What follows began as a private post about half as long written way back in November in response to a tweet regarding second life. (I find more and more I post private soliciting specific points of view to discuss and build knowledge – more on that later). My interview with KFOR (Oklahoma City) a few weeks ago generated some additional discussion regarding second life and virtual reality and I made a pretty bold statement, “this is the future of education” and I would argue much of everything else so I thought I would finally come clean regarding my thoughts. The information below is still incomplete but every time I work on this post I get distracted by the research, finding new, thinking through the implications to business, marketers (its actually a good thing, there is space for advertising), PR, general communications, education, society, etc. For me it really boggles the mind. Truth be known this post won’t ever be finished so I might as well hit the submit button – done.
Virtual Reality (specifically Second life but we should also include IMVU and really any virtual reality site/application) has crossed my radar more than once with legit value and realistic/purposeful uses to all involved. I’m not talking promotional social media (i.e. twitter, etc.) but true value for both ends of an interaction/transaction. My statements that this is the future is based on a variety of resources including Gartner and KZERO (which reports there are almost 580 million virtual reality users in the world and the numbers are growing rapidly – almost 40% in 2009) but to me it just simply seems intuitive to current evolution of technology and our culture. Yep, Second Life has been around a while much like many of the social applications we have had at our disposal for the last ten years but what makes it unique is it is still here and continues to grow in size unlike other platforms or methods which have leveled out or declined in users.
I would agree that second life was a bit early to the game but with many of the tech breakthroughs and improvements and cultural shifts there seems to be an acceptance of virtual worlds (during some recent interviews with prospective employees two separate candidates mentioned they like to play World of Warcraft as a hobby and, hey, if Mr. T can be a spokesperson…) and I believe now (or sometime near now) is the time we will see large scale uses of VR.
Random thoughts in no particular order:
Do you really think the future is all about text based social tools? Personally I would love it if I could stop typing! Youtube and other video providers continue to grow (I personally plan to use more video in 2010) and Google is experimenting with 3d video and just shared some amazing augmented reality tools and augmented-reality mapping technology from Microsoft was shared during the recent TED event.
New tech isn’t so new anymore – We are seeing breakthroughs in 3d browsing and Google (once again) is experimenting with 3d browsers and others are creating browser overlays which allow for 3d walkthroughs on websites even if they aren’t set up as a 3d site (I took a walk through OKState.edu a while back and can assure you it was actually more enjoyable than traditional browsing), etc.
Current uses - Holographic technology is currently being used in the medical profession and, wait for it…, Disney. Yep, they are creating virtual reality theme parks, “5 floors of cutting-edge technology, virtual reality and 3D encounters fueled by Disney innovation and imagination.” By the way, do you remember the professor who gave, “the last lecture“? He was a prof at Carnigie Mellon (visit the Human-Computer Interaction Inst) and this was his area of expertise which he writes about it in his book. You might also want to check out Metaio which is doing some cool stuff mixing virtual, augmented and real life. By the way, they have their eyes set on android technology – hmmm.
A report estimate there are more than 1,400 US companies (including IBM and our Federal Government to name a few) which are using second life for collaborative meetings. Ebay, Gap, Barns and Noble, Amazon, etc. are currently experimenting with 3D/virtual shopping, etc. which you can use right now if you download the software.
But it won’t work on cell phones - Augmented reality applications are hitting the iPhone and Andriod (for all you who argued no future in vr because you couldn’t integrate into phone… ahem) as well as the integration of voice translations to different language (again, visit Carnigie Mellon for this one) so speaking a different language in a virtual reality which uses your phone as the portal isn’t a problem. Theoretically I can engage in conversation with someone from anywhere in the world who speaks any language.
Other misc thoughts - Avatar – need I say more? Okay, I will. Movies often are predictive of culture shift
Harvard, Yale, MIT, more than 300 other universities including Oklahoma State University. Heck, even grade schools are using virtual reality to teach. Personally, I’m teaching part of my JB4520 social media class in Second Life this semester and the students are pumped about it.
Tech is better and more realistic/life like (think video games three years ago and what we have available today) and offers a greater ability to physically engage online than ever before. To this I add, don’t think VR/SL today, think VR/SL in three years. I would love to meet many of you face to face and will admit VR/SL isn’t the norm for many and can feel a bit klunky at times… just like facebook and other social media tools weren’t our norm five years ago and were a bit klunky.
Studies show we can’t determine the difference between virtual reality. A group of young children visited a VR Seaworld and got to swim with the dolphins. A few weeks later they were asked if they had been doing any travel and they truly believed they had. The same is applicable to adults and the military is currently experimenting with VR to offset the effects of stress disorders. Studies have also been done on quitting smoking as well and were positive.
I will say it again – VR is the way future tech engagement. Not as it is now but as it will be then. Watching television with your family, wherever they live, walking around the set of your favorite show, while they are acting, visiting your the most amazing museums (like I have) without ever leaving your house. It’s on its way and you need to wrap your arms around this now.
I could go on but would like to turn it over to you guys. Tell me what you think, post links to other sites/information you have found. Let’s build some knowledge (also more on that topic later).
Links of interest: (will update as they are posted)
Okay, not really virtual but kinda 3d and I like the interface. http://search.spacetime.com/#/hl=en&n=0&q=bill%20handy%20osu&i=google_web