Mobile Second Life? Dial me in

Mobile game vendor, Vollee, says you can access your Second Life from your 3G-enabled mobile device. Of course, this kind of activity has long been anticipated and others are viewing this with anticipation of a different sort: the first hint of that bridge between mobile devices and the most popular virtual worlds: MMOs. Given that many children seem to be umbilically attached to their cell phones and gaming, the pairing seems both logical and explosive, ushering virtual world use into more mainstream adoption for that age set and beyond.

Mobile devices have already overtaken PCs in some areas of the world as the platform of preference, and in terms of gaming, are projected to overtake consoles. It seems quite likely that they will be the nearly universal working and communication platform of preference in the not too distant future, if use trends in Asia, as they often do, continue to project themselves around the world, and if more useful and entertaining applications continue to migrate or be developed for mobile sets.

If you are interested in partaking of a more mobile Second Life, sign up for the Vollee Second Life beta, which will commence in May. There are some qualifications for equipment (promise of a supported list forthcoming) and reminders to check your billing plan to make sure it can support this kind of heavy media use without breaking your purse/wallet.

Aside: it occurs to me that the phrase "dial me in" is both dated and dating; it is either destined for obsolescence, or its literal meaning will get lost in time (like the horrible "rule of thumb"). I bought a refurbished (same outside, newer insides) 1930's phone for the home office. It works with modern phone systems just fine. It is quite angular in parts, intentionally functional, and the hefty solid weight of its handset and the cloth covering on the cord mark it as something not quite right with this time. In fact, the tinny voice you hear and project make it seem as if you're talking to or from the past. Though not obvious at first glance, you also soon realize that this is something that has seen a lot of use. Its black surface is spotlessly clean but dull, a few tiny but tell-tale chips and scratches found here and there. I imagine all the lives and passions that have spoken through that same handset while I'm holding it. Many of those voices were long gone to dust before I was even born. And yet here is that same handset, that same dial, bridging the years between us. If there was ever to be found a "ghost in the machine," this would be the one. Speaking of that dial, it used to be when people asked to "use the phone," it was only obvious and most courteous that they be given an accessible and mostly private room to use: the office. But then there would be that dial. It is not like the dial even accustomed dial users once knew. Not easy nor gently gliding, this dial is only for the serious caller. It takes a firm hand and resolution to see the number all the way through on its journey to the finger stop. But in recent years, everyone has a cell phone and no one asks to use the phone. So though people still step into the office for some privacy, requests for help have fallen off. I still get called in on occasion. I'll step inside to find someone sitting down, finger pointed at my desk. "Is that a phone?"

Virtual Worlds Conf. - San Jose, 2007: Day 1 Keynote

General impressions

a) It was a lot smaller than I'd expected from other conferences I'd been to, though apparently larger than its predecessor in New York City. This was noted in the keynote intro by the event organizer, Chris Sherman. I suppose intimate is the word, though I would not say it was quite that either. It was a good showing, more so for the extensive spread of representation than in sheer numbers (1000). I'm guessing this is more a factor of the nascent state of this new industry.

b) Linden Lab had a surprisingly understated presence, though they were a sponsor and Lindens were sprinkled about. Philip Rosedale ghosted out of a couple of sessions I sat in, noted only, since I was intent on the panels, by his name being called out - at one point to come back and comment - which he did not. IBM was perceived as a dominant force in numbers, made note of in off-hand comments by some panelists. I got the distinct impression that the announcement of collaboration between IBM and Linden Lab which, though I take it is more of a formalization of efforts already underway and statement of agreement on principals to move forward, seemed to strike a chord of unease in some. This was alluded to some in the last session of day 2 that I attended, in which a frank and refreshingly candid employee of Linden Lab did help panel and answer some concerns in that capacity.

And just to digress, since I'm on the subject, that commonality and standards were not only a mantra of sorts by many panelists and in the second day's keynote, it was also an agreed upon principal in informal conversations I was party to. Apparently not everyone agreed to this though as it was reported by one of the panelists on day 2 that Disney (perhaps they missed their invitation to day 0) had stated though they were committed to avatar portability between their own virtual worlds, had no intention of making it possible to export avatars outside of the Disney realms - such it was stated.

c) MacBooks abounded, both in the audience and on the panels, sometimes it seemed to being the majority. One of the panelists even commented about their ubiquitousness.


Buzz generators

present - Web-based clients for existing virtual worlds. Unlike AjaxLife, Movable Life, a Second Life web client out of Japan was announced and is ready for action (more on forthcoming changes for this product in the day 2 post). (Side note: I notice that on topic, InDuality, a multi-capable functional plug-in based web browser extension (whew!), was reported in the VWN on this day, providing more growth potential for the already attractive Blink3D). It proposes to ship with features already enabled that are only forthcoming in Movable Life).

not present but accounted for (and mentioned often with anticipation) - Metaplace


Day 0

The session I really would have liked to have been a fly-on-the-wall for had already taken place the day before, an invitation-only event by select attendees: namely, representatives from many major virtual world players conveniently in proximity due to the conference. Buzz: it was about open standards and commonality. Only those there would know for sure, but given that statements to such were forthcoming afterwards, seems a safe bet. It's great that such discussions are taking place at venues like this because, with as yet there being no standards organization of pedigree that has taken on virtual worlds' as yet, such talks at least challenge companies to shape their products with a future-cast, sowing seeds that might grow the theoretical musings of today into the tangible product harvests of tomorrow.


Welcome, intro, and keynote

Sibley Verbeck, CEO of Electric Sheep, was introduced and gave a very informative talk about the shaping virtual environment, stating that even though virtual world offerings were growing, principally in the young child, tween and teen spaces - noting MTV Virtual Worlds as a breakout success due to its successful exploitation of brand focus - future competition was bound to be brutal with at least 40 such products vying for attention in a year's time, not all of them ultimately to succeed in such a competitive environment.

Two things were significantly lacking, according to Verbeck: progress in the adult space, hence a lack of mass adoption to the scale of children's virtual worlds; real integration of the virtual space with the even more successful Social Web and the need to find a way to integrate social virtual interaction concurrently with existing Web 2.0 facilities.

I'll digress again at this point to mention that this theme of Social Web and Virtual Worlds being intertwined and mutually accessible in the same viewer came up a lot later on during the conference in many forms: detraction (as in it was a silly notion), evolution (as in virtual worlds would grow out of Social Web spaces and such would all transform themselves over time), and absorption (Activeworlds was showcasing Facebook interfaced and captured inside of their product). So obviously Mr V. had touched upon something already on the minds of many.

Franky, and I'll save this for a later post, why Linden Lab, Activeworlds, etc just don't build their world viewers so that they all have a tabbed Mozilla browser in a separate accessible window is beyond me. It would make their spaces so much more attractive and useful for the here and now.

At this point, CSI creator, Anthony Zuiker, came out and turned out to be a very engaging speaker, talking about his background, the genesis of CSI, and little more quickly how he came to be involved with Second Life and virtual worlds. He then went on to detail the ambitious plans for the space being built in Second Life to not only host the interlinked CSI: NY television/Second Life event, but to keep alive that space with more fresh content to engage Second Life users. (And he and a helper tossed out some candies - about sixty pounds or so - to the audience). We were treated to a video preview of the CSI episode event, its conclusion in the next season to be directly influenced by activities taking place within the Second Life space being built by Electric Sheep.

So Zuiker essentially echoed Verbeck's theme of interconnecting media, this time television and virtual worlds, and underscoring Verbeck's highlighting MTV World's brand-focused achievements with a brand-focused effort, this time in Second Life - with the understandable point that this is where they see a potential for soon-to-be realized success in virtual worlds.


First break

Well, I didn't get very far in my vendor perusals first break. I suppose being the first, the crush was bound to be a bit thick as this was everyone's first crack at the showcased offers. I think I was a bit distracted though in my first stop, the co-joined There.com and MTV space. There.com's representative wanted to point out that their review of user-generated content before it was uploaded created a safer space for users and as well protected brands. Now, I'd heard about this before and frankly, I think it a bad idea that cannot scale well. Either a log jam is created by reviewers who cannot keep up with the pace if popularity swells (which, by the way was projected for There.com in one of the sessions I attended that day - so we just might see if I'm correct) - or if they grow the review staff, either these people have to be trained, which takes time - or if rushed into service too soon in order to alleviate frustrated users, are prone to make mistakes or errors. This either puts brands at risk or angers users through mistakes or perceived unfair rejections. I pointed these factors out to the attendant but she was insistent that There.com could quickly put people in place to forestall any review backlog in case of growth and at the same time, have absolutely no risk to brands due to the increased flow of user-generated content.

But in defense of There.com against my own druthers, they are trying to adhere to the community rules that they have set forth very openly from the onset, very much in keeping with community management principals as discussed in a later session. And they've been doing this successfully long before I or Second Life or anyone came into virtual understanding. They feel, and could very well be correct, that community itself is one of the attraction points to a virtual space and a vendor that pays attention to the values of that community will see some traction ROI.

In any case, I still think such a scheme creates a lot of overhead and has its own risks; it just seems a bad idea because it hampers user contribution by placing a choke-hold on creativity and user input; it puts the onus of censorship and all the ill will that it generates on the vendor company. Censorship and regulation are the province of governments and the community. Companies can help foster and set the foundations for virtual community and help to enforce laws as put forth, but trying themselves to be the content police on their own is just asking for trouble, from both sides. And, this next was brought up by others as well in sessions, the better idea is to enable user creation - ala Second Life, ala Google Earth, ala YouTube, ala Neverwinter Nights - because there are so many users out there, some of them more talented and creative than you or I, or anyone There.com can hire - who will do a company's development for free if you let them. I think that just convinces me that There.com is more comfortable being in the walled garden space, but we'll see.

Anyway, MTV's Laguna Beach looked good, as did There.com. And both seemed active and populated. I thanked the representative and moved on to the Icarus Studios' station, which was understandably swamped. Icarus Studios' suite is a very handsome and seemingly robust set of tools for MMOG and virtual world creation. If you're looking for a full suite of tools to start creating your own MMO or virtual world, this wouldn't be a bad place to start as the output was decidedly very sweet. They also offer creation services. I was not able to actually talk to anyone though that could provide me any information as they were all somewhat busy talking to others. I did talk a bit with a developer but he was distracted trying to debug something (don't you hate when that happens to you in public?) as well as find out why and who had deleted or removed his character from the world. I caught some smiles and a sigh of relief as I headed for my next session so I took it as a good sign that all was well again in Icarus Studios' world.