Mar
20
- My avatar at an IBM conference auditorium
I had numerous people email me this news item about Second Life this morning. It is one of the frequent articles talking down or trivialising Second Life, the online virtual world. Maybe it is because 3D worlds are more obviously connected in people’s minds to gaming environments, but it seems to take more than its fair share of criticism from people who really don’t ‘get’ it.
I find the best way to understand the value of metaverses like Second Life - and what works and doesn’t work - is little different from the social web as a whole. Once you have got over the WOW factor of developing your own avatar and the ability to walk, fly or teleport to an almost infinite number of environments. If by then you have not engaged in any meaningful dialogue, relationship building, or found another source of self expression, connection or ongoing interest, then like thousands of others you will probably end up thinking ‘what is the point of this?’
However if you have participated and become an active member of the community with the extra dynamics that a 3D virtual world provide (for example proximity and simulation) then your experience will be completely different.
As a tax payer, I am glad that government departments are experimenting with comparatively very low cost systems to investigate if there is value - financial or otherwise - in engaging with these large scale communities. I remember the very early days of the Internet and have seen how what seems extraordinary and exotic today, can become commonplace and essential tomorrow. If they don’t investigate emerging platforms we will soon be moaning about why the public sector has again fallen so far behind the technological curve when it comes to the dramatic gains in productivity, efficiency and capability experienced by increasingly web savvy consumers.
Second Life requires a powerful PC with an advanced graphics card and decent broadband connection. It is not easy compared to the likes of Facebook - Second Life has a notoriously steep learning curve, especially to master the valuable physical and community building tools. There is still some considerable way to go yet.
But despite this the 3D web is coming whether we like it or not, and the smart people are learning early lessons on Second Life in anticipation of other more accessible and usable alternatives already in development.
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