January 7, 2008

Looking Back at 2007

Tech Digest: 20 trends defining virtual worlds in 2007


I came across this excellent overview of virtual worlds trends in 2007. I have a feeling we will see a lot of these issues being addressed in 2008. In particular, I expect to see more business tools in 2008 as well as a lot of energy being focused on simplifying the user experience, particularly for social virtual worlds like Second Life.

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Posted on January 7, 2008 11:40 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

September 7, 2007

Linden Lab Forks Second Life

In what appears to be the beginning of a major shift in Second Life, Linden Lab has introduced the Second Life Grid ( http://secondlifegrid.net/ ). This formally separates Second Life technology from the Second Life product (the SL virtual world).

The SL Grid will be more focused on organizations than individual residents, and has already rolled out programs such as the Community Gateway Program and the Global Provider Program.

This appears to me, as the first step towards Linden Lab open sourcing their servers so that anyone can plug there server into the grid and link up with the virtual world of Second Life. This will probably not happen for another 10-12 months, but the secondlifegrid.net initiative appears to be the first step towards reaching that goal.

Introducing the Second Life Grid « Official Linden Blog

Posted on September 7, 2007 4:41 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 29, 2007

Google Search Coming to Second Life?

Nick Wilson reports on the Metaversed Blog that the Linden Lab development team are "playing around" with the Google Search Appliance to improve search results in Second Life. The new system would render out results from searches in 2D HTML.

Second Life to Integrate Google Search | Metaversed

Posted on August 29, 2007 11:12 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cisco Uses Virtual Words for Team Meetings

In a very interesting post about virtual work, Cisco shares some of their early experiences with using virtual worlds to hold team meetings.

1. conversations are more engaging
2. conversation flows are smoother
3. 3D views reduce information overload

Why play in the Virtual World schoolyard? - Cisco Virtual Worlds Blog

Posted on August 29, 2007 1:07 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 28, 2007

Quality: SL Priority #1

Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale was interviewed by Reuters at the SLCC. Revealing their plans for the upcoming year, it was refreshing to hear Philip state their top priority is improving stability and the quality of user experience. There are many features that could and will be be added to Second Life but its clear Linden's top priority is and should be improving stability of the Second Life platform.

Reuters/Second Life » Exclusive: Philip Rosedale interview from SLCC

Posted on August 28, 2007 11:23 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

July 3, 2007

Second Life Transactions Hit $50,000,000 Per Month

As reported by Jeff Barr, Second Life provided some impressive statistics at this week's Catalyst Conference. According to Joe Miller of Linden Lab, there are about 500 events every day in SL, 800,000 items are sold every month and $50,000,000 worth of transactions per month. Visit Jeff's blog for a full list of statistics presented at the conference.

Jeff Barr’s Blog » Joe Miller of Linden Lab speaks at the Catalyst Conference

Posted on July 3, 2007 2:49 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Streaming Live Video Online & Inworld for Free

Veodia has developed a tool for streaming live video online and inworld for free. This looks pretty impressive as it uses the quicktime format, which means you can stream a live video feed straight into Second Life easily without having to mess with any conversion techniques.


Veodia - The Live TV Studio In Your Browser™

Posted on July 3, 2007 2:40 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

July 1, 2007

Monetization, Profits and Virtual Worlds

"What are the practical benefits of virtual worlds" is a question I am often asked. Platforms like Second Life are great for learning and experimenting, but how much investment is required for a company to obtain engagement and profitibality?

Here are two great posts by Out to Pasture and Metaverse that address these issues head-on.

Out to Pasture » Blog Archive » Profitability and Private Worlds

Trilogy Studios Targets Branded Virtual Worlds



Posted on July 1, 2007 1:53 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

June 27, 2007

Virtual Recruitment: A Boon for Second Life?

As more and more early adopters struggle to provide examples of successful returns on their initial investment in Second Life, the PR environment is starting to turn negative. One activitiy that appears to be working, however, is using SL as a platform for recruitment. This recent article in the Wall Street Journal provides examples of some successful cases.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118229876637841321-NkCuEAak8wFXmvmPVWkALxqNS3M_20070719.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

Posted on June 27, 2007 11:58 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

June 12, 2007

Machinima Introduction to Second Life

I stumbled across this great intoduction to Second Life by Giff-Forseti of Electric Sheep. I like how it hits on one of the main benefits of this new medium - the abilitiy to experience being next to someone and communicating with them in a more humanistic way than the web has had the capacity to do up to this point. We are in the early stages and I can imagine that the visuals will only get more and more realistic going forward.

Introduction to Second Life

Posted on June 12, 2007 1:22 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)