Using SecondLife for “business process rehearsal” can avert expensive mistakes and reveal costs savings
What is Second Life?
Second Life (SL) is a privately owned, partly subscription-based 3-D virtual world made publicly available in 2003 by San Francisco-based Linden Lab.
Its website is:
http://www.secondlife.com/
The SL "world" resides in a large array of servers that are owned and maintained by Linden Lab, known collectively as "the grid".
The SL client program provides its users (referred to as Residents) with tools to view and modify the SL world and participate in its virtual economy, which concurrently has begun to operate as a "real" market.
On October 18, 2006 the number of registered accounts in SL hit 1 million Residents.
Eight weeks later, on December 14, 2006 this number had doubled to 2 million residents.
So … what exactly IS Second Life?
SL is one of several virtual worlds that have been inspired by the science fiction novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephson.
The stated goal of Linden Lab is to create a world like the Metaverse described in the novel, a user-defined world of general use in which people can interact, play, do business, and otherwise communicate.
And who inhabits Second Life?
Residents are the users of SL, and their appearance is their avatar.
A person may have multiple accounts, and thus be multiple Residents, and a single Resident may have multiple avatars. All scripts and 3D content are created by Residents using nothing but the client, and even though animations, textures and sounds have to be created outside the client, every experience in SL is entirely user-created.
Still sounds like a computer game to me … how do you make money out of this and why would a company be involved?
Companies such as IBM, Nissan, General Motors, Toyota and Intel are using SL to promote their brands and experiment with business processes.
Reuters has a dedicated SL correspondent:
http://secondlife.reuters.com/
IBM recently noted in a Financial Times article:
IBM is using the islands (locations within SL) to test new forms of internal communication, new applications and business models and services that it might provide to companies setting up in SL.
IBM noted “it is a continuation of our business … we have everything from business meetings with customers and conferences to training sessions and a ‘sandbox’ island where people can work out the bugs on a translation tool.”
IBM also uses SL for ‘business process rehearsal’ as it can avert expensive mistakes or reveal costs savings in the real world.
There is an exchange mechanism for Linden dollars (the currency in SL) where a Resident can convert Linden dollars earned in SL to real dollars.
So how can you use it as a business process rehearsal tool?
Airline companies are starting to use SL to look at the process of turning a plane around in 18 minutes.
What is Second Life?
Second Life (SL) is a privately owned, partly subscription-based 3-D virtual world made publicly available in 2003 by San Francisco-based Linden Lab.
Its website is:
http://www.secondlife.com/
The SL "world" resides in a large array of servers that are owned and maintained by Linden Lab, known collectively as "the grid".
The SL client program provides its users (referred to as Residents) with tools to view and modify the SL world and participate in its virtual economy, which concurrently has begun to operate as a "real" market.
On October 18, 2006 the number of registered accounts in SL hit 1 million Residents.
Eight weeks later, on December 14, 2006 this number had doubled to 2 million residents.
So … what exactly IS Second Life?
SL is one of several virtual worlds that have been inspired by the science fiction novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephson.
The stated goal of Linden Lab is to create a world like the Metaverse described in the novel, a user-defined world of general use in which people can interact, play, do business, and otherwise communicate.
And who inhabits Second Life?
Residents are the users of SL, and their appearance is their avatar.
A person may have multiple accounts, and thus be multiple Residents, and a single Resident may have multiple avatars. All scripts and 3D content are created by Residents using nothing but the client, and even though animations, textures and sounds have to be created outside the client, every experience in SL is entirely user-created.
Still sounds like a computer game to me … how do you make money out of this and why would a company be involved?
Companies such as IBM, Nissan, General Motors, Toyota and Intel are using SL to promote their brands and experiment with business processes.
Reuters has a dedicated SL correspondent:
http://secondlife.reuters.com/
IBM recently noted in a Financial Times article:
IBM is using the islands (locations within SL) to test new forms of internal communication, new applications and business models and services that it might provide to companies setting up in SL.
IBM noted “it is a continuation of our business … we have everything from business meetings with customers and conferences to training sessions and a ‘sandbox’ island where people can work out the bugs on a translation tool.”
IBM also uses SL for ‘business process rehearsal’ as it can avert expensive mistakes or reveal costs savings in the real world.
There is an exchange mechanism for Linden dollars (the currency in SL) where a Resident can convert Linden dollars earned in SL to real dollars.
So how can you use it as a business process rehearsal tool?
Airline companies are starting to use SL to look at the process of turning a plane around in 18 minutes.
The Californian health department has created a simulation that trains staff in how to set up emergency medical clinics in the event of a biological warfare attack.
IBM hosted an alumni function in mid October and the following link provides a good summary of where SL can be used as a collaborative tool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8ysaVdLsyE
IBM hosted an alumni function in mid October and the following link provides a good summary of where SL can be used as a collaborative tool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8ysaVdLsyE
So how can companies make money out of this?
In addition to being an excellent resource for business process exploration and rehearsal, a strong focus of SL is marketing.
A good example can be found in the online mobile phone retailer, YouNeverCall, which has ventured into a new dimension of cell phones - the virtual one.
The resident-owned Second Life population can now get a virtual - and functional - cell phone, for free.
The resident-owned Second Life population can now get a virtual - and functional - cell phone, for free.
"At YouNeverCall, we have decided to venture beyond our traditional customer base," states Sam Michelson, CEO of YouNeverCall, "and Second Life offers us more than a 1.5 million potential new customers. The virtual cell phones we are offering on Second Life are more than just a fun accessory. The cell phones let Second Life residents send and receive text messages, as well as hold the virtual phone to their ear. They ring like real cell phones and, best of all, require no special download. YouNeverCall's Second Life cell phones also offer valuable information like the exchange rate of the Linden dollar to US dollar, and actual US stock quotes."
The YouNeverCall cell phones are an accessory that allow for real communication with others in the virtual world, and are powered by the real YouNeverCall network.
