vwf - report

Hi there from the incredible dense London atmosphere at the virtual worlds forum 2007. Placed in a clubbing location this is definitely the place you want to be today.

From the key-note of Lord Puttnam of Queensgate: To be recognized, virtual worlds need to contribute to the culture they emerge from in an unique way. Integrate educational aspects to be able to become recognized as a media worth funding.



These words of Lord Puttnam are underlining the importance of the value created for the user and the society. To me it is like building a stadium to play – let's say soccer – which will be empty most of the time. Showing it to clients they may say “so what – it's empty!”. Showing them the soccer game may trigger that “wow” we are looking for. Most business projects I have seen so far focus on branding – having a nice stadium rather than having a nice game.

What kind of games might be interesting for a positive business case are outlined in the forester report you can gain from their website:

http://www.forrester.com/Marketing/Campaign2/1,6538,1073,00.html

It's really mind blowing how fast things are moving. Things we though a year ago “would come some day” are already approaching, like the first integration examples from 2D and 3D into one browser (ask Peter Finn about the inDuality piece, I hared it may be on TAP soon!)

As Paul Ledak lined out in his key-note Identity management will be a key tool to support business applications. IBM's universal avatar project is a step into that direction.

There are many interesting 3D browsers popping up, like an alternative Second Life browser coming from electric sheep http://www.electricsheepcompany.com/core/about/announcements/?NewsAction=renderById&NewsId=15 . Whatch out for the CBS tv-show CSI NY* - another convergence of TV and 3D gaming. The browser had been developed to make 3D worlds more accessible for more pragmatic people. In the same time the convergence of video and 3D might hint where one route in the future might lead ...

(UPDATE) On the second day Prof. Bartle suggested to think about virtual worlds like places to go. Places like London or Brasil. This is indeed a nice learning for business installations in Second Life. If one builds shops, offices and places alike one needs to staff them – and offer something valuable to visitors.

Another speaker introduced reach and time spent as a measurement of return. Interestingly in passive media like video a viewer is experiencing a brand measured in seconds. In 3D it's measured in minutes. Time customers spent interacting with a brand becomes increasingly important for marketeers. Which leads to the question how rewarding an interaction is for an visitor in the first place.

In respect to input devices a say was that rather connecting head and hands we need to connect hearts and minds. We've seen data-gloves dyeing – but we see the wii-controller coming and that the iPhone hase similar sensors built in. Maybe even more interesting is the convergence of video and 3D for navigating the world using gestures. This way we would be able to build an interface which is ready for children and politicians too.

What a promising future!