Releasing WorkAdventure 1.23
We are thrilled to announce the release of WorkAdventure 1.23. Building upon the major changes of the last releases —namely Matrix integration— this version adds several new features and improvements.
You will find that most of the changes in this release fall into one of those three categories: improved Matrix integration, astounding real-time bots, and map editor improvements.
Improved Matrix integration
Matrix session verification with Emojis
You can now verify your Matrix session with emojis. This feature is particularly useful for users who have several Matrix clients (for instance, if you are using Element alongside WorkAdventure) and have trouble remembering
your passphrase or your security key. When verifying your session, you will be asked to select the correct emojis from a list shown on your current device and a “trusted” device.
This feature works both ways. You can secure your WorkAdventure session using another device (Element on your phone for instance), or you can use your trusted WorkAdventure session to secure another device.
Less intrusive end-to-end encryption
As soon as you join on end-to-end encrypted room, you will be asked to verify your Matrix session.
The first time this happens, you will need to generate a new security key (which you should save in a safe place) and a passphrase (that you should remember indefinitely).
On subsequent logins, you need to provide either the key or the passphrase to unlock your encrypted rooms -or use the new emoji verification feature.
This can be cumbersome. Furthermore, you might want to log in to talk to your friends in WorkAdventure without having to go through the whole process.
Starting with this release, you will only be asked to cross-sign your session (i.e., provide a security key or passphrase, or go through the emoji verification process) when you try to access an end-to-end encrypted room.
This should make logging less cumbersome.
Paste files in chat
You can now paste files directly in chat rooms, which is particularly useful for sharing a screenshot or a document without having to click on the file upload button. This is a small but important UX improvement that should make your life easier and the whole chat experience more enjoyable.
Real-time bots
This new version of WorkAdventure adds new features to the scripting API that are paving the way for advanced realtime chat bots using the OpenAI Real-Time Communication API.
These bots are extremely powerful. They can listen to you, understand what you say (in a wide range of languages), and reply to you in real-time. Because the underlying model is speech-to-speech (without going through text), the bots
understand the tone of your voice and can reply with a wide variety of different tones and emotions.
The feature is not yet released to everyone. We are still improving the integration and the user experience. Moreover, the OpenAI Real-Time Communication API is a state-of-the-art technology that comes at a non-negligible cost, so we will need to adapt our pricing model to make it sustainable. (But hey! When I was watching K2000 as a kid, I would never
have thought I could actually talk to an AI in a natural way, and what was remote sci-fi a few years ago is now at the
tip of our fingers.)
In the meantime, you can check our demo videos:
Map editor improvements
A number of improvements have been made to the map editor, leading to an overall better user experience:
- The tagging of each object in the map editor has been improved; object are now easier to find.
- The map explorer is also easier to search thanks to a revamped search feature.
- We fixed a nasty bug that allowed the upload of non-image files, which caused a map storage lock.
What's next?
We are keeping working heavily on the Matrix integration. The next feature will bring support for tags inside chat rooms. Anyone will a given tag will be automatically invited to the chat room.
A new chat design is on the way, and a bit later, a complete redesign for WorkAdventure!
Microsoft Teams integration is coming too! You’ll be able to define an area in your map linked to a Microsoft Teams meeting and you’ll be able to consult your calendar and todo-list directly from WorkAdventure.
An Outlook plugin is also in the making, to help you schedule meetings directly inside WorkAdventure!
We hope you’re as excited about these new features as we are. Your feedback is invaluable to us, so please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts. Stay tuned for more updates!
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