Discussing innovative solutions to connect the emerging virtual worlds with the existing information superhighway. We are here to talk about bridging the divide between the user and all virtual environments.
As broadband access and greater computing power continues to become more common place, it is easy to predict that the Internet will continue its trend towards richer media content. In the spirit of Web 2.0 we could also say that much of this content will be user created. Taking into account these facts, it is not unreasonable to think that constructs such as Second Life, defined by its Linden Lab creators as a “3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents”, are the first taste of a more immersive Socialverse Appweb. Second Life itself has many of the key elements in place for this transition to take place; straightforward commerce system (you could even solve the larger micro-payment problem with Linden Dollars), relatively easy to use GUI for 3-D object creation, and an evolving scripting language.
The key element that has been missing is the seamless interaction with the existing 2-D architecture of the World Wide Web. The Lindens themselves are aware of this problem, and making great strides to overcome this obstacle. Once the functionality and power of this greater access is realized, once you can shop as easily in Second Life for products that you might browse on Amazon or EBay, the real difference in potential can be appreciated. Items for sale, especially those with interesting dimensions or functionality, can be more completely modeled in a 3-D environment. The interaction and ‘feel’ of the Socialverse merchandise can hashed out in ways that even streaming video can not accomplish. Of course, nothing is going to replace the human perception experienced when actually test driving a new car or the smell of the flowers you might be ordering, but the sensory experience can be enhanced beyond its current status. And if the overhead to learning this new environment is low, and you can still do everything that you did before, the change over cost to the general consumer is insignificant compared to the improved results.
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