ROI in Virtual Worlds Use Case: The FutureWork Institute
This is the fourth entry in a series dedicated to answering two questions:
- Why are virtual worlds a good alternative to existing technologies?
- How can one best get a Return On Investment (ROI) from virtual world ventures?
There is now an archive page for past entries. Feel free to explore the topics that appear there and email me if you feel that there is a topic that needs to be covered.
When people ask what businesses are doing in virtual worlds they want a quick answer. The only short answer one could honestly offer is that enterprise uses virtual worlds to create experiences, but that encompasses such a wide variety of specific applications it sounds like a cliché before it even has a chance to become a meme in the first place.
The other problem is that people want an answer that fits into what they already know. These experiences we’re talking about really don’t resemble anything like most existing training tools, marketing tools, or communication tools. It’s no wonder those who haven’t experienced the benefits first hand have a hard time wrapping their heads around it. In fact, it’s perfectly reasonable to struggle.
In the end, the only thing one can do is invite someone to experience the benefits of virtual spaces first hand. At Clever Zebra we do that through meetings and events, but I wanted to make a special mention today of the unique efforts at The FutureWork Institute. Their challenge is to communicate the issues of diversity in the workplace in some kind of meaningful and impactful way. See the video below for an overview of how they’ve leveraged Second Life to do just that very effectively.
A website wouldn’t have really done the trick here, as it would have been impossible for people to turn to each other and comment or ask questions as they went along. This beats a standard training seminar as it’s self-paced, memorable, and fully interactive. Even the most elaborate real-world experience wouldn’t have been able to create a room that swapped out furniture and decor.
Now, I’m not a training expert so I’m certain there are several points of interest about this that I’m missing, but you get the picture. Using a virtual environment companies can run employees from all over the world through diversity training together without spending a penny on airfare. Honestly I can’t think of any other way of doing it that makes any sense in the face of this solution.
Special thanks to MixedRealities.
Again, this entire post is off the top of my head. If I’ve missed something or if you’ve written something that can expand on these points, feel free to add a link in the comments.
