Loading ...Hello. I’m brand new here. Just met Alok in Second Life, and we got to discussing the different ways people and businesses can interact there.
Second Life, for the uninitiated, is a three-dimensional virtual world where users can fly, shop with virtual money, set up offices and educational institutions, and a whole lot more. It has faced incredible growth since the last quarter of 2006, something like 30% a month. Why is this so?
Basically, millions of people are finding out that a 2-D interface is just clunky. Especially when it comes to many people interacting simultaneously. The potential for E-learning alone is almost infinite.
My question here is…are there any people interested in exploring the potential for virtual worlds like Second Life in real-world business and education? Would anyone be open to a seminar which discusses all these issues?
An interesting tidbit…if you look at the Internet itself in the 90’s, the parallels are exciting. 30% growth per month, couple million USD being spent every day in transactions, the potential to meet and make friends from anywhere in the world, the business opportunities available to anyone with a little bit of foresight…now, how many of you saw the Internet grow from a tiny obscure little entity to the way of life it is today? And if someone told you that this is the future of interaction, of business, of education, would you believe them?
Let’s talk about it 
Cheers.
I do not think this is the future of interaction. But virtual worlds are going to be great tools for certain applications in the fields of Education and Business - for example: lab experiments, history tours, product demos, etc.
I have few question that I ld like to a you poeple out here:
a)Does creating copy success an idea from one part of the world (USA)into another part of the world (India) is innovation?
b)Why I find few example in where an entrepreneur is addressing a basic problem local to Indian market.
Indian consumer internet market is filed with USA look-alike product or services.Everyday I read some new services compnay starting a Indina copy/version/solution of a successful american compnay.
Following artical on startdunia may be a little too blunt (http://www.startupdunia.com/page/2/ Herd mentality and Indian startups ) but it point to a serious potential problem with indian entrepreneurs.
We daily face so many problem that need a unexpensive , efficient comsumer centic solution.
example
a)A decent broadband service.
b)A reliable webdevelopment and web hosting service provider for smes, govt. institudes, colleges,schools.
c)Cheap PCs providers for schools
d)web services company providing services in indina langauges.
I understand Indian market is shallow and Indian consumer is not rich-enough. But I guess real challenge of enterprenuership lies in find solution of this very poor consumer.
Rohit:
I’d agree with you, but only partly. I’m using the word ‘interaction’ very deliberately here. Perhaps a more apt term would be ’simultaneous interaction’, where many users are interacting cooperatively in a shared environment.
Education and business, yes. Also social interaction. For instance, say a heated discussion on a topic by twenty people simultaneously, from all over the world, the only comparable platform currently would be IRC or videoconferencing. Both of which leave a lot to be desired in terms of actual usability, yes? This is what 3D spaces like Second Life offer on a level which in itself is a paradigm shift. The possibility of interacting with people in a completely customized virtual environment, with all possible multi-user communication tools (chat, IM, voice, audio and video streaming) at your disposal.
The biggest area, though, in my mind when it comes to virtual spaces like Second Life making a difference, is education. I’m an educator and guest lecturer on industrial and graphic design for various institutes here, and THIS is where I believe simultaneous 3D environments do make the difference. I have been experimenting with forms of e-learning and digital learning with a number of my students, and am very aware of the limitations posed by most technologies. And of the immense potential these worlds (there are many!) have, to allow groups of people all over the world communicate effectively.
Did you know there are over 300 educational institutions in SL? Please check out the New Media Consortium website (www.nmc.org) which has over two hundred virtual colleges in it’s list alone and has a major presence in SL.
I’ll be part of a series of educator’s workshops starting tomorrow, for another group called ‘DIversity 2007′. I’ll basically be teaching educators about the various educational tools, objects and institutions available in this huge world. We will be communicating maily via voice and avatar, and I’ll be showing them a slide presentation. It could just as easily be a video clip, animation or 3D object, please note. I’ll be handing out education tools, things like marker boards and pointers, scripts that give out items at the click of a switch, movie clip projectors, that kind of stuff. And am available to answer any doubts or questions they may have, just as in a real workshop.
Here’s the interesting part…I will be paid in USD (which I’m keeping in the virtual world for now, thanks) per hour, and I can choose to encash it if I wish. This world has virtual money freely exchangeable with real, and that’s a pretty good thing given the conversion rate which is about 6.28 L$ (Linden Dollars, this world’s currency) to the Rupee at the moment. This world has it’s stock exchange(s), a virtual embassy where you can get information and assistance, a virtual spaceflight museum with scale models of every form of ship known to man…it’s a beautiful sight…and guess which country’s closest to the teleport point…it was an emotional moment. Ahh anyway
I’m on SL sometimes 8-12 hours a day, do a huge amount of my preofessional real-world project 3D modelling in it.. Imagine a bus design where you can make the client take a virtual walkthrough of the bus, controlled by him. He can alter anything in real-time, and I can sit with him wherever in the world he is, inside and around the product itself. Paradigm shift.
Ok, I’m going to get off the soap box, now. I’d invite you to try the place out. It costs nothing and if you’re there, please look me up. My avatar’s name is Rowl Electricteeth.
i was intrigued enough by this post to go and sign up on second life. i’m a journalist and people are my business so for me it is a good tool to get to know people. that apart, it gives me an insight into what else people you would slot in a frame can be or become in another frame. i’m just intrigued about one thing. what’s second life’s business model? how does it make money?
I think the concept of Second Life can be used in Online Retail business, auctions, Remote Conferences and presentations. In particular, the online retail business, wherein using 3D , u can show product features with more impact.
@ Mr. Parmar,
Sir, I don’t think you read either article properly, or you’re reading the wrong things into what I wrote. I was trying to introduce a discussion on virtual worlds…I am not setting up one in imitation of any. This would be like saying that the Internet is bad because it is set up by Americans and that we should set up our own version or parallel platform which is unique. Like I said, I think you musinderstood my point.
A number of your points are valid, I agree with some of what you say, but this is not a case where idea innovation is in focus…it is merely an introduction to a new platform for interaction. I’d be happy to discuss these points with you in another, more contextual forum.
Snigdha,
According to Philip Rosedale, CEO, Second Life doesn’t really make money as such, they were struggling to break even until recently, when they got another ten million USD or so in venture funding.
Otherwise, their businesss model is still pretty unique, even among the 50 or so virtual worlds currently on the Internet. The whole world is based on user-generated content. Which is to say, the entire place (and it is huge, by now), including every object, script, building and article of clothing, has been built by it’s residents.
Residents pay for their premium accounts, they pay for virtual land of their own, sometimes they pay for things that have been built by Lindens (a term, and a last name, for all people working with Linden Lab) but on the whole, according to Philip, it is pretty expensive running all the 4000+ servers that make up Second Life.
It’s more about residents making money in this world, though…and there is a lot of it being made, whether by development of these 3D spaces, or fashion, or games, and thousands of other objects. There is about a million and a half USD being exchanged in transactions per day. Linden Lab also makes statistics available on their site (http://secondlife.com/whatis/economy_stats.php), which should be helpful.
Interesting parallel drawn with the internet. But Internet is based on open architecture. There’s no single entity controlling it and that was a major factor in its explosive adoption and growth.
Can the same happen with virtual worlds? When can I run my own servers with my own tools and standardized protocols? It’d get real interesting only then.
Bah, even IM federation has not caught up yet.
cheers
nilesh
Nilesh,
Well it has to start somewhere doesn’t it? SL is NOT the only virtual platform on the net. At my last count, there were 47 different VWs, each addressing a different aspect of the whole. There are talks on to develop a common platform for interaction between them (check out http://virtualworldsreview.com)
I was reading an article earlier this week which said that 80% of the net would be 3D by 2011. Yay!
But I hear you. There’s a long way to go yet