Are Virtual Worlds Important?

Slide 1: Are Virtual Wo rlds Impo rtant? Brian White Author of Second Life: A Guide To Your Virtual World bwhit3@gmail.com

Slide 2: What are Virtual Worlds? A virtual world is a computer-simulated 3D environment intended for multiple human beings to inhabit and interact via avatars. Real World Virtual World

Slide 3: Why are Virtual Worlds Important? • "Man is a social animal.” - B.J. Gupta • We are spatial by nature Source: http://oybay.wordpress.com, http://www.naccho.org/

Slide 4: A Brief History of Communication Technologies 1775 - US Postal Service established 1844 – First Paid For Telegraph Line 1876 - Telephone 1914 – First Commercial Air Travel 1969 – ARPANET 1971 – E-MAIL 1978 – Bulletin Boards, First MUD 1985 The WELL goes on-line 1989 AOL 100,000 subscribers 1991 World Wide Web Protocols 1990s IP-based Video Conferencing 1995 Webex Founded 1997 Ultima On-Line 1997 AOL Instant Messenger 1998 AOL 14 million subscribers

Slide 5: After 2000, The Pace Has Increased… Source: http://valleywag.com/tech/twitter/a-history-of-blogging-254828.php

Slide 6: Multi-Player Gaming Explodes Virtual Worlds Gain Broad Attention • 1999 Everquest • 2002 Sims On-Line • 2003 Star Wars, Second Life, There • 2004 World of Warcraft (WOW) • 2007 Lord of the Rings On-Line A New Multi-Player Demographic Emerges – Club Penguin, Habbo, WebKinz, Gaia

Slide 7: 2008 Enter The Primordial Soup of World Building Platforms • MultiVerse • Ogoglio “IB M c o o ks u p • OpenCroquet in te rn a l virtu a l • Project Wonderland wo rld for • OpenSim c on fid e n tia lity, • Linden Lab? s e c u rity” –ZDNe t De c 2007 Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=7382

Slide 8: The Internet ARPANET was becoming a human communication medium with very important advantages over normal U.S. mail and over telephone calls. 1978

Slide 9: You can quote me… “Virtu a l wo rld s a re th e n e xt wa ve in h u m a n c o m m un ic a tio n te c h n olo g y a llowin g u s to wo rk a n d p la y to g e th e r wh ile b e ing g e og ra p h ic a lly d is ta n t.” –B ria n A. Wh ite

Slide 10: What Makes Virtual Worlds Different? 1. 3D Space vs. 2D Surface 2. Avatars (Immersion & Augmentation) 3. Multi-User Interaction 4. Economies 5. User Created Content

Slide 11: Avatars and Immersion "If we we re m e e tin g in Second L or World of ife Warcraft to c h a t, we wo u ld b o th h a ve th e s e n s e o f b e ing in th e s a m e p la c e o ve rla id on ou r s e ns e o f ph ys ic a l lo c a tion , Th e e xpe rie n c e e nc o de s in to ou r m e m orie s a s if we we re in th e s a m e p la c e .“ - Da nie l La ug h lin, le a rning te c h nolog ie s proje c t m a na g e r a t NAS A's G odda rd S pa ce F lig h t C e n te r Source: www.houseofnyla.com

Slide 12: "We wa nt to h e lp our re mote e xplore rs 'ph one h ome ' in a wa y th a t le ts th e m s it a round a dinne r ta ble with th e ir fa mily, h e lp th e ir c h ildre n with h ome work a nd a na lyz e th e la te s t finding s with th e ir E a rth -bound pe e rs ," - J e a nne Holm , c h ie f knowle dg e a rc h ite c t a t NAS A's J e t P ropuls ion La b ora tory. Courtesy of NASA http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/nasa_virtual_worlds

Slide 13: Brian’s Slightly Stolen Trends for 2008 • Massive Growth – # of worlds, # of users, # of companies • Industry Asked to Prove the Value – Evangelize and prove the ROI to businesses other than gaming • Prepare for Mainstreaming, Consolidation, and Government Scrutiny “With in five ye a rs , th e 3-D Inte rne t will b e a s im porta nt for work a s th e We b is toda y.” – F o rre s te r fro m “G e ttin g R e a l Wo rk Do n e in Virtua l World s ” Source: Virtual Worlds Management Industry Forecast 2008

Slide 14: Are Virtual Worlds Important to You? Then what are you going to do about it?

Slide 15: Additional Reading… • Tech Digest - 20 trends defining virtual worlds in 2007 – http://techdigest.tv/2007/10/20_trends_defin.html • TerraNova – Top 10 MMOG Trends? – http://techdigest.tv/2007/10/20_trends_defin.html • Virtual Worlds Management Forecast 2008 – http://www.virtualworldsmanagement.com/forecast2008/i ndex.html