Where Are Virtual Worlds Leading to?

I know what you mean about Second Life as it is currently. Most of us (myself included) have only viewed it from a purely entertainment context. But its move into a world beyond pure entertainment is already well on the way. As you say, the potential is there for Virtual Worlds to become mainstream ways of communicating, entertaining, and collaborating with others in a remote, safe environment.

It is the collaborative aspects that will drive much faster innovation and adoption of new ays to push its development much further than has been the case. Many aspects of the infrastrcuture are already either there or fast converging. So it may not really take that long for vision to turn to reality. One example of the benefits of collaboration and innovation off the top of my head is You Tube.

Thanks DT. This article is something I have been meaning to do for quite some time - it is thanks to your seed that I actually pushed it through. But I see this as a very tentative early and broad taster.

I'm beginning to think what is needed is promo trailer of some form

That where people like you, me and countless others on Newsvine come in. Showcases is good; it turns the art of the possible into real life tangible examples of how it is already moving (and there are some early examples out there).

Create the hunger. Then think about varieties that will appeal. Marketing the vision will become considerably easier going forward. We'll stay tooned:-)

They look promising. I agree with your point on saturation. I think the process for bigger, more robust services will actually be a natural evolution. Good old economies of scale concept will take care of that.

As an aside, you may be amused to read a somewhat off beat view of SL in a CTO Blog that I follow. It's titled SL Big Bang. Very tongue in cheek.

That's an excellent list. I cannot see you've missed any biggies. Some of the gaps you can see will get filled in naturally with evolution and innovation, likely moving beyond SL to ... whatever.

As I said, I follow that Blog very closely. What I quite enjoy is the banter between two of the CTOs in question (Andy and Ron) on SL. One's sort of for; the other's kinda against. And between them, their posts often generate some interesting observations. Your list reminded me of something that the other CTO had posted a while back on SL and Real Life. Have a look at some of the comments there.

Thanks Aine - value your input and insights.

Certainly common standards is key. What I suggest in my article is where I see Virtual Worlds going. And Open Source is at the heart of how I see the convergence of standards and platforms. Especially as the 'glue' in between different proprietary technologies. I think it is Sun and IBM who are amongst technology vendors that are behind some initiatives for standards-compliant file formats etc.

Architectures are also key IMO to the convergence challenge. And in that sense, I think SOA is at the heart. The Open Group has defined its BoundaryLess Information Project. Here is a link to a conference they had about 2 years ago on SOA with perspectives from many in the industry.

Open Source and Open standards are wto different aspects. The former is of course the software that drives the technology. Typically, it comes into its own as middleware to allow different proprietary software to work together. That is largely what has driven the growth and take up of Web 2.0. You can have an Open Source front end serving something on say, SAP or Microsoft.

The Open Group is largely focussed on driving open standards. That does not necessarily just mean Open Source nor proprietary s/ware. Is intended to span both. Examples of where open standards is already forcing software developers like SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, etc to adopt them is in applications like SAP Netweaver, Oracle Fusion and .NET.

The two are interlinked - open source is what helps avoid patents litigation and licence costs. But it is open standards and how they are driving adoption where the opportunity for Virtual Worlds to take hold becomes more compelling.

Thanks to DT and Aine for the insight. It's good:-)

Thanks Blaise. Had a quick look at some reader comments. Sounds fascinating. Imagination of some authors, especially on Sci-Fi/Fantasy has a delightful way sometimes of turning to reality. As Disney say, if you can dream it, you can do it.

Of course, this article is more about what is actually happening now and where, in my view, it is heading.

Thanks for reviving this finalcut.

the dark secret of it all will, hopefully, always remain fiction

Yep. The lines between real life and VR in the Matrix was a tad too close for comfort.

I clipped it to the new Tech gateway after asking if it was OK and Calvin agreeing. If the MSNBC editors deemed it current, they could pick it for feature. Guess that might have triggered some actvity on trackers etc.

The link to your seed.

A bit early to get disappointed - give 'em time to get on their feet and start showing where they could take the concept. Although gaming is an important catalyst for Virtual Worlds, I see the real potential will start exploding once businesses and corporations start making deeper inroads and steering more investment there. I found the review by The Economist from Multiverse had some interesting insight.

Multiverse says that companies are starting to create worlds for training simulations, business collaboration, and modelling disasters.

One advantage that Second Life has, as AOL and its kind did in the mid-1990s, is a critical mass of users at whom advertising can be targeted. Companies that create their own worlds, or set up new game worlds, will need to find a way to attract visitors—just as they have to with their websites. "You have to figure out why you're creating your virtual world, what people will do there, how you'll promote it," says Bill Turpin, the boss of Multiverse. And how will people find relevant or interesting worlds? Multiverse will provide a number of ways to search, though this too will be open. Corey Bridges of Multiverse says it would be "fantastic" if Yahoo! and Google wanted to add support for searching for worlds.

The key elements they cover which I see as relevant are:

Critical mass
This is where initiaves that Multiverse are trying (and what will come from that through bigger boys with much better toys when they join in) will certainly start getting critical mass and economies of scale. As I mentioned in your seed on SL, I see the real innovation there happening in the third world, especially Asia. It's just the sheer numbers of Gen Y tech-savvy guys who are breaking conventional approaches to problem solving. I see it every day in my professional role in the industry but I have also seen how it pays an important role in pushing innovation and improvization barriers.

Advertising Revenues
Becoming a very powerful catalyst for more and more people from all sides of the supply chain (advertisers, adverts, earners, clickers) to get aboard. It's a compelling element. The more that come, the more diverse the range of individual wants that need to be catered for. And that will spur new models and solutions that we cannot even think of yet. Who would have thought that You Tube would be what it has become today. Go back just 5 years and you ask yourself teh same question about Google. Go back 10 and it's someone like Nokia. If demand is there, supply will aim to meet it. Where there is no demand, mankind has a way of creating it. It's what entrepreneurs have been since year dot:-)

The link to The Economist review.

Thanks Shawn. Deep Thought has written a related artcile which you may also find interesting. Deep has a lot of good insights on where VR has come from in gaming platforms; my interest is to see if could become a viable platform for that and beyond as a front end interface for business and leisure. I urge you to have a look at Deep Thought's latest article.

So glad you came here Rukh. I have yet to speak to SL users who already use the platform for corporate applications. If you are able to, can you expand on types of applications you typically use it for?

Thanks Blaise - yes, there are many similar uses that are well documented. I didn't touch on the entertainment and leisure industry in my article but of course, they are in many ways the early pioneers from the corporate world.

My question to Rukh was about other sectors and industries who are already using SL for work-based activity and if so, what sort. Thanks for the link - good to have as part of the piece.

There's a technology blog that I find very useful. It occassionally includes some off beat stuff that is perfect for this community. Came across a satirical post from a month ago which I found amusing. Have seeded it - iPhone Launched in Second Life

Thanks Scott. I share exactly the same concern. Just don't want to be ensnared by yet another addiction. Newsvine's more than me (and my life) can take for now. You will like my latest article. It's right up your street:-)

see you there where I'll post the link.

Know what you mean. I guess it is in the list (let's not forget it is a nominee at this stage) because by setting up a bureau on SL, they have broken new ground as an example of another business appliocation of VR. What's more telling is the example of what that means for CJ in Africa (see #6 above).

In the free world, we tend to take CJ as something that can be done by someone with some element of talent, passion and skill as well as access to information sources and technology. But in some parts of the third world, CJs are really working at the real coal face. With many elements that we do not face working against them (like war, corruption, remoteness, etc). Reuters set up a VR bureau to facilitate CJ being better able to reach those kinda places. Just a guess.

Thanks for your feedback. The whole world of media and communications is moving in ways that may not appear obvious. It's an area that I have to follow in my other life so I am closer to the trends. There are also risks and dangers as I intimated in your article from today.

I seeded an interview with Cisco's PR Director a couple of months back. That is also very revealing and touches on many aspects that I have covered here.

Glad if I have played a small part in raising your awareness.

Very true Aine - your perspectives especially on SL are very astute.

I see SL as a stepping stone. It will evolve and over the mid-term, may be nothing like present. Despite the attempts by business and commerce to pilot various initiatives through SL, it is still largely seen and used as a gaming platform.

The convergence of the various other elements that are happening, adoption of standards, architecture, as well as roll out of broadband does mean that Virtual Worlds, say in 10 years should be far more sophisticated environments and used to do much more than mere gaming and piloting.

Of course, I could be totally wrong. Let's see. Certainly at present, SL is facing some challenges in its model.

am definitely three steps behind

story of my life!

Thanks. Hope it helped with some questions. Because that was the intent. Just to provoke questions to help us all get closer to where we think we might be heading in this strange world that we cohabit:-)