I find myself adopting the role of debunker and myth-breaker lately. Yet another “nobody takes virtual worlds seriously” message from a tech blogger. (IT guys… sheesh…) I’m not quite ready to make further announcements about Virtual Worlds Keynote, so how to address this?
Tell you what, its been a few days since I hit the news reader. Let’s see what kind of highlights I can pull out:
Design goes digital in Second Life Architecture & Design does a big writeup on the recent unveiling of the National Portrait Gallery’s virtual world rendering.
Phoenix NAP Launches Virtual Data Center Tour Pheonix NAP takes a cue from IBM and creates a sales tour / orientation space to help people understand their product better. See video:
Building a 3D workspace Hypergrid Business summarizes the history of technology and interface design, various studies, and shows how it all points to a virtual environment exceeding the efficiency of a real-world environment.
That’s just four random days, two of which were a Saturday and Sunday. Please please puh-lease can we stop loudly proclaiming “I haven’t been paying attention so it must not exist” in the press now?
I’ve heard peculiar rumblings from people that Alternate Reality Games are over. Right… like virtual worlds are over.
Here are a few neat bits from 2009:
An interesting, if quite complex, ARG was launched as a promo for the new Star Trek movie. Not sure who was behind putting it together but it looks like they did a bang-up job:
Star Trek XI (2009) ARG Alternate Reality Game Summary
Nine Inch Nails launched another ARG, this time for the Year Zero album: “An alternate reality game emerged parallel to the Year Zero concept, expanding upon its storyline. Clues hidden on tour merchandise initially led fans to discover a network of fictitious, in-game websites that describe an “Orwellian picture of the United States circa the year 2022″. Before Year Zero’s release, unreleased songs from the album were found on USB drives hidden at NIN concert venues in Lisbon and Barcelona, as part of the alternate reality game.”
*** VIDEO REMOVED ***
The only video I could find was… too disturbing for this blog.
And of course, let’s not forget the Alternate Reality Game for the Video Game:
Singularity ARG recap
This is a very… “polished” ARG. Go buy a Mazda, the future depends on it:
33 Keys Alternate Reality Game for 2010 Mazda3
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I looked into it and… yes… THEY are still out there, although I suspect their numbers have dwindled and their activities slowed for now considering… well anyhow, there was a big push in early 2009, but many abrupt changes have lead me to believe it has changed hands and they’re working out a new direction.
Anyone out there interested in creating a new reality, please get in touch.
In just under two weeks or so I’ll be launching a new series in partnership with Treet.tv. The focus: case studies and “how-to” lessons that each demonstrate specifically what companies are doing in virtual spaces right now to see some kind of ROI.
Why am I doing this? There is a serious gap that needs filling. If you’re going to a decision maker in an organization and asking them to spend money on a virtual world project, they want to know:
Do real companies really do this?
What would be the advantage for us?
How do we do that?
Usually this involves forcing a disinterested party to read a lot of ad copy, or trying to convince them to meet with you for a presentation or demo. An uphill battle.
Here’s my solution: a series of short 15-20 minute videos, each giving a specific solution to a specific real-world problem by using virtual worlds. As the series progresses, find the one you’re looking for, get the headline in front of the right person, and “its a short video and you’ll know everything you need to”.
We’re working with a number of media members and blogs to publicize this, so more details are coming, but let me just say that you’re going to love our speakers! Its still early days (we don’t even have the web page yet!) so I’ll hold off on detailed announcements until I get a few more of my meetings done over the next week.
Coming soon: specific dates, names of guests, sponsors, and more!
Want to speak, sponsor, or just some insider info? Write me at info [at] calebbooker.com.
Today was an interesting day for the folks over at Linden Lab. They announced an upgrade to MySQL 5.0, which is truly a harrowing adventure for any self-respecting geek. On the financial side, the news also came out that an existing investor in Linden Lab sold shares of the company to the venture capital firm Saints Capital. Always a sign of transformative times when people start trading your stock around.
At the same time, I’m equally inspired today by a departure from Second Life. Virtual Farmers Market has moved on to greener pastures, it seems. The market, where one can buy real-world consumables in a virtual space, used Second Life as a proof-of-concept. Once it looked like this idea really was going to work, they did the exact right thing: they went out and found technology that was a better fit.
This is, ironically, great for Second Life. There was a time when people would build a proof-of-concept that it didn’t quite work right, but did what it was supposed to do – illustrate their idea quickly and cheaply. Unfortunately, they’d then try to force it into functionality from there. They’d get frustrated, give up on this whole “virtual worlds fad”, and the entire enterprise’s failure would be blamed on Second Life.
It was like building a miniature model of a house and then trying to live in it full time. We saw a lot of companies do it.
Instead, Virtual Farmers Market used Second Life when it suited their needs, and moved on to a Digital Presence solution when the time came. The project works, and everybody’s happy.
