Metaversal Immersion

Some brief ramblings on interactive narrative and immersive environments:)

A virtual world is restricted only by your imagination. If you want to engage people in the experience of your brand, your need to provide an environment that demands exploring within the context of a compelling motive or narrative. In other words, create something fun, something unusual, something I want to look at a little longer. Give me a reason to be there, tell a story, weave a web of intrigue into the experience. Lead me into a metaphorical maze.

Once you have done that, consider the social and collaborative nature of virtual worlds, and ask yourself if the experience you present provides a social atmosphere. Not literally, I don't want to sit at a bar in SL! Ask yourself if your landscape creates a dynamic talking point for the user, does it lend itself to an intimate (not sleazy, I mean *friendly*) atmosphere. Where is the joy of use? Build some easter eggs in the landscape to surprise your visitors. Half the fun of social interaction in SL is the path of discovery.

Finally, ask yourself the very important "so what?" question.
eg I have created a building just like my real business and you can go inside and sit at a table "so what?"

What else do you think makes an immersive virtual world experience?

Social Transparency

Recent posts by Luis Suarez on making Enterprise2.0 matter and another by Jeremiah Owyang on Facebook have got me thinking about the new transparency requirement organisations now need to consider. Right now employers have a choice of walling in employees, blocking access to streaming media, blogs, Facebook, virtual worlds(VWs) and even instant messaging.
So what does productivity really mean? Should organisations be thinking more about the need to teach time and technology management to their employees, rather than fencing them in?
I am a big believer in the value of sharing knowledge. Iron sharpens iron, as they say. The value within "social capital" will become enormous and I believe IT departments will soon bow down to pressure from employees and managers alike. It might be a choice now, but will it become a demand - a right - from the next generation?
Collaborative social networks of wikis, blogs, virtual worlds are facilitating real time knowledge sharing. I just look at the small group of VW bloggers I am now following in twitter (and now Facebook) and the type of ambient knowledge collective it offers. What if my friends started to embrace these technologies also? What difference would it make to their relationships, their projects, their customers?
I think one day we will see a far more transparent social dynamic enter the workforce. Less demand on intranets, more focus on social networking using web2.0 groups as the benefits of collaboration are realised.

Express Yourself

Never before have I had such a candid view of people in my life. I have current friends, old school friends, work colleagues...all in view of each other via Facebook. I realise there are some privacy settings which I have tweaked, but right now there is a fine line between friends and work in this communication medium. Are we becoming a more tolerant and candid society? Is it Facebook Faux Pas to hide your "wall" or friends? Is being a "private person" less acceptable than ever?

Another question - is Facebook really about connecting or is it about embedding your identity? Do you get to know more about your friends or yourself by using FB and twitter? How much of this is manufactured identity? Will "who's hot and who's not" become a determining factor in collaboration on projects? I can't help but think that although we try (I hope) to be genuine in updating our profiles, sometimes there is a certain pop-culture spin element involved.

Third question. Will companies begin to lose the power of proprietary communication channels such as intranets and email/meeting management tools? We are beginning to see more use of del.icio.us for sharing bookmarks, FB to share events (I love being able to invite friends to events via FB and having a view of who is coming, who is not and not being limited to only work colleagues), twitter to share hot URLs , secondlife meetings with impromptu external parties invited. Will companies embrace this 24 x 7 global water cooler or will they shut the doors as they struggle to manage IP?

Virtual Value

Virtual Value

Are businesses making the most of their Secondlife investments? Maybe not.

Firstly, you might have seen some press flying around about a hotel chain discontinuing their Secondlife investment and donating its’ “land” for charitable purposes, and more about Secondlife user numbers falling over the last month. No surprise really- given the nature in which companies have jumped into this space to get a bit of presence without really considering the interactive and social dynamic of virtual worlds (or interactive media for that matter.)

One major failing I can identify is the precise replication of one business and economy metaphor into another without consideration of the technological advantages. Secondlife, as many are aware, is not yet stable enough to support users as a complete v-business web experience, and technology is still catching up with the demands of the user. Retail stores who tried to replicate their shopping experience on the web ten years ago are doing the same again now. Have they forgotten the reasons why that experience does not work as well? Ok there is the bandwith issue, but how does a user want to look at the product when shopping? The advantage of online shopping in this retail example, is the ability to have a cart, use previous lists, do quick searches for items and all the other perks of online shopping. When you use technology well – you consider the advantages and how that might benefit the business and customer demands.

So what are some of the advantages in virtual worlds like Secondlife? People want to interact, be entertained, create, learn, converse, discover, play, experience, roam, teleport, fly, engage, communicate and even escape. Who wants to escape to an online supermarket for entertainment? Not me!!

Some of the better examples of Secondlife places using the interactive social dynamic include movietickets.com, Comcastic island, the Alpine Conference Centre, IBM’s SOA Island, and even Coca-Cola who recently had a machinama competition with Crayon Marketing.

Next time your customer asks you about ways to use Virtual Worlds – think about the way users engage and the business opportunities therein.

• Speaking to Harley Davidson? What about making well branded virtual bikes, giving them away at the popular and Noob (new user) areas and embedding links to your online store?
• Talking to an insurance company? What about putting billboards up in the Freebie areas (such as Coldwell Banker is doing) handing out free wearables, or creating a ride in one of the many playgrounds?
• What is a new and unusual way to use the medium – like IBM did with Wimbledon and the real world ‘hawkeye’ ball tracking data?
• Your customer has globally disconnected teams? Set up team building exercises at the beginning of a project as part of the project ramp-up with thematic visual cues for retention and gameplay as a way of connecting.
• Need to challenge some workforce diversity issues? Create a simulation using objects with scripting (like the Schizophrenia simulation)!
• Onboarding staff? Get staff to take a cruise around the different areas of your business, set up a landscape metaphor…and that is just the tip of the iceberg, I am sure there are plenty of better uses…

Why are people making so many houses and business centres that are fast becoming empty while the nightclubs, beaches and experiential islands flourish with social networking? Lets think outside the square – and tell me about your favourite places or ideas…!!

virtual charity

Time to start a public blog!

I'm loving emerging technologies right now,virtual worlds and web 2.0(but hey, why version it?)
We are on the verge of something big - "a mixed reality perfect storm" .Although there seems to be a lot of toe-dipping and not so clever attempts to replicate business models into this medium, I think the possibilities are enormous and gaming culture will be a huge influencer on the future of the web & v-business. I am fascinated in the potential social and learning applications. Its great to be a part of it.

I have seen some good examples of philanthropic use of secondlife by the Global Kids Digital Media Initiative in NY, who made a machinama about child soldiers in Africa - incidentally I am raising funds this month along with some friends for rescued child soldiers - email me if you want an angel bookmark for $10 (au)!!


These kids have done some great work. They love feedback on their blog.

And of course there have been many places I have come across in SL raising money for cancer, reforestation and others.
I would love to know about other social applications of secondlife and other virtual worlds - please share your ideas! And thanks for stopping by!