Businesses experimenting with virtual worlds
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(InfoWorld) - Although virtual environments are still at an early stage in development and adoption, many companies are already dabbling in one or more virtual worlds or closely observing them prior to getting their feet wet. Businesses that may have been slow to embrace the Internet are keen this time around to actively engage with the technology before it becomes mainstream. "'I don't get it, but I know I should get it,'" is what businesses tend to tell Sandra Kearney, global director, emerging 3D Internet at IBM, when she asks them about virtual worlds. "They say, 'I missed the Internet; I don't want to miss this too,' " she said during a panel discussion to debate virtual worlds and their business value at a joint IBM and MIT Media Labs conference held Friday. Auto maker Toyota is already using virtual worlds as a way to get preteens and teenagers interested in its Scion entry-level car brand, which is targeted at younger buyers. "We've made a fairly significant six-figure investment in virtual communities across different worlds," said Adrian Si, interactive marketing manager for Scion at Toyota. For instance, Toyota is the exclusive supplier of virtual Scion cars in Numedeon's Whyville educational virtual world for children aged 8 to 15 and provides them with information about car financing. Tweens are already thinking about what car they might buy, and Toyota hopes that giving them a positive experience with its cars in virtual worlds might translate into them or their parents buying vehicles from the vendor down the road. Good buzz about a product can go a long way, Si believes. Only a few years old, Toyota's Scion brand is one with which the company can afford to take risks that the auto maker couldn't with its other much more established brands, Si said. Toyota got interested in virtual worlds at the same time that the companies behind such communities were coming to the auto maker to see if it was interested in funding them. As well as Whyville, Toyota is promoting its Scion brand in Linden Research's Second Life and is about to do the same in Gaia Interactive's Gaia Online teen virtual world. PepsiCoÂ has yet to experiment with virtual worlds, but is keeping an eye on the space. "We're intrigued by it and are actively monitoring it," said Julius Akinyemi, director of emerging technologies at the beverage and snack vendor. Like Toyota, PepsiCo is particularly attracted by how much input users have in creating their virtual environments and the ability to directly interface with and influence those individuals. One area where PepsiCo thinks it might look to engage with the residents of virtual worlds is in soliciting their input on new products, according to Akinyemi. The vendor would hope to do more codevelopment of new beverages and snacks as well as create quick marketing buzz on new offerings, he said. There need to be more tools available in virtual worlds to make such development and marketing efforts easier, Akinyemi noted, along with a general move to simplify the process for anyone to enter any virtual environment. Building bridges between the real world and virtual environments will become increasingly important in guaranteeing a successful virtual presence for a company, IBM's Kearney said. She pointed to what the Ganz gift company has done with its popular Webkinz plush toys. Children who own one of the toys receive a code to enter the Webkinz virtual world where they can play with a virtual version of the real-world toy.
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Titled 'The Entrepreneurs Guide to Second Life,' the book is a how-to guide to building a profitable business in the popular virtual world.
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It's a virtual bag of tricks and treats as online games and virtual worlds serve up seasonal fun.
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Blog: Virtual worlds, or the 3D Internet, appeal to early adopters of games. Getting more people to come will require more applications, experts say.
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Digital technology changes from workhorse to entertainer.
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Want a window into so-called telemetric manufacturing methods of the future? Performance artists at the Sundance Film Festival created a virtual sweatshop in Second Life that makes real jeans. Is it art for money or money for art?.
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3D Connexion introduces a new peripheral that helps users navigate virtual 3D spaces.
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The company's move into the virtual reality of "Second Life" is an innovative one.
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San Francisco-based company Second Life has opened up its virtual world to the mobile phone, and is looking for interested beta testers to put the application through its paces.
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By RACHEL KONRAD SAN FRANCISCO - IBM Corp. is launching an ambitious marketing campaign in the hip virtual world &quot;Second Life.&quot;Big Blue has developed 12 &quot;virtual islands,&quot; and most will be open to anyone with a Second Life account starting next week.
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Despite the recent failure of a Second Life-based virtual bank, financial experiments continue in the popular virtual world. The latest: A Singapore-based credit card you can use within Second Life.
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As big companies spread their brands to Web-based social networking communities, some employers are also exploring Multi-User Virtual Environments, or MUVEs.
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Sony has unveiled plans for its own virtual universe for the PlayStation 3 where users will be able to socialise, shop and even go to the movies -- all without setting foot outside in the real world.
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Researchers show how objects with multimedia attributes within Second Life can unleash malware on unsuspecting users.
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Researchers have found a way to induce  out-of-body experiences using virtual-reality goggles, helping  to explain a phenomenon reported by about one in 10 people.