Second thoughts on Second Life - and perhaps a second chance

I've written about Second Life a few times now and remain intrigued by the concept - although I have to say that the experiences I've had in virtual world have not compelled me to spend much time there. Of course my experience is not reflective of the many thousands of folk who spend a great deal of time in there, and in a few cases, make a living while doing so. Much has been written about Second Life - and about the hype that has surrounded it - and it now seems that the mood is moving to one of sober reflection, as indicated by this article in on the LA Times website.

Unfortunately, with so much attention on Second Life itself, little has been written about the potential that it represents.

I've been banging on for some time about how the internet today is essentially 'broken' in terms of servicing many of our needs. I'll cite my own recent example in looking for a new health insurance provider. It seems the designers of website in this sector have made it near-impossible to determine what the products actually include, and downright impossible to do any form of comparisons. In most cases all I needed to make a decision was some simple answers - 'does it include XXX' - but of course on the web it's not so easy to ask a question like this. My course of action in the end was simply to call the providers that interested me, wait on hold as long as was required, and then ask the questions of a human being.

My view of the internet of the future is of one that melds the 3D immersive experience of Second Life into a truly responsive medium. Imagine how much easier things would be if you could simply 'walk' your avatar into a virtual shop front and then engage in a conversation with a representative of the company you are seeking information on. The representative could just as easily be a call centre worker or a software-based response system - tools such as MyCyberTwin are pointing the way to how these interactions might take place. You could simply ask your question, get the information you need, then move on to the next company that you wish to query.

Today's internet, of static pages and inaccurate and irrelevant search results, is essentially an unsatisfying experience in many ways. Some of us are willing to put up with it, but the basic failure of the web to provide a more useful experience for consumers will stop it becoming the universal communication tool that it can be.

And while I doubt that Second Life will be the answer, I'm pretty much convinced that Second Life represents only the leading edge of wave of virtual realms. Wait until Microsoft and Google get in on the act - or perhaps there'll be an open source project that springs up offering an open alternative. Whatever the case, there is much greater scope for the internet to not only mirror, but improve, the way that we are interacting today

Comments

[Nobody Fugazi]

Take a look at http://www.openmetaverse.org

Also - do we really, really want a software response system talking to customers in virtual worlds? The beauty of virtual worlds is that they can connect *people*. I'd want to talk to an automated piece of software as much as I want to be asked to press '1' if frustrated.

[Steven Noble]

I'm not so sure. Walking an avatar into a virtual building sounds like how I'd use the internet to place- and time-shift an experience that I intend to enjoy. With experiences I'm not likely to enjoy, like shopping for health insurance, I'd rather a bot trawled the semantic web and spoke to customer service reps on my behalf, gathering and returning usable information with as little guidance from me as possible.

[Scott Pettet]

I'm with you Brad. Virtual worlds such as SL hold no appeal for me and I suspect while ever they're referred to as 'games', or something that people 'play', their appeal will be more broadly limited.

I like Steven's thought on the bot. What would attract me is if that concept were further extended. For example, what if my SL avatar had a degree of AI? Simple, rules-based intelligence that enabled it to do things on my behalf.

Say I'm in a conference or seminar and hence out of the office and less productive than I might ordinarily be. What if my avatar could interact on my behalf in the real world? It could mash with my RSS and collect the news I'm interested in. Mash with my telco to log my calls and SMS (perhaps even respond?). Mash with my email to log and respond (even if only out of office message) incoming messages. And, as per Steven's comment, I could give it tasks to do.

When I get back to the office, my avatar gives me a hand over of what's happened in my absence, instead of me having to check numerous sources and pull things together myself.

During the virtual world round table at yesterday's FoM event, a colleague suggested we might see this sort of thing in five years. I'm thinking closer to 12 months.

Interesting times ahead.

[Simon Sharwood]

Someone said to me the other day that the only reason people complain about contact centres is they have forgotten how bad the retail experience is from services companies!
Recreating retail online, even 3d, therefore seems problematic to this little black duck ...

[CHRIS SIMON]

I have commented widely about SL and we have a meta-verse version of our Brackets Social Networking product ‘at the ready’, but I’m with you on having ‘two minds’ about SL, whilst always having been fascinated. But I also think all these virtual areas cross over to social networking and it seems that Australia is the only market left that has a bit of a different opinion about social technologies, according to what I’ve read in your’s and other features? Other than the ‘state of broadband’ in Australia definitely having always ‘been different’, it seems to be that you classify social networking just as a form of blogging, podcasting, citizen publishing or even public relations. It’s part of the fabric of human uploading and downloading society for goodness sake and an integral mass marketing and branding device! Social Networking is now a predominant activity for global internet and mobile users. One in five adults has visited a social networking portal and an equal 20% of regular internet and mobile users have visited a social networking site in the last 30 days. In South Korea, 30% of the country’s entire population has a profile account with one of the oldest social networking sites in the world!!!! The various ways users interact socially means it’s NOW MASS WORLD MARKET! Chat, txt, email, video, file sharing, forum, games and so on. I hope Australia’s ‘Digital Army’ catches on to this social phenomena thing as quickly as their digital counterparts and even network partners throughout the rest of the world?