Sure there are a number of stories that hit the media sphere each week regarding virtual worlds, but admittedly some of the buzz around virtual worlds has faded into the background lately. While more virtual world development is being created, the most noise around the virtual worlds sector lately seems to be Metaplace shutting down, real identity names being utilized in Second Life and all of the market predictions for the new year. Many virtual world evangelists are venturing down a new path in naming conventions for virtual worlds such as: immersive 3D, 3D virtual worlds, virtual immersive environments (VIEs), virtual learning/ training environment, enterprise immersive software, collaborative environments, and the list goes on… Could this perhaps be a sign of where the virtual world buzz has gone? More specifically more press is given to virtual worlds targeted at kids/ teens/ tweens rather than the enterprise targeted vw’s. The virtual world universe is quite diverse and I see many more virtual world applications to come in the near future all targeting a variety of user demographics. Although the barriers continue to fall…the broad picture of virtual worlds remain while within this structure change is taking place. Should we still call virtual worlds an emerging technology, or rather switch it to a technology that is here to stay?

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Virtual worlds for enterprise and corporate use, or as 3DTLC terms it “virtual corporate.” Is widespread enterprise adoption right around the corner for enterprise adoption of virtual worlds? My belief is that with continued tight budgets training managers will look more and more to cost effective and innovative solutions to solve training department needs. This is where 3-D virtual world based applications will continue to shine. They are cost effective (especially when compared to traditional training method offerings) and also offer a low build time from concept to implementation. And moreover, the new generation audience demands new and better training via advanced learning methodologies and technologies. CBT just doesn’t cut it anymore!

Some say to just login to Second Life and go explore the possibilities for corporate use. I disagree- it’s kind of like sending a SWAT team into a crisis situation with armed bad guys and not provisioning the SWAT team with weapons. For virtual world ‘newbie’s’ the answer is not to blindly send them into Second Life so they may aimlessly wander around for an hour, exit the application, and thus never to return nor give training in virtual worlds a second thought. I would rather place a virtual world ‘newbie,’ if you will, into a intelligently controlled virtual world environment rich in decisions and interaction with non-player characters (NPCs). This will wow the newcomer- to witness firsthand real life applications and context in a virtual world. Once experienced, a believer is made.

Many enterprise/corporate based virtual world solution providers are entering the market today, although some do have some innovative offerings- not all are created equal. There is a recent buzz around Linden Lab’s Nebraska introduction (oh I mean Second Life Enterprise)…the platform is said to support the enterprise customer. What this will actually mean… who knows as Second Life content as it stands now is all user-created. So while a company may be able to enter ‘Second Life Enterprise’ and utilize it as a virtual world for work I doubt it will be a one-size fits all 3-D training and learning environment that will satisfy all enterprise and corporation needs. One must realize that each organization’s training needs are diverse and unique, by simply creating a behind-the-firewall solution and allowing work to be done in a virtual world I cannot say that is enough to sway enterprise perspectives of what they have seen in the past from Second Life- but maybe Second Life Enterprise will prove the naysayers wrong. With the increasing success of virtual events why not virtual worlds for training as the next logical step?

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I was excited to finally receive the much anticipated Blue Mars beta registration notification in my email inbox. Not only had I heard a lot about it, I had watched the YouTube teasers, and anxiously awaited my call to test it out. So I began by completing my registration- It was like opening a Christmas present- you have been staring at the beautifully wrapped box under the Christmas tree for weeks and now you finally get to rip the bow and peel the paper off to find the present inside. Well, that was until I began downloading the app. and saw the projected 3 hour, 41 minute download time which had me a little concerned….and yes, it did nearly eat up all of that time.

Finally downloaded, my avatar and I enter Blue Mars for the first time- I spend a little time trying to customize my avatar. Finally settling for the generic tall, slender, younger looking female (Hey I can even put on cosmetics or add a beard… not sure how the whole beard thing would look). Although the avatars seem a little limited- they are in fact very realistic. My avatar enters Blue Mars and I immediately feel like I am modeling on a catwalk and I just saw another avatar that has the same exact look as I do (except for different hair color). Somehow my avatar does a little pose and has a seductive model walk- my computer then becomes bogged down enough that I can’t even open a small Word document. I am standing on top of water, other avatars are running into me, and the navigation doesn’t come to me as intuitively as expected.

Ok- so where is the instruction manual? Come to find out W, A, S, and D are the keys to move around or you can click with the mouse and your avatar will move- oh so many options!
So once getting the navigation pinned down a little bit better (I finally resorted to reviewing the tutorial something I probably should have done in the first place); I proceed to the Royal Aloha Golf Club- once there I decide to play 1 hole (which probably took longer than it takes most people to play 3 holes real life). Ok enough golf- let’s go explore some more.

I then opt to enter ‘Beach City’ of which I am very impressed with the overall graphic quality. I begin to explore some more, walking over to a water-like feature and then all of the sudden I am in the middle of the dance party-maybe these are the intelligent NPC’s that Blue Mars touts as one of the features?! Hum, not sure. But they’re not looking so intelligent dancing around in their short shorts and leopard print mini-skirts.

To me Blue Mars is an eye candy type of virtual world. Guess it may be time to begin creating things in Blue Mars- since that is the professed main appeal of the VW. So the jury is still out- will Blue Mars be the next big thing next to Second Life? Do I dare address a comparison and contrast model of Second Life to Blue Mars… I don’t think I will go there this time around. Some potential for corporate use? Maybe, I guess time will tell. I realize that Blue Mars is only currently in Public Beta and I believe that it could have big potential down the line if the technical cards are played right.

So after all of my rambling you may ask what is Blue Mars? “Blue Mars is a free to play massively multiplayer virtual world featuring stunning graphics, realistic characters, and endless social bonding activities. The Blue Mars virtual world is made up of an expanding set of independently operated cities that feature unique themes, activities, and attractions such as shopping, avatar customization, unique personal spaces, and games like dancing, racing, and golf. Cites on Blue Mars are tied together with a unified login system, persistent global Avatar ID, and platform wide participation based reward system that encourages users to explore, play, and make new friends.”

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