I’ve never really hit it off with virtual worlds as yet. My prejudices against them come down to 
this – it seems such a bother to download the software then acclimatising yourself to an area such as Second Life. I feel swamped enough in the normal web stuff, let alone catapulting myself into another world. So I was interested to meet a virtual worlds expert a few weeks back for him to tackle some of my mis-perceptions. David Burden runs an outfit called Daden which specialise in virtual worlds specifically in the business and training space. Burden put forward a pretty convincing case that such platforms will grow in influence in the coming years as the barriers to entry break down.
Burden is probably more than aware of such objections as mine. “It’s going to take a longer time for people to get it,” he says. His firm seems to do a pretty good job at stripping away the jargon and geek-feeling around virtual worlds. The firm specialise in creating accessible spaces in places such as Second Life to run virtual events – so they will offer registration areas, guides and private areas for such events.
Daden is also seeing a lot of interest in using virtual worlds to as training and education tools. One particularly intriguing example of this is an application they have developed to train paramedics – it’s on Second Life and users are faced with a virtual challenge. You arrive in an ambulance and there’s an injured motorcyclist on the road. From there you have to choose how to act.
Burden also points to a few trends that are emerging in the virtual world space that may lead it more mainstream:
- More to come – Burden mentioned a few that are either up and running in the pipeline. One is called Twinity and plans to create virtual versions of live cities. Apparently there’s a version of London being worked on. Other worlds include ones created by an outfit called Forterra and a place called There
- Open source – according to Burden there will be more access for programmers and the like to hack into some of these worlds and create their own versions. I think that’s what he meant
What I think we could see develop, and Burden is keen on further exploring, is an amalgam of live and online events. Given that virtual worlds are quite niche this appears to be a realistic approach, whereby a live event coincides with a virtual one. And the two can feed off each other – events in the construction space such as Be2Camp have proven that combining audiences and speakers from the two spaces can create a real buzz and exchange of ideas. So you have questions, comment, links and ideas ping-ponging between real and virtual conference room.
As Burden points out the key to any such events is the social aspects – once people get used to the space, whether it’s real or on a screen, there’s no reason why there’s not a rosy future for virtual spaces.
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on Feb 18th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Hi Phil, Besides Second Life, there are other virtual events platforms that is making the virtual event more of a reality without the hurdles of downloading/navigating the software. For example, Lenovo used Nortel’s web.alive to create a 3D world that only required a small download. After that, I was able to navigate the 3D environment via my browser.
Then there are the browser-based, SaaS virtual event providers like Unisfair and InXpo which require no download. While these environments are not “immersive” like a Second Life, they do provide the ability to interact and chat for virtual events.
In the end, virtual events will be used as part of a larger events strategy. Sometimes it makes sense to do in-person only, a hybrid of both in-person and virtual or virtual only.
on Feb 18th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
I had a go of Google’s ‘Lively’ – like you, Phil, put off with downloading and (no doubt) surrendering 3 mths of my life to Second Life.
I bounded in, offering myself to all the cute fillies (with no guarantee of real-world gender – gotta be careful!), saying: “Gather round girls. God I AM exceedingly attractive!”
A man approached, punched me in the face, picked me up then dropped me to the ground.
Through my speakers, the sound of girly laughter.
I deserved it.
on Feb 19th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
[...] the future of events be virtual? Jump to Comments Phil Clark has just blogged about the potential impact of virtual worlds such as Second Life on the management of conferences [...]
on Feb 19th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Second Life is undergoing another transformation I believe. More & more people are utilizing the platform for meetings and events. My project, Virtualis is on a roll!
My phone has been ringing off the hook for the last 3 months!
http://blip.tv/file/1350816
Here is a meeting we just completed @ Virtualis – Imagine all the applications & possibilities! http://blip.tv/file/1391317/
I am very happy with the new leadership at Linden Lab. They “GET IT” and I really expect to see Second Life continue to evolve and utilized more and more by corporations and educational institutions for creative information distribution and collaboration.
on Feb 23rd, 2009 at 9:51 am
So a mixture of responses, from the wildly excited to hilarious attempt at grabbing female attention.
I think one of the hurdles that people who promote or organise these events is not to make them rather silly and immature. Perhaps as this is new technology our reaction to virtual worlds can be to, more often than not, laugh.