually “design” the sound of their voice much like they currently design the current look of their avatars.”

VoIP in Second Life will also project sound in three dimensions by calculating distance and direction to other avatars. One can imagine even more sophisticated acoustics in future releases. The codec will be Siren 14/G.722.1 Annex C, developed by Polycom.