By David Chartier
July 08, 2008 - 10:45PM CT

Google today introduced a 3D chat room plug-in called Lively that is easy to embed in websites and blogs. Ars Technica went hands-on to see if Google actually has introduced us to "another dimension of the web."

Unveiled on Google's blog with the disclaimer that it was a "20 percent" project, Lively is designed to be a portable 3D space where users can build rooms and interact with visitors via avatars. "Second Life in a web browser" is an applicable analogy, though Google appears to have made sure that rooms and user activities remain in the G to PG range.

Each room can be linked with a unique URL-I Hate Ewoks and Lively: Google Room are two good examples-or even embedded in a website through an iframe. "If you enter a Lively room embedded on your favorite blog or website," Google's Niniane Wang said in the announcement post, "you can immediately get a sense of the room creator's interests, just by looking at the furniture and environment they chose."

Apparently, a WordPress theme, Flickr photosteam widget, and a Twitter Flash badge aren't enough to show off one's personality anymore; we need to know people's architectural preferences as well. For now, Lively is only available for Windows XP/Vista PCs running Internet Explorer and Firefox; Mac and Linux clients are on their way.