Through the Looking Glass

Here is a preview of the Croquet project. While some people consider Virtual Worlds to be just a game or an escapist paradise, others are viewing them as the precursor to the 3D web. I think the Croquet project is breaking ground in this area. It appears that you can essentially web surf from in-world, and continue to follow links to other places, like jumping through windows. Even without the avatars, a windowed system that can be “dug” into like this would be quite useful. The overlayering of avatars does add a social element to the system making it more interactive and user-friendly. And I’ll add, as I like to do…it’s more fun.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us

Here’s a quick view of Web 2.0; the interactive Web. It’s rather clever presentation that incorporates us as part of the way the web is used, or uses us…

Wait, Which Life is This?

Third Life?

OOO, I’m confused…

Reach Out and Touch…

Microsoft Surface – Exclusive Review

Wow, it looks like touchscreen computing is really evolving. It sure looks like fun. I want one. I wonder who will produce the first game for this new equipment.

Integrated Marketing Masters

Ok, don’t laugh…I found a company who has mastered marketing integration, online and in real life. The company is Ganz, and their product/website is Webkinz. I discovered this when I finally realized what my 11 yo daughter was involved in as she was typing in codes from her recently purchased Real Life (RL) Webkinz clothing.

The way this works is that you purchase a Webkinz stuffed animal at a retailer. There is a tag on it with a code. You then go to the website, and can go in-world using your code. Once there you can get a virtual pet like the RL one you purchased. Then you can purchase items to enhance the appearance of your pet, and also decorate the room which you have selected for your pet to live in. Now, my daughter had purchased clothing…which, with the special code, allowed her to shop in the exclusive store in-world that only those who have made the RL purchase can shop in. Everyone will recognize her clothing as special.

The other aspect that makes this all so genius is that it is a social networking site. My daughter meets her friends in-world and they compare their rooms, and clothing. They can visit each other’s places. Also, they can meet new people in-world and become friends with them. By interacting, they can each see what others have done in room decoration and clothing. This encourages them to purchase more and different items.

Now here is another capture device: the kids can play games to earn points that they can use to purchase in-world items. So now they are deeply involved in the website. They are there to dress-up, decorate, socialize, and play games, which earn money, enhancing their experience with the dress-up and decorating. Amazing!

Imagine if we could do something like that for an automotive site, or home decoration site. I think all the basic principles of cross-marketing and viral marketing are present in this one company. Congratulations to them, and no, don’t be shy to look at the website, we often learn from the children…

Wonderful Life

Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World

I just couldn’t help posting this. C’mon, if this doesn’t make you feel whole, then you need some prozac.

Creating a World out of Worlds

I just discovered VastPark. Their Team Blog lists rules for the virtual web that I found quite thought provoking. While they give a thanks to Virtual Worlds like Second Life, they are positioning themselves as the next direction for VWs. Instead of all the VWs interconnecting, they propose an opposite approach. They think we should all create our own worlds which we can then provide access to for others as we wish. We would hold control over the world and what is allowed to happen in there. This has huge advantages for corporations as well as educational institutions. A company can create a world headquarters in virtual space and, especially if they have a distributed workforce, they can meet and conduct training in their private space. Institutions of Higher Learning can create their own college or university, and conduct classes without fears of what students may be subjected to content-wise, such as inappropriate sexuality for example. The users would also retain control over security and who is allowed in. I think this solves a lot of problems we encounter with places like Second Life.

Virtual Worlds are still a new experience for us. We seem to want to connect with each other, we just don’t know how we want to do that yet. Using the WWW as an example, even though websites can be accessed through a common browser, each site is independent and under creative control by its owner. Even so, we have an interconnected net of sites that can interact through a browser. It seems that this approach is what VastPark is proposing.

Why an Avatar?

I had to read some articles for my class this week that dealt with marketing in Second Life. It was suggested that alot of the big companies have gotten in and are using it for branding and special promotions with at least some success in that respect. But all concede that marketing in the 3-D virtual worlds has to be different. For instance, setting up a billboard in SL is more likely to irritate neighbors than get the attention of the non-existent motorists on any of the virtual roads there. Selling representations of real world clothing has limited value too; there are already scores of in-world designers producing attractive clothing in-world. The real life companies end up trying to compete with established entities. Unless they can differentiate their products, they are not likely to have success.

What I find most compelling is the thought that marketing to an avatar comes with its own psychological set. The avatar is a projection of the (usually) idealized self of it’s real-life counterpart. So one ends up selling “dreams” to the avatar, and those in real life business think they can also convince the real world counterpart to buy real life products. I’d like to think this is possible. My experience of being in-world is one that I want to be left alone by real life companies. I like dealing in-world with native businesses and talents. I don’t know how pervasive this sentiment is, but I would think I’m not alone in that.

To market effectively to an avatar in-world, the product or service would have to meet one or all of several criteria related to the avatar’s in-world experiences. The three most important areas one would have to address are: helping with the person’s creative expression in either production or aesthetic appreciation; it would have to provide, or contribute to the experience of fun; it would have to enhance the appearance by making the avatar more attractive, or at least enhance the “cool” factor.

Overall, I think everyone is missing the point here. The world of Second Life is a self-contained, user-created environment, and should probably not be confused by too much co-mingling with real life. People are in there to pursue things they would not in real life, or use it as a platform to try things out. I don’t think there is inherent real world marketing value there, even if it is a real life person behind the avatar. I think there are many utilitarian uses: for instance, I’d love to do “catalog” shopping in world rather than actually handle a conventional print catalog. It would be interactive, you could see it in three dimensions, and maybe even try it out. But if I am considering buying a new Toyota, I’m going to go to my local car dealer.

What I think virtual worlds like Second Life represent is a self contained environment, which it should remain, with one exception: I think this is likely to become the browser of the 3-D internet of the future. It is a platform, and will be an interface for the already highly functional internet we have now. When the net is more 3-D integrated, the uniqueness of places like Second Life will dissolve, and it will be integrated into other things we do in our virtual internet connected world.

Machinima Impossible

This is a movie made in Second Life for a class project. While it may not be award-winning, it does show the possibilities of movie-making in virtual worlds.

C-Line Woman (trad. sea-lion woman)

Ok, so I should probably create an eclectic music blog. In the meantime I’ll continue to intersperse my intellectual musings with these posts.