Acid Crebiz and Samsung

While checking the Second Life map the other night I noticed 2 clusters of Samsung islands - 4 named "Samsung Matrix", and eight more simply called "Samsung". It was one of those frustrating nights when everything seemed to be shut - and these islands were no exception. However, I will tell you what I know.

My previous post touched on the work South Korean builders, Acid Crebiz, have done for LG CNS and while I was checking out the builders' website I noticed they had also listed Samsung in their portfolio. Unfortunately they have not yet posted any further information about the build, but I am fairly certain these islands are the result. The "Samsung Matrix" ones look particularly interesting in this map view:



Hopefully, if I ever manage to harmonise time zones with Acid Crebiz, I will be able to obtain more information on these sims. But for the meantime, the above "satellite map view" will have to suffice.

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While on a Korean theme, and also picked up by VeeJay at Mindblizzard , there is a large group of 20 sims called "sera korea." These are new and no building has taken place yet, but my money is them being connected with the Korean MBC TV drama Que Sera Sera. I would further hazard a wild guess that the builders will be Acid Crebiz.

LG CNS and SL

It can be an odd pasttime, rambling among the islands of Second Life. Some nights it seems you can get in everywhere, and you are left with a bewildering array of sites (sights?) to write about. Other nights it seems like almost everything is closed, and you are left with just a few scraps. Last night was one on those nights for me. After a lot of failed attempts, the closest I got to something worth bringing to your attention is this: LG CNS. The reason I am so downbeat about it is not the quality of the build but the fact that, even though I could access the island, I could not actually get in to the building illustrated below.

But first - a bit about the company. LG CNS, based in South Korea but now with a global presence, is an IT consulting and services company, affiliated to the giant LG Corporation. They have the largest market share in the Korean IT service market and employ around 7,300 people in Asia, Europe and the USA. Their presence in Second Life is being developed by the first (and as far as I know, only) Korean Second Life development company: Acid Crebiz.

The presence itself currently consists of a single, largely featureless sim, at the centre of which sits an office block. Although I could get to the sim, I was not able to enter the office block. However, it is possible to arrange visits, provided you make contact with Tory Noel. The block itself is OK, but nothing particularly stands out. It would be interesting to see inside, as I have been impressed with Acid Crebiz in the past - but that will have to wait for another day. Anyway, here's a few snaps to be going on with:

The Office in Second Life - An Update

I just received the following, from Kiwini Oe of Clear Ink, as a comment on my recent post about The Office in Second Life. Rather than leave it there, where few might stumble upon it, I thought I should post it so that more people get a chance to read it:

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." I don't know how many times in my marketing career I've been asked to conjure up a successful viral campaign on the spot. But, it's like trying to be cool: if you have to say you are, you probably aren't, and if you try to plan a viral success like you would an ad campaign, it probably won't happen. It's difficult to predict ahead of time when it will happen, but when it does, you'll find a good deal of preparation had something to do with it. You are right: we were happily surprised by the extent of the response to "The Office" in Second Life, but because of the preparation applied to this opportunity, the in-world response was what we had hoped for, and then some.

The producers of "The Office" entrusted us with authenticity and doing the right thing in Second Life, so we knew that a few things had to happen. First, Dwight and Jim would need last names off of the standard SL list, just like every other new resident. We could have requested custom names from Linden Lab to match the characters in the show, but those would not have been available to the "real" Dwight Schrute or Jim Halpert. The producers gave us this kind of creative control from the start. We knew that Dwight and Jim would need groups so that they could have their titles ("Asst to Regional Mgr", "Philly Sports Writer"). Dwight would need a profile that would accurately portray his perfect first life, and Jim, his idealized Second Life. The producers knew that authenticity would also come from locales in Second Life, so location scouting was a big part of what we did. The three sets that we built (out of the eight scenes that we shot) were based on a respectful and creative knowledge of "The Office" character and lore.

We knew that using real Second Life names meant that these avatars would not live forever in isolation from the Second Life community. As soon as NBC released publicity stills that showed "Dwight Shelford," the Second Life community had their first point of contact, and it never really stopped. Daily care was taken to preserve and protect the character and personality of Dwight's avatar in that balance between being an empty one-shot avatar and being an over-exposed puppet. We applied the same standards and treatment to the other avatars that were created to add depth to the in-world group. The profiles were detailed because we knew that experienced SL'ers would dig deeper once NBC began to publicize the upcoming episode. (We live in a world where people truly believe TV characters are real, and now given this second degree of separation from reality, we made it clear that these were avatars created for the show; it was not really Dwight Schrute--how could it be?--or the actor Rainn Wilson.) Yet with actual Second Life avatars, fans felt the right amount of connection.

The IM's and friendship requests received before the show gave us an indication of what the reaction might be on Thursday night, and they started pouring in even before the first commercial break. As members of the Second Life community, we knew that there had to be someplace in-world to go after the show. Avatar-fans of The Office were able to bring their real life enthusiasm for the show into a familiar virtual setting, which we provided on our "back lot".

We felt an obligation to be true to two very passionate communities: to the fan base of a popular TV show and to those who identify Second Life as their community. Our project was better informed as we felt a kinship with both communities and it is gratifying to be a catalyst for the overlap between the two. Much of the credit for the preparation and success of this goes to TROI Timtam, both for her attention to detail as well as for her (literally) careful approach to knowing and doing what had to be done.

On a closing note: although there are the inevitable comparisons between CSI:NY and "The Office" in SL, they were two very different endeavors. I know how hard we worked in a short period of time on "The Office" in SL. The scale of effort on CSI:NY, both on television and in-world, was a different order of magnitude, and the Electric Sheep are to be congratulated for their concept and execution of it. (I donned my Second Life Mentor title last Wednesday night to help in-world and to be part of that phenomenon.)

It will be up to the producers of "The Office" to decide if or how they want to proceed in Second Life. I don’t know where this is all going, but for now, it's great to be part of it.

Thanks, Kiwini, for what I found to be a fascinating insight.

San Francesco D'Assisi

After my giddy romp across the world of entertainment over the last week or so, it seemed a good point to seek out something gentler and more spiritually nourishing. I therefore took myself off to a monastery for some quiet contemplation. Well... it sounds good, but in truth a good friend suggested I should go along to see this: the virtual Basilica (and monastery) of San Franceso D'Assisi. The real world monastery, along with the lower and upper churches, date back to the first half of the 13th Century, and are decorated with frescoes by Cimabue and Giotto, parts of which were damaged in an earthquake in 1997, which also killed 4 unfortunates. A more complete description of this world heritage site, with some excellent photos, can be found here. Keep those photos in mind, as you might want to compare them with the ones below! The Second Life site for Assisi is supported by an informative website.

I don't want to dwell too long on this, so I will cut to the chase and let you get a good look first (don't forget - you can click on the images to get larger versions).

Outside (Note there is a visitors' guide HUD):


The Upper Church:




The Lower Church and Crypt:


On arrival this place doesn't look that impressive. There's a number of tourism-related websites and a large gateway, the other side of which lies the basilica and monastery (friary?) complex. You can pick up a HUD here, to provide you with a guided tour. As I passed through the gateway I thought that the external textures were OK, but tending to the bland side. I got no real sense of substance from them.

However, it is when you enter the basilica that it suddenly gets very interesting. You move from the relative blandness of the exterior stonework to the sumptuous, beautifully reproduced interior, with its frescoes, arches and stained glass windows. I hope the pictures above give at least some sense of this. If you click on the various frescoes notices appear, telling you a little about the paintings.

The richness and depth of the build continues downstairs, in the lower church and, below that, the Crypt of Saint Francis. I understand it is a faithful reproduction of the real world building, in all its complexity - and one heck of an achievement.

This is a really interesting build - and well worth the visit, if only to gawp at the many wonderful frescoes. Sure, it's even better visiting the real thing (it's 20 years since I was there) - but we can't all do that. So take the green, energy-efficient, low-emissions route, and visit Assisi in Second Life.

The Office - A Viral Approach to Second Life

Almost - but deliberately, not quite - slipping under the radar into Second Life this week was the hit US TV comedy: The Office. Based on the UK version, but reworked for an American (and indeed worldwide) audience, The Office purports to chart the fortunes of a small, struggling stationery company through the eyes of a fly-on-the-wall documentary team. Unlike most such remakes, this has been a critical success on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the latest episode, Local Ad, we discover that Dwight Schrute, the "Assistant to the Regional Manager", has an avatar in Second Life. Here is a link to YouTube, with a short clip - sadly a longer clip seems to have been removed. The NBC website makes only passing reference to Second Life in the episode description, and it is left to the viewer to discover more if he or she is sufficiently intrigued.

And this is where it starts to get really interesting. If you start digging you quickly find that the dalliance with Second Life goes far beyond a one minute slot in one episode. Dwight had already intimated that he had, in effect, replicated his first life in Second Life, so much so that he had even created an inworld game called Second Second Life. It turns out that all of this is "true." You can search for Dwight's avatar, Dwight Shelford, and check out his profile. You will find this is detailed and complete. For example he list his talents as "Avid traditional corn husk doll maker; beet sculpture; recorder player". A little more digging will reveal the avatar names for other members of the cast. However, to save you the virtual legwork, you can find all you need to know here, a fans' community journal.

This leads to another clue - the existence of a Dunder Mifflin Second Life group (our motto: Paper for a Paperless World), which you are free to join. Again, this is played deadpan - with little indication that this is anything other than a company group. If you check out the group notices, you will find reference to the after-show party - and crucially this is where I found the location of the virtual set. I won't spoil it for you by telling you where it is. If you are that interested you will find it yourself. As a taster, here's the pictures I took:



And some desktops:


When I joined the group, about 12 hours ago, there were 362 members. I have just checked, and this has now increased to 487. I know this is not meteoric, but you need to bear in mind that this is the effect of word of mouth - no advertising whatsoever. Furthermore, a lot of the folks I met at the Dunder Mifflin office and other locations, were newcomers trying out Second Life because of what they saw on the show.

The office itself is, I understand, a fairly faithful reproduction of the one in "real life." This is where things get even more subtle and ambivalent. Is this office the work of the fictional Dwight, and therefore itself a fictional virtual entity?? Or is it just a set, like any other except for being in a virtual world, used in the making of the TV show? The best I can come up with is: it is a bit like schrodinger's cat - existing as both a fiction and a tv stage until you actually look at it!

A note of encouragement for fans: in the "locations" notecard that I picked up it is clear the Second Life will feature in more episodes. And unlike another TV show in Second Life, there is no attempt to treat the Dunder Mifflin offices as some kind of walled garden. The notecard leads you to a recreation of ancient Babylon, where oddly enough you will find Dwight's Second Second Life. It also indicates that a future episode will take in the busy, popular and slightly salty Amsterdam sim. Closer to the office, there's a recreation of Troy's Tavern, where you can help yourself to free drinks and play pool or poker. For the freeloader, other freebies include a range of T-shirts.

The build has been done by TROI TimTam of Clear Ink, who have made only a short announcement on their Clear Night Sky website. And these are not dumb people when it comes to marketing and understanding how to apply Second Life. The website suggests a low-key, quick build - but I am impressed with the detail that has been put in to the profiles. Dwight and his co-workers come across as real people with Second Life avatars.

So what to make of this? I described this as a viral approach to Second Life for the following reasons: First, the word is spreading by personal recommendation through chats, IM and blogs. Second, it has depth - your digging is rewarded with new, often hilarious discoveries. And this means you can feel like you are contributing to the story, "adding value". I would like to think I am doing that through this post.

The result is a ripple effect, spreading wider and wider, and luring more and more people. It might not bust the Second Life ceiling - but the newcomers I met seemed already in tune with what SL was about and looking forward to discovering more. I hope this post may encourage more to take a look. Pssst... pass it on.

Wipro Innovation

A few days ago I read an announcement that Wipro Technologies, one of the giants of Information Technology in India - and, by logical extension, the world - had launched an Innovation Isle in Second Life. If you work in IT and by some strange chance have not heard of Wipro then trust me, you will. They, like the other Indian mega-IT companies, are heading your way. If you're lucky you may still have a job at the end of it. The rampant success of companies like Wipro has led the "Western" IT companies, like IBM, Accenture and Capgemini to respond with massive ramp-up of staff in India. Now Wipro has become the first major Indian IT services company to launch in Second Life.

I have to say, I don't really like the build - and that's not just because my RL job might be at stake! Here are some pictures first, so you can see what I mean:




The island has everything you might expect - and more. There's a learning centre, a cafe, a recruitment station and many other buildings, including "administration" and "security." There's a large open "pit" for less formal meetings, and there's even a volley ball court. So on the plus side, they've squeezed a lot in. On the downside, it is all rather messy - there is little coherence between the various buildings and much of the interior work is weak, with clashing textures and odd blends of pre-built and bespoke built elements that are jarring to my eye. It seems to be a place in search of an identity and a style. At the moment it lacks both.

It is clearly not quite ready yet - when you click on many parts of the build you are prompted to select options from a builder's toolkit! So perhaps it will discover its style in due course. But for now I think it is not a great example of a public corporate site (standards can be a lot lower when only your own staff are going to see the place!).

Helping Newcomers - and Listening

Last night, after posting the IIR piece, I joined my friend and fellow blogger ugotrade (Tara5 Oh in Second Life). She was just back from a conference in London, and was wanting to see what she'd missed in Second Life over the last week. I suggested she might want to form her own opinions on the CSI:NY islands, and found her the busiest orientation site I could - with around 12 peoeple on it. As is her way, she was soon deeply enmeshed, interviewing and assisting newcomers. It was around this point that I joined her - and found the next hour or 2 oddly illuminating.

In broad terms, here are my observations:

• The number of active CSI:NY sims has been slashed to around 100. The remainder are showing as offline, though I assume they can be brought back if demand indicates a need.
• Across the 100 sims, numbers of avatars fluctuated from 1 or 2, up to 10 or 12. If I was to take a wild stab in the dark and assume 5 to 7 on average per sim, this would yield the number using CSI:NY at any one time to be around 500-700.
• The flow through the orientation sim seemed fairly constant. Over the time I was there I would reckon we saw a new face once every couple of minutes. Call it 30 an hour. Assuming all 50 open orientations were running at this pace would suggest around 1500 new registrations per hour, or around 35-40,000 a day. Mercifully short of the 3000/minute that Linden Lab were looking at.
• When I arrived there was a helper present. However, at some point she had to go elsewhere, leaving newcomers with no official welcome personal help. I don't know how many sims have helpers, but maybe it's not enough.
• Newcomers were confused about the interface - and it took several goes to get them using "chat." I have visions of people sat in front of their computer screens, screaming: "Help! What am I supposed to do?"
• People seemed to be unaware that they were on an orientation island - and not in The Game proper. I spent a long time near the outbound teleport, explaining how to use it and why. This, despite there being a huge billboard telling you exactly what to do. I don't know why this was going wrong, but it was. My guess is the description may be too perfunctory.
• People were usually totally unaware that there was a whole virtual world out there. For example, one guy thought he had seen it all on a previous trip. When told there were thousands of places to visit, and he had seen just 3, it was like a revelation. Where in this whole build is the existence of the rest of Second Life acknowledged? Or rudimentary assistance provided in reaching it?
• People did tend to blunder about - perfecting walking in SL takes some practice - but more importantly were often confused. To repeat the question posed above, I heard this several times: "Help! What am I supposed to do?"
• For a while I was using the Classic viewer, but the lag got so awful I thought I would switch to OnRez. A good decision, since OnRez performed far better, without the 10 or 20 second timeouts I sometimes get with the LL viewer.

The upshot of this is: I think the orientation experience leaves a lot to be desired. There is not enough help and there is not enough information. So nothing new there, then. It was interesting hearing all this "raw input" - it certainly taught me a thing or two.

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UPDATE: The 3000/min figure comes from 2 sources. One, a friend who acts as an orientation mentor, and received this figure during a mentors' meeting with Glenn Linden. The other is from here, which purports to be the notecard issued by Linden Lab.

Institute for International Research

Not much of a posting, this one. Last night, while perusing the Second Life map I happened upon the sim: IIR NY HQ. Now, when I see initials - especially initials like "NY" and "HQ" - I think it has to be worth a visit. The island belongs to the Institute for International Research, and is still under construction. However, enough of it exists to give the flavour of the place.

The IIR mission is "to facilitate the growth and advancement of our core client-partners by supplying the optimum business solutions, at the right time and in the right format - so that their goals can be surpassed and unique marketplace challenges overcome." Ummm... yeah... right. Could some kind soul strip away the MBAspeak and tell me what they do?

Never mind... you might be interested in this though. In mid-August IIR announced plans to organize, promote, and run events in Second Life. Their aim is to launch officially into Second Life in November at the inaugural conference on Managing Virtual Distance, and featuring a certain Mr Phil Rosedale.

The build itself is far from complete - so it is not fair to critique it. But here are some snaps to be going on with:

Some Random Thoughts on CSI:NY

As the hubbub starts to subside on the whole CSI:NY thing, I thought I would record some of the stuff that’s been rattling around in my head over the last few days.

My first reaction when I read all the hullabaloo coming out of the Virtual Worlds Conference was: “Meh.” However, folks with a far keener interest and knowledge of the entertainment and media industry were at pains to assure me that this was groundbreaking stuff, and that is was “game changing.” I thought I should wait and see. The impression given was that this represented a real leap forward in the pursuit of convergent media, and is the way of the Future. To quote Mr Zuiker, proud owner of the CSI franchise: “What’s the future of television? It is as follows: TV, online, mobile, and gaming.”

As for Linden Lab, CEO Phil Rosedale’s take, as quoted at Ugotrade was: “I think it is a great project. We don’t look for traffic for Second Life in general we more look for opportunities to present Second Life to people in a more obvious way to people who don’t understand it, or haven’t experienced it.”

So… a major leap in convergent media – and good exposure for Linden Lab. What could possibly go wrong?

The big risk we all knew about was grid overload, but so far (touch wood) this has not happened, in part because the invasion of newcomers simply has not happened on anything like the anticipated scale.

However, what I think has gone wrong is, frankly, the whole shebang. What I’ve noted, rather than a magical blending and blurring of the lines between reality and virtuality, is simply the co-opting of Second Life to act as a games platform. A role for which it is particularly inappropriate – and for which CSI has no need, since such platforms exist already. Now, I’m not trying to be precious about SL here. In the whole wide metaverse there is clearly a large need for entertainment and, indeed, for gaming. But to be blunt, Second Life cannot offer the level of gameplay that seasoned gamers have good reason to expect.

And this leads to my next point. TV is an illusion, where it is necessary to tweak reality (and in this case, virtuality) in the interests of entertainment. CSI was not out to make a documentary about Second Life, and was bound to present it in a way designed to extract the maximum entertainment value. And this has led to 2 basic lies. First, that the Second Life virtual world is smooth, fast and beautifully detailed. This would be fine if newcomers weren’t then invited to come and try it out. The gulf between the TV version and the horribly laggy, grey, slow-rezzing virtuality cannot, to my mind, be called “good exposure for Second Life”. The second lie is that Second Life is a sleazy game, populated by players. This lie was not necessary to the plot, and is the one with which I have the single biggest issue.

In common with many of the readers of this blog, I spend a great deal of time in Real Life extolling the features and benefits of Second Life and virtual worlds in general. Through this one piece of unnecessary scripting I feel like I’ve been thrown back a year in my own evangelising efforts; back to the days of: “Second Life? It’s just a game isn’t it? Full of sleazeballs and geeks.” Again, how this view of Second Life can be viewed as “good exposure” I am at a loss to explain. This might also explain the less-than-impressive uptake of new accounts.

On a lighter note – I was tempted to call this piece: CISCO:NY. As I have mentioned previously, the grossly over-the-top “Ciscofication” was – to me at least – a complete turn-off.

I think Linden Lab have done themselves no favours here. It is not true that “all publicity is good publicity.” I am dismayed at the short-termism shown by Linden in going along with this farrago. Also, in handing over the source of the viewer to Electric Sheep we have the interesting situation where the open source code has been re-skinned, a few neat, new features added, and the whole thing seemingly locked up again as a proprietary product.

Well that’s what I think. So what did I get wrong?

Al Turns Orange

Telecommunications companies have been drifting into Second Life for some time now - and yesterday I got to visit the latest of these: Orange. The company history is somewhat convoluted, but it was acquired as the mobile phone (cellphone) arm of French communications giant, France Telecom, in 2001. Since 2006 it has taken a broader role, as the global brand in front of many of the parent company's services - in particular, internet.

The Second Life build has been carried out by the talented bunch at Metaversatility - a company who's name I always have difficulty typing. It spans 2 sims, but only one of these, Orange 1, is currently fully developed. There are zones for music and photography, with chillout'n'chat areas for each - and from the start Orange intend to engage with and build their customers here. A schedule of events is already being finalised, presumably using the large stage area (shown below). There are more zones than this, but in my haste (and tiredness) I did not record them all. In fact, it is impressive how much has been squeezed in to the sim.

As you walk around the island you will find a rather fine sound sculpture. It's hard to miss as it blocks your path - though it is "phantom", allowing you to walk right into it. Now this, in fact, is my only quibble with the build. The sculpture is dramatic and effective, but seems out of place and in the way. I'm sure a lot of thought went into its location, but for me at least, it seems wrong.

The overall build quality is, as I would have expected, very good, with subtle use of scripts to control textures. Orange's branding must have posed some interesting challenges, since it is basically black and orange - not necessarily the easiest colour combination on the eye. Metaversatility have done a great job, even down to the careful selection of the (fixed) time of day to squeeze out the maximum amount of orange from the available sky settings. Anyway, enough of such ramblings - here's the pictures:

The sound sculpture and chill areas:


The stage and meeting areas:


Random images:


I had intended to write more, but frankly it very late when I toured the island and I did not take in much of the detail. One thing I do remember, though, is you can opt to tootle around the island by hang glider. As with most vehicles in Second Life my prowess with the glider is best overlooked - but you might enjoy it.

Nikko am sl

I'd be among the first to admit that asset management is not exactly a huge turn-on, but despite this I thought I should introduce you to Nikko am, whose English-language webpage includes the rather jarring strapline "global expertise, Japanese execution." While out on my regular rambles tonight - all spruced up with my fancy, new OnRez viewer - I happened upon their month-old sim in Second Life. Before I go any further, though, I should point you at their Japanese website, which is rather more relevant in that it actually shares motifs with their Second Life presence.

A bit of digging turned up this press release, in which they talk about using new media - including Second Life - as a way of talking with customers about opportunities for investment. The build itself falls into 3 zones: the game; the office block and the stage. It is my assumption that the notion of "the nest egg" seems to transcend cultural boundaries, as the game zone seems to be a matter of collecting as many chicks (feathered, that is) as possible before your time runs out. I think, though I'm not entirely sure, that if you hit the target you get a prize. I certainly seemed to hit the target and did receive something - I've just not yet checked out what it might be! If you don't fancy that, then there is a range of freebie T-shirts to peruse.

The office zone is nicely rendered and, as is the norm for Japanese companies, is full of cutesy-pie anime. Inside, the office is sub-divided to give you information on specific aspects of the company's portfolio of offerings. Here you will find the only piece of English in the place, which to my British eyes clearly states that nothing available on the site is available in the UK. On the uppermost floor is a boardroom (see picture below). I noticed that each office area had what seemed to be a rather conspicuous rubbish receptacle outside it. I first assumed this was an ashtray, but now I'm not so sure. Anyway, whatever its purpose this receptacle (oddly enough) detracted from the experience for me, even though I think it was put there purely to add "texture."

The third zone is an outdoor stage, complete with grand piano, presumably for social events. Not much more to say about that, so on with the photos!

The Office Block


Specialist Areas Inside the Office:


The Stage:


Verdict? A nice build, with a good attempt at engagement through the game and the outdoor stage, but... somehow it does not seem to me that it is going to generate much traffic. Although sharing motifs with the website, the 2 channels seem to be separate entitites, and that (to me) breaks some kind of unstated, yet cardinal, rule. I don't get much sense of engagement here either - and that is a definite requirement in Second Life.

CSI:NY SL LOL

While trying out the new OnRez viewer - already on its first patch release, which tends to suggest some very tired code monkeys - I couldn't resist bringing you this little slice (not for the squeamish):


The viewer itself seems fine - definitely some nice refinements over the standard Linden Lab version. In particular, it does seem to be smoother and faster. The rest of the changes are largely cosmetic tweaks, apart from the viewer-based browser. However, I wouldn't get too excited by this. It is a nice add-on, but is not really a full-blown browser, with tabs, and multiple windows, and history, and favourites, and... and...

Elegy for a Lost Sim

I don't know if you are a regular reader of this blog, but if you are then you may recall seeing some of these pictures before. A few weeks ago I wrote about stumbling across this island, while out on my routine rambles in the virtual world of Second Life. For reasons I don't intend to go into, I removed the post in the hope that this island would be allowed to stay. But it seems it is not to be.

So what was it that I liked about it - and why I will miss it, now it is all but gone? I will take you back in time a couple of weeks, to my first arrival on the island. The first picture illustrates the arrival point - a sort of "mission control", with a bank of computers and large status displays. Taking pride of place was a display showing some kind of palace, and an invitation to step through the screen.

On doing so I found myself suddenly immersed in a sort of digital Narnia... snow on the ground, a frozen lake (fed by bottles of a now unnamed vodka), flurries of snowflakes falling out of the sky and in the distance, the ice palace. The transition from 2D in the control centre to 3D as I stepped through the screen was a real "Wow Moment." For a few dollars I could have availed myself of some ice skates. Instead I headed over to the palace where I found a large dance floor, seating for groups both large and small, and the biggest bottle of vodka I have ever seen, endlessly pouring into a huge, ice-filled glass.

The attention to detail and the quality and flair of the design impressed me enormously. But sadly, this marvellous construction was only going to last about as long as real world ice sculpture.




By last weekend, only the Ice Palace remained - and a number of people who had heard of its imminent demise came along for a final send-off. Today, it is just a snowy desert, devoid of all the artistry and subtlety that had made this such a fine build. Even the snow has stopped falling.



It may sound a bit pretentious, but I was reminded of a couple of lines from Elegy Written In a Country Churchyard, by Thomas Grey:

Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,
And all the air a solemn stillness holds...

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It appears to me that the sim fell victim to confused marketing from the parent company, who are due to launch their own global corporate island in the near future. I believe this sim was built for a regional business unit, who may have been unaware that the corporate parent was already in the advanced stages of a release in Second Life. It would not surprise me to find that this was spiked to align with the central marketing policy and avoid "stealing the thunder" from the parent build when it eventually launches. A real shame it had to go... but I hope it will not be the last time I see this place. In the meantime I will await with interest the launch of the parent's islands, to see if they come close to the quality of this one.

Renderglow and OnRez

Just a quickie. Thanks to TerryAnn Antonelli for passing this little tip along. If you go into the Second Life viewer's Debug Menu (aka "God Mode") you can set some rather interesting effects.

Don't know how to get into God Mode? Press CTL-ALT-D, and you will see 2 new menus at the top of the screen: Client and Server.

Now, if you go into the Client menu and select Debug Settings, an options box will appear on your screen. Either type in "Renderglow" or use the pulldown list to find it. By default it is set to FALSE, so set it to TRUE.

While you're there... check out and play with the other Renderglow options:

• Renderglowresolution
• Renderglowsize
• Renderglowstrength

You might be pleasantly surprised with the results:

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While I am on the subject of Second Life viewers, why not try out the new Electric Sheep Company OnRez viewer? It's supposed to be neater, simpler to use and yet just as fully-featured as the Linden Lab viewer. I've had a short go on it - it was released today - and it seems pretty good. If you go to the page and don't get the download screen, try hitting refresh. It worked for me.

CSI:NY - A First Look

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the time is nearly upon us... The time of the CSI:NY Deluge. As I write this, the programme in question is still a good 12 hours from going on air, but already the metaphorical leaves are beginning to swirl and the windows rattle. The Electric Sheep Company and CBS, along with their chums at Cisco by the look of it, have obtained a mind-boggling 416 sims to support the inworld game - and these have just opened to the public.

Before we take a look, let's just consider what we know. Of the 416 sims, half are given over to orientation, and the other half to the game itself. I believe ESC are sizing based on around 40-50 avatars/sim. This would suggest a peak of around 10,000 people in orientation and a further 10,000 actually playing the game. I understand that Linden Lab however are planning for up to 3,000 registrations per minute! Quite how these numbers can be shoehorned into the available space is anyone's guess - but there is a feeling in the current SL community of "batten down the hatches, we're in for a rough ride."

Here's a few snaps of the build:

The Orientation Zone:


Some familiar landmarks:


Some game stuff:


There's not much to say about this really. In my view, it is an interesting experiment but the lack of maturity and stability of virtual worlds like Second Life means this is happening far too early. Perhaps in another 12-18 months. We will see.

As I don't follow the show, or have any interest in it, I am not best positioned to judge the merits or otherwise of the gameplay - which looks fairly straightforward to my eye. I have to say that the in-yer-face shameless promotion of Cisco I find particularly jarring. But then, I like to be seduced by advertising, not beaten about the head with it.

CBS have finally opened their tie-in web pages here.

Leo Burnett - They're Grrrreat

Leo Burnett is one of the biggest names in advertising, famous for devising such icons as Tony the Tiger, the Jolly Green Giant and (ahem) Marlboro Man. Although the man himself died in 1971, the company that bears his name has continued to thrive, spreading from its headquarters in Chicago to become a worldwide company.

I've known there was a Leo Burnett island in Second Life for almost as long as I've been a resident. It nestles within the embrace of the Millions of Us archipelago, but has always been off-limits to outsiders. Or at least that is what I had assumed. After many failed attempts to gain access, I gave up trying months ago. But it seems that something has changed in the intervening period, and the island is now open to visitors - and I can wholeheartedly recommend the trip.

First inklings of a Second Life presence came in September 2006, with the announcement that the company was setting up an "info hub" for its 2400 "creative staff." Whether it has been successful in this, I have no idea. My guess is that it may well have fallen short of early expectations, since a Second Life presence needs a regular injection of activity to keep it lively - and I have seen and read nothing to indicate that this has happened.

The build itself is strange and wonderful. At its heart is a truly stupendous tree, in and around which the human elements of the build are arrayed. I can't even guess at the purpose of some of the features, while others are more straightforward, with cosy meeting areas dotted around the site and a large auditorium located in the centre of the tree itself. There is an extensive (if slightly confusing) teleport system to take you between locations. There is something oddly - and pleasingly - "cartoony" about some parts of the site, and there is a strong sense of play at work. Having spoken with friends about it, it is clear that there are many hidden gems to discover. Anyway, here is a large set of pictures for you to peruse, and hopefully get some sense of the place:

The Tree House


Inside the Tree House


Ummm... yeah


Peering into round things


Unless the message is so subtle I missed it, I don't see this place as promoting Leo Burnett. I found no in-yer-face advertising material, or links to their website. In fact, it does look like it was designed for internal company use only. Which begs the question: "why is it open now?"

I would like to think that the company wants to share its clever and witty site with the rest of Second Life. However, I also aware that the site is coming up to its first anniversary, and there is a nagging thought in my mind that perhaps this opening to the public is actually its swansong. Will it still be here in 2 or 3 months time? I hope so.

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UPDATE: I take it all back. Looks like I've not been trying hard enough as this place has been open for ages (thanks Grace). Which makes it even more interesting to determine why it is so under-promoted, and this from an advertising agency! Ideas on a digital postcard, please.

Cieffe are Watching You

It seems like ages since I've swung by the Millions of Us cluster of islands, so I have been unaware of the build for Cieffe, whose strapline: "We power your eyes" initially struck me as somewhat surreal. When I Googled for information about Cieffe in Second Life I found precious little - no press releases or, indeed, little in the way of blogposts. So I will have to fly blind on this one.

Cieffe's line of business is "the design and implementation of digital technologies in Integrated Security Systems." They seem to have a particular focus on CCTV, hence the strapline. Headquartered in Italy, they now have offices in a number of countries, including Benelux, New Zealand, Australia and Dubai. Of particular relevance to me, as a Brit, is the fact that they also have UK offices. For those who don't know - the UK allegedly has the World's highest ratio of CCTV cameras to people. In November 2006 the BBC reported that the number stood at 4.2 million, or 1 for every 14 people. The number will have increased since then. And does all of this make me feel more secure? haha... if only.

The Cieffe build is in 2 parts. The first part happens at ground level, where you will find the presentation area: a number of rather elegant buildings, each dedicated to one aspect of their product portfolio. The second part happens at around 300 metres up. A teleport takes you to a "city scene." It's a rather odd city, since about 25% of it is airport, and it also has some kind of petrochemical works stuck in there too.

The Ground Level:


The City Level:


I like the architecture on the Ground Level - clean, simple and, as I said earlier, elegant. The site is not going to win any awards for innovation - but it does tell you all you need to know about Cieffe products, and I guess that meets the client's brief. For me the City Level is less satisfactory. At first sight it looks quite cool, with a well-constructed city street scene. However, the petrochemical works and airport seem shoe-horned in, and there is a general lack of information to explain why this whole level exists. It doesn't seem to serve any obvious social function, while if the intention is to show off the use of the products, I think it falls short in this department too. Maybe it is not yet completed - in which case I would expect a lot more information to be provided here.

Race and Relax with Deutsche Post

While pottering around the archipelago of German islands that include Dresden Gallery (see earlier posts), I came across a pair of sims belonging to Deutsche Post, the German postal service. As seems par for the course these days, Deutsche Post have a special website tied in with their Second Life presence. Unfortunately, this is only available in German, and I have learned from bitter experience not to put much faith in language translations tools, which tend to convert perfectly straightforward paragraphs into bizarre works of magical realism. As a result there is not a lot I can tell you about their view of the build.

The two sims making up the Deutsche Post island serve different functions. The Post Island sim houses a tall building that, from the outside, appears to be nothing more than a boring office block. However, inside is a different story. There is little stuffiness about it, as each floor is given over to sculpture parks, chill zones and (bizarrely) an Ancient Egyptian scene. A nice idea is to have the atrium* space open up all the way up to the top of the building, so it is possible to move between floors without having to muck about with teleports and lifts. There seems to be a great deal of information on this sim about the company and its activities. Outside, large abstract black patches on the ground mark out the company logo, which can be seen plainly on a "map view."



The second sim, Picassos Island, is for fun. It consists of a tortuous racing track that takes in all manner of terrain, from desert and beach, up to icy, foggy mountain-tops, with the track looping back and under itself to squeeze the most out of the land area available. At the start area you can rez a sporty little number, then personalise it in a number of ways before taking it out on the track. I still can't get to grips with cars in SL. I just can't find the right way to drive the damn things. So for me, this proved a wasted effort. However, I did see others razzing around the track with relative ease, from which I would conclude the problem lies with me. Ho hum.

I think I just missed - by a week or so - the actual Racing Cup. However, given my comments above, I think any involvement on my part would have been short lived in any case.



The build across the 2 sims is solid and professional, rather than breathtaking. But then not every site can be a gem! However, if you are a whizz in SL vehicles, you may well enjoy the challenge of this race track.

*Apologies to any real architccts out there, who may be shrieking in horror at my abuse of architectural terms!

Dresden Gallery - The Inside

Gulp! I'm almost speechless... but that's not much use to you, gentle reader, if you want a blog post to read. Following on from my last post, this is the inside of the Dresden Gallery in Second Life.

The inside is even more stunning than the outside. The detail of the rendering is amazing, and its blending with SL objects is seamless. First off, let's look at the interior architecture:


Gob-smacking.... to employ the common parlance. I had had doubts that they have squeezed all 750 art works into the building - but I am not so sure now. The building is stuffed full of art works, many of them familiar, and spanning centuries of painting - no sculptures as far as I can tell. And as with the architecture, the level of detail is incredible. First, here's a couple of general views of a couple of the rooms:


Now let's look in a bit more detail:


Each painting has a notecard, with the name of the artist and the work, along with the dates. Many have an "audio" logo (see middle picture). If you click on this, it brings up a webpage that streams an English language description about the work selected - just as if you had an audio guide in a RL gallery.

Even the freeloaders are not forgotten - with 2 t-shirts available. One is of the Raphael angels, a detail from his Sistine Madonna. You know the one... often seen in a photoshopped form, with one of them smoking a cigarette? Oh, come on... you do know it.

In general I am not a huge fan of recreations of existing buildings in Second Life. But this is one, of many, for which I will make an exception. I think this is just stunning. It is the high level of detail that is crucial here. It is high enough to allow you to get a good feel for the paintings, indeed you can get closer to them than you probably can in RL. As such, I strikes me that this provides a powerful education resource - as well as being a pleasure simply to wander around. Nothing modern I'm afraid - but then, that's what the RL gallery is like, I assume.

My only regret is I didn't find the Caspar David Friedrich paintings that I believe are hiding in here somewhere.

Dresden Gallery

I was planning on writing about a truly extraordinary (or certainly strange) piece of German art, to be found on the ZKM sim... part of a group of sims celebrating the German region of Baden-Württemberg, which includes the cities of Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Ulm and Freiberg (in the Black Forest). However, as happens from time to time, I found myself unable to come up with the verbal goods to provide an adequate explanation. But while I was in the neighbourhood, I did spot the Dresden Gallery cluster of sims, so went for a poke about.

Only one of the cluster is actually built on as yet. However, as the website informs us, this is a chance to "visit one of the world’s most famous museums, the Old Masters Picture Gallery of the Dresden State Art Collections. There you can view great masterpieces of key importance for the history of art, such as Raphael’s 'Sistine Madonna' or Giorgione’s 'Sleeping Venus'. All the rooms of the museum have been reconstructed true to scale on the Dresden Gallery island and all 750 masterpieces in the permanent exhibition are on display."

I have not yet had an opportunity to explore the inside - but to whet the appetite, here are some pictures of the grounds:


I have to say, it's an impressive build, with a lot of effort having gone into the photo-rendering of the building facades. Real textures and virtual objects are blended very subtly here, to great effect. But next, I plan to try and find the 750 art works!

Interesting that they've opted for a 1:1 scale. SL Architect chums inform me that this is not a good idea, as we tend to be bigger in SL, and make more room for one another than in real life.

As for ZKM, the sim I mentioned at the start of this post, I really think you should give it ago - as long as your idea of Art is not limited to, say, Raphael or Giorgione.

Just the Blue Pills Please

In my last post I suggested I should take a look at the bluepill GROUP sim. Well, no sooner blogged than done - give or take 24 hours or so.

I arrived at the photography exhibition “MY BRUSSELS" in virtual St Gery, which I understand to be the old meat market of Brussels (or Bruxelles if you prefer) and that is now a rather swish art gallery-cum-coffee bar/place to be seen. I can't vouch for the real thing but in Second Life, at least, there are a number of rather wonderful photographs on display, over several floors. The building is set within a giant Bruxellian Bubble:



If you check out Google images, you may be surprised to find just how faithful this is to the original - and I just couldn't resist the photograph in top right. The St Gery construction is excellent - and well worth the trip.

Beyond the bubble are a various snippets of bluepill Group builds, including a jet from their Brussels Airlines build and a range of what appear to be 'works in progress.'




It's an odd place this... since on the one hand it features some virtuosity for public consumption in the St Gery construction, while on the other it has a lot of "bitty" bits and pieces that look like sandbox trials and tests. I would suggest that they should consider investing in another(private) sim for their internal development and test, and focus their open site on completed works and presentations.

My only regret is that I'm not actually paid for these pearls of wisdom... but maybe my reward (or punishment) is in the afterlife. Ah... if only I believed in such a thing.

Belgian Bankers and Blue Pills

The Benelux virtual banking community - in effect, ABN Amro and ING - is now stronger by one more member: Keytrade Bank. I have to say at this point that my knowledge of Belgian banks, until now, has hovered somewhere around the zero mark. But the chance discovery of this island has changed that a little. I don't claim to be a world authority, but at least I've increased the paltry sum of my knowledge.

Keytrade launched into Second Life at the end of September. Their press release informed me: "Keytrade Bank was Belgian’s first 100% Internet bank... We are also the first Belgian bank to become active in Second Life. Our ambition is to bring real value to users all over the globe, not only to Belgian residents of this virtual world." They continue on their website: "Our island in Second Life is to be considered as a field of experimentation for future products and the proof of our will to be at the cutting edge of web-based financial services."

Their first step, aside from having their island constructed by bluepill GROUP, has been to offer visitors a free currency calculator that maintains real-time information on exchange rates between the Linden Dollar and a host of real world currencies. The same device also offers financial news from the Dow Jones Newswires.

The island itself comprises a large, airy, vaguely horseshoe-shaped building that partially encircles a pond. Inside, lifts provide access to smaller meeting rooms, while at the apex of the horseshoe is a circular hub with information displays that, I assume, is intended to resemble a trading floor. Outside there is a zeppelin that you can borrow to explore the island. I like this idea, but the scope here is strictly limited, since there is only the 1 sim to explore, and there is no real complexity in the landscape that might make the zeppelin flight interesting.

Here's the outside:


And the inside:


I lost count of the number of calculator dispensers (illustrated above) inside the building. For those who are still eager for free branded T-shirts, there is a selection available. However, I'm not sure they will have that many takers.

The build quality is high. This is an attractive build, with subtle colour schemes and good, rich textures. However, despite the zeppelin and the calculator, I did not feel engaged with the place. There is no evidence of events (at least, not yet) - nor any obvious location to host them. I suppose I'm saying I did not get a sense of social interaction - it felt a bit austere and aloof to me.

bluepill GROUP, whom I have not encountered before, have surprised me by having contact locations in Barcelona, Bonn and Brussels. It may be safe to assume that it was the last of these that secured the Keytrade business. In existence since 2004, they describe themselves as "a fully specialised metaverse consulting and 3D implementation company focused on understanding and harnessing 3D virtual worlds for Real World Companies." They have an island in Second Life not far from Keytrade - so I think I will pop by to see what's what sometime.

Fujitsu Siemens Computers

It's been a while since we had a new computer manufacturer come in to Second Life, but today I heard that Fujitsu Siemens Computers had just opened an island, so it seemed churlish not to take the opportunity to pop along for a butcher's*.

There is a predominantly green theme to the island. At least, that is the intention - though more a pale teal in my book. Fujitsu have create a special website to accompany the build, which they describe as their "green island", stating "Our guiding idea of 'we make sure' and the resulting idea of responsibility with respect to the community and the environment are apparent here." Certainly they make a big play of their energy efficiency and other green (or as green as it can reasonably get) credentials. At one point you can watch a couple of Fujitsu (actually, given the heavy German accents, more likely Siemens) people clunk their way through a movie in which they explain their greenitude. To add a frisson to proceedings, you can win a new AMILO Si 2636 Notebook - a machine that's so spanky new I can't even find it on the website - by collecting or solving clues apparently dotted around the island. I didn't spend any time on this, so the likelihood of me winning in zilch.

The island itself I will arbitrarily divide into 2 zones. The first zone consists of 2 immense, shiny buildings, only one of which is currently open. Inside you can pick up your freebie T-shirt and visit a number of themed rooms, including a kid's play area. As you will see from the pictures below, something horrid has happened to this poor teddy bear. The second zone is the island landscape, which is dotted with giant computers: desktops and notebooks. Out over the lake is a nice retro touch - a game of "pong." There is also the most peremptory of orientation zones, consisting of just 4 noticeboards.

The first zone:


Teddy does a Trotsky impersonation:


The second zone:


The notebook you can win, plus the orientation "zone" and "pong":


Now here's a little poser for you. If you looked at the image below, could you take a stab at the country of origin of the builders?


Those who guessed Germany would be correct. Those who deduced it from the picture can award themselves a gold star. The build appears to be the work of Munich-based Metamatix. If you have followed this blog for some time, you might recall that German build companies seem to have something of a penchant for contrast-free expanses of white, and simplified colour schemes.

It's a funny old build this one. Inside the building is rich in texture, including shadow effects, and looks almost Sheep-like in its styling. Outside, as I intimated above, it is far more flat and lifeless (not unlike my remaining hair). The giant computers I suppose are a must-have, but we have seen them before at Dell and Lenovo. The competition, too, is something of a must-have, but again it's been done before, by AMD for example. And what's with the seating? Why build benches you can't actually sit on?! No doubt this last whinge can and will be addressed as the build moves into its next phase. The Orientation Zone, a rather grand term for it in my view, looks like an after-thought and could even be dispensed with.

Oh... you can get a map on this web page.

Thanks for the tip must go to my favourite attitudinous ocelet who tweeted this on twitter.

* From rhyming slang: butcher's hook = look.

Tokyo Tower and NTT Docomo

Well, well, well... here I am back among the Japanese sims in Second Life. I would like to thank Nick, who works as a teacher in Japan, for giving me the SLURL for the virtual Tokyo Tower. This is not, as you might expect, on the Tokyo Tower sim, but instead is on Dejima, part of a 3-sim cluster that also includes NTT Docomo (discussed later).

The Tokyo Tower is, as you can see below, strongly influenced by its far older Parisian cousin, the Eiffel Tower. It is one of the most obvious landmarks in Tokyo, in part due to its garish white and orange colour scheme - apparently the result of air safety regulations. It has an observation deck at 150 metres which affords a spectacular view of south Tokyo and the district of Roppongi. The virtual tower sits at the centre of the Dejima sim. Around it you will find sky-diving activities, a music venue, an outdoor movie theatre and a few other buildings. One of these is closed to visitors, and belongs to Digital Marketing Inc., who seem to manage the content for the many video screens on the sim. Although largely complete, there are still parts of the sim that are under construction. There is also a bug in the lift mechanism inside the tower: it is permanently stuck on the ground floor, its door flickering between open and closed states, while a voice repeatedly yammers "the ground floor" at you. Anyway, here it is:



And here's a couple of photos of the RL tower that I snapped earlier this year:

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From Tokyo Island, if you look to the South West, you will see in the distance an enormous upturned hemisphere floating in the sky. It looks big enough, but as you approach it, you realise it is huge, covering almost the entire sim over which it floats. This is the virtual home of leading Japanese telecommunications firm, NTT DoCoMo. A skyscraper rises from the centre of the hemisphere, but it is on the surface that you will find most of the action. There is information about kids' phones, a telco museum and a shop, with links to the NTT DoCoMo website where you can buy the phones displayed. High above the site sits a strange assembly of blue blocks. A teleport will take you up here, where you will find a ski jump (of sorts). I say "of sorts", because instead of skis, you will be jumping aboard a giant mobile phone (cellphone if you prefer). My effort proved rather pathetic, but that was before I discovered the "Rainbow flight" bracelet, which seems to offer some extra lift. It looks quite nice - but the enjoyment value was not that great. Maybe it works better for competitions.


Since the company is selling phones as well as services, it is no surprise to find the place strewn with giant phones:


Finally, I see that Torley was here about 12 weeks ago, and has some nice snaps.

Mars Areas01 Rezzable

If you are a fan of Rezzable here's another sim to add to your collection: Mars Areas01 Rezzable. I am not sure if it's officially open yet, but there seems to be a fair amount of traffic already. This sim, like a number of others in the Rezzable family, seems to be best described as an art installation. You arrive in a vast space, filled with translucent balls that gradually change colour as you watch. Bursts of plasma (or something) zip between the balls (ooh, sounds painful). A teleport lifts you to a big tubular affair that seems to serve no purpose other than to be a big tubular affair. And there's some stuff you can discover, like the "space seats" illustrated below.

Aside from that, there's not a lot else I can tell you. It's cleverly done - but left me feeling a bit "so-what-ish." God, what a jaded palate I must have. Anyway, despite this rather lacklustre report of mine, I would urge you to pop along and form your own opinion. For those who can't make it, won't make it or simply want a quick look-see, here are some pictures:





Finally, thank-you to my top informer - you know who you are - for tipping me off to this build.

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UPDATE: Lem informs me (see comments) that this is something of a "hack" build, done in a short space of time, and could be zapped at any time. So if you want to check it out, you better get your teleporting skates on.

UPDATE 2 on 21-10-07: There is a more on this at Not Possible IRL.

New York and Virtual Entertainment - it's a Meme Thing

Every so often I pick up on a common theme running across Second Life. In the past it's included "German cities" and "virtual recruitment". These themes or memes (as I prefer to misuse the term), though no doubt long in the conceptualising, seem to burst forth in a spookily synchronous fashion at a number of locations. Perhaps the hottest meme of Autumn 2007 is also the most complex that I've seen to date: New York and Virtual Entertainment.

Within the space of only a few weeks, 2 of Second Life's major construction and consulting companies - Electric Sheep Company (ESC) and Millions of Us(MOU) - will have launched 3 different models of New York to vie for your attention. Furthermore, each of these is tied in with the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry.

So let's consider the options:

New York #1
First up, we have ESC's "I Am Legend" site, designed to tie in with a movie of the same name, that is due for release by Warner Bros in mid-December. The movie trailer suggests to me a remake of the old Charlton Heston sci-fi classic(?) "The Omega Man," though it seems both are derived from a 1954 science fiction novel by Richard Matheson. In the new movie, Will Smith plays the last surviving human in New York following the release of a rather nasty man-made virus. His only companion is his faithful pooch. Unfortunately for him, the city is also populated by mutants, who are not that keen on him having the run of the town. It's a classic "man vs mutant" tale.

As part of the marketing for the movie, ESC and Warner Bros have launched the biggest (movie tie-in) game yet seen in Second Life. It has its own orientation zone for newcomers, together with a game orientation zone where you can opt to play human, dog, mutant or mutant mutt. You should then undergo a set of training exercises before you reach the bridge that takes you over into the game zone of New York itself. Being a self-confessed coward I made my excuses and left at this point. No SLURL for this - but if you use MAP SEARCH and look for "IAL" you won't go far wrong. Oh... nice textures by the way... if a bit laggy.



New York #2
Next, and also from ESC comes the interworld game / programme / entertainment behemoth of CSI:NY. This was blasted all over the recent Virtual Worlds 2007 Conference, and launches in Second Life on 24th October. Bookies are still taking bets on the exact moment that the grid will crash. In an Omega Man kind of way, I may be the only person left on the planet who has not seen, and is not particularly interested in, CSI:NY. However, this is ground-breaking stuff for virtual worlds, where the linear narrative of the Real Life TV show intermingles with the gameplay and narrative in Second Life to produce some kind of Ultimedia extravaganza.

If you want a more complete story about this, you are best off popping along to Ugotrade, which has reams of top notch info for you.

Not only will there be orientation zones and game sims, but to make life easier for newcomers to Second Life, the Sheep are also launching their own, browser-based viewer: OnRez. Personally, I might give CSI:NY a miss - but I'm looking forward to trying the new viewer. For many of us this might solve some of issues we have with the standard Second Life viewer. A number of my colleagues, for example, are unable to run SL on their work-supplied laptops owing to issues of memory and, more often, graphics driver compatibility. This might be the solution.

New York #3
The third version of New York comes courtesy of MOU. This is a virtual version of 7 square blocks of the Upper East Side, and has been built as a tie-in with "Gossip Girls" on behalf Warner Brothers and the CW Network. This is described as a teen drama, based on a novel series of the same name. An article in wikipedia describes it thus: "Gossip Girl revolves around the lives of socialite young adults growing up on New York's Upper East Side who attend elite academic institutions while dealing with sex, drugs, and other teenage issues." Yeah...well... whatever. I did visit the site a few weeks ago, but didn't take any pictures. So I am afraid you've had to put up with this rambling narrative instead have been back and snapped these:



The show first aired in the USA on 19th September, 2007 - followed a day later by its launch in Second Life. In a blog post dated 20th September, MOU boss, Reuben Steiger, said: "[soon] we will start a very interesting social game that will take place in the city." More recently MOU announced The Gossip mobile, a heads up display that lets you to see the style, coolness rating and status of the people around you. Here's a video tutorial if you find this to be this season's must-have accessory. Hmmm...

So there you go... 3 New Yorks for you to explore, play in and reach your own conclusions.

Himeji Castle

While cruising around in Second Life tonight I happened upon one of the zillions of Japanese sims in Second Life that, for me at least, have remained undiscovered. To be fair, this one is actually newly arrived and still under construction. However, I managed to get a sneaky picture:



This is destined to become a faithful reproduction of Himeji Castle, part of Japan's great cultural heritage located around 650 kilometers west of Tokyo. The castle is nicknamed "White Heron" because of its white plaster walls, plaster being a useful safeguard against fire in a building that is otherwise built entirely of wood. The current castle was constructed in 1601, though there have been fortifications on this site since 1333.

On the adjacent Kansai sim, which is open to the public, I found a model of one the flying machines from Studio Ghibli's Laputa Castle in the Sky. I would point out that this appears to be unrelated to any official work by Ghibli in Second Life (not that I know of any).



Funnily enough, I bought the "making of..." book, while at the Studio Ghibli Museum, and it struck me at the time that it'd be great to build one these airships. A combination of ignorance and apathy means I never got a around to it - but I am glad that someone has!

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UPDATE 15-10-07: In the comments, Nick asks for the SLURL for Hameji. Sadly I don't have a SLURL to hand, but then as the sim is effectively closed it would not be much help. However, if you want to take a look, go to the Kansai sim (SLURL linked above), where you can peer over the wall - or do as I did, fly up to an altitude that doesn't block you from crossing over into the sim.

UPDATE 16-10-07: I read that Nick has found his way to Hameji. I would rather like the SLURLs for the sites he has found!

The Wheatfield (The Far Away)

I first noticed this amazing site when IBM's Ian Hughes (better known in SL as epredator potato) blogged about it a couple of weeks back. But it wasn't until I found the Flickr group that I thought, "I must track this place down." Despite appearances, it is not an entire sim - in fact The Wheatfield covers barely a 1/10th of a sim, yet it seems to stretch into the far distance, under huge prairie skies.

It was created by AM Radio, in real life another IBMer (or so I am told), and has been at the centre of an ever-widening ripple of interest in recent weeks. Indeed the level of interest has already reached such a point that AM Radio has decided to sell versions of The Wheatfield, with proceeds going to heifer.org - a charitable organisation that exists to help farmers in the developing world help each other.

The correct name for this build is "The Far Away" - but whatever its name, you really should go along. Here are the pictures I made while I was there:








I plan to go back and explore further, too. Here is a link to an excellent blog, Not Possible IRL, that carries more information and an interview with AM Radio.

Quoting The HiPiHi CEO, Xu Hui

If you follow this blog, you will know I have a keen interest in the development of virtual worlds in the Far East, and especially China. Why China? The first point is the sheer size of the potential user base, which could run into the tens, or even hundreds, of millions. A virtual world with resident populations of this size would be hard to ignore! However, I am also intrigued to see how the Chinese state reacts in the face of open virtual worlds, with an international population - as envisaged by Mr Xu, CEO of HiPiHi.

I was therefore interested to read (and thought I would repost) the following quotes from Xu Hui, given in his presentation to Virtual Worlds 2007 and recorded in Virtual Worlds News:

I’ve been interacting with the users, and when I meet those not from China, they’re surprised at how the virtual world replicates the real and how much they’re learning from just a 30-minute walk in the virtual world. Most people only experience China through products made in China. That’s not the best way. There are around 1.6 billion internet users in the world, but virtual worlds could be the best way to experience the web.

With time virtual worlds will mature as mainstream society increases in understanding. We will collaborate with industry providers and content providers to make that happen. We have a large market and a great desire for globalization.

And on HiPiHi:
We will launch our own virtual currency in the future. But we won’t manage this brokerage. We want to encourage existing financial services from the real world to come in. Brokerages are not run directly by the government. So we will use that real world model to replicate them in virtual worlds.

We will be focusing on tracking down the identity of avatars in the virtual world. They won’t be able to be changed easily. Your address and information will stay with you throughout your virtual existence. Second, we don’t intend to be a government in the world. We don’t operate in that kind of top down fashion. We will operate in a more self-policing mechanism. The community and users will flag unacceptable interactions. The third part is again on the self-policing mechanism. We won’t have any strict rules for all users to follow. We will have a guideline that is currently in development.

And finally, here is far and away the coolest thing I've read in a while:
I am of the belief that the modern soul can be partitioned into two parts. One is the real self, and one is the avatar. We spend so much time creating identity online that is can’t even really be considered a virtual identity anymore.

Second Life and Facebook

A quick note to any SLer who also holds a Facebook account, and wants to link with friends who are also SLers. There is a Second Friends application for Facebook. When you install it, it directs you, via a SLURL, to Eduserv island where you can pick up your enabling key. Enter this, along with your avatar name and bingo! Job done.



You can now see those FB chums who have registered their avatars with the application. What possible use could this be? Well... in my circle of chums... not much to be honest. I just thought you might like to know.

Another Giant Leap Towards web3.D

They'll be dancing in the streets of Second Life tonight. Nothing new in that perhaps - but maybe there will be a few extra revellers celebrating what many in the web3.D (3pointD) community see as a major milestone in the progress toward the 3D internet. Personally, I have been hoping and half-expecting the following announcement for over 6 months:

IBM and Linden Lab Launch Collaboration to Further Advance the 3D Internet.

Here is a link to today's press release - though Linden need to get their act together, since it doesn't seem to appear on their website as yet. To quote from the press release:

IBM and Linden Lab plan to collaborate on:

• "Universal" Avatars: Exploring technology and standards for users of the 3D Internet to seamlessly travel between different virtual worlds. Users could maintain the same “avatar” name, appearance and other important attributes (digital assets, identity certificates, and more) for multiple worlds. The adoption of a universal “avatar” and associated services are a possible first step toward the creation of a truly interoperable 3D Internet.
• Security-rich Transactions: Collaborating on the requirements for standards-based software designed to enable the security-rich exchange of assets in and across virtual worlds. This could allow users to perform purchases or sales with other people in virtual worlds for digital assets including 3D models, music, and media, in an environment with robust security and reliability features.
• Platform stability: Making interfaces easier to use in order to accelerate user adoption, deliver faster response times for real-world interactions and provide for high-volume business use.
• Integration with existing Web and business processes: Allowing current business applications and data repositories – regardless of their source – to function in virtual worlds is anticipated to help enable widespread adoption and rapid dissemination of business capabilities for the 3D Internet.
• Open standards for interoperability with the current Web: Open source development of interoperable formats and protocols. Open standards in this area are expected to allow virtual worlds to connect together so that users can cross from one world to another, just like they can go from one web page to another on the Internet today.
  

These are viewed as the key levers needed to deliver the next generation of the internet. Also, as reported at Virtual Worlds News, "last night IBM hosted a meeting of companies and researchers in San Jose (site of the Virtual Worlds '07 Conference) to discuss open standards for transporting avatars across virtual worlds. With representatives from Cisco, Google, Linden Lab, Sony, Intel, Multiverse, Microsoft, Motorola, and Philips, among others, they discussed plans to establish an organization to promote a truly interoperable 3D Internet."

Don't lose sleep over this in your excitement, boys and girls. It will take a little while to arrive. The point is that this is now out in the open, following months of speculation - and the parties involved go beyond just IBM and Linden Lab. I understand that at least 20 companies were represented at last night's meeting. Furthermore, I, for one, am curious to know how this fits with the statements about interoperability and standards between virtual worlds that have been coming out of China recently, particularly with respect to HiPiHi.

...

Or maybe it's all just a game, played by lonely saddoes - and I've just dreamt all of this.

Middlesbrough City Learning Centre

Tonight's post sees a return to the theme of education in Second Life. However, for once it is not a university or MBA college that I am featuring, but rather a learning resource for the English city of Middlesbrough. The Middlesbrough City Learning Centre (MCLC) actually has 2 islands in Second Life, but on this trip I only got to MCLC2 before receiving an urgent request to pull a post from a few days ago. Being a gent - or so I like to think - I gave that task priority. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you might spot the one I refer to - but don't tell anyone!

Anyway.. back to MCLC. According to the website, it exists "to support schools in raising achievement by:
* Facilitating innovative use of ICT in teaching
* Providing access to specialist ICT facilities
* Acting as a test bed for emerging learning technologies
* Supporting the development of school staff ICT skills
* Disseminating good practice"

Interestingly the home page talks about a tool called Mindscene (see image below), which it describes as a "fusion of the effective learning tool known as mindmapping with 3D virtual reality and stereo scopic (IMAX) display technology. This exciting development has come about through the collaboration of MCLC and Education Interactives, a local 3D development technology company based in Middlesbrough. "

The MCLC2 sim looks to be about half-completed, or maybe a bit more. There is a large building in which you will find a couple of presentation areas (not quite finished) and some general seating. There is a novel teleport to take you between floors. A ridge runs diagonally across the island, with a pass to let you walk from one side to the other. On the far side you will find a number of resources, including - in no particular order - RSS feeds, a vodcast, some freebies (scripts and a host of objects... cheers!) and landmarks to well-known SL sites, like Svarga. I was quite taken with the mindmap (middle - below), though I suspect its content may not have survived the resizing I force on images. A teleport will whisk you up to the Mindscene platform, which is still under construction, though enough of it exists to give you a flavour of what is planned. The last major object is a... umm... a... let me think... umm... sorry, I don't know what it is: a set of white disks, linked to some node points. Whatever it is, I assume it must be darned educational!





Even in its current raw state this sim shows a lot of potential, and already has a surprising amount of content. How this ties in with the Mindscene tool mentioned on their website I'm not sure. I am guessing they are using Second Life as a means of showing what this tool may look like within a dedicated environment. I really need to see what is happening on their other sim now!

SimImage and SLTk Pro

I don't normally discuss Second Life tools, but occasionally I do stumble upon a sim that is set up solely for the purpose of promoting such beasts. simimage is just such a place. Completely coincidentally, it also matches one of my recurring motifs in SL, in that it is a Japanese sim, belonging to SimImage Co. Ltd of Tokyo.

The purpose of the sim is to promote and sell the SLTk Pro ("Second Life Toolkit for Professional") tool. SLTk Pro is a plug-in for Autodesk Maya that allows users to create and export prim-based objects for Second Life. The big claim is for improved accuracy and speed in building, but it has another handy benefit. Since the prims are built and assembled first in the Maya* environment, and then imported into Second Life, the builder is not at the mercy of Linden Lab when it comes to backups. S/he retains an offworld copy that can be refreshed into Second Life as required. Furthermore, as this can carry around 15000 prims, you are, in effect, able to keep an offworld copy of an entire Second Life sim. Despite some dodgy English grammar and spelling, this is a serious piece of software, for use with another serious piece of software, and thus carries a serious price tag. However, you can get a 15-day free trial.



OK, so much for the product, but what about the sim? The sim itself is mostly sea, in the midst of which stands a floating platform. Two rows of identical giant statues line the West and East sides of the platform. A script triggers every so often to build another of these statues from component parts - presumably to show you the power of the tool. Certainly the statues are quite impressive, with great detailing and depth of texture. The product information is in the central area of the platform, and is available in both English and Japanese. You can also buy the product here if you wish. SimImage are happy to take your money in Yen or Linden $.



South of the platform you will find a recreation of the German battleship Bismarck - again I assume this 2700+ prim beast is the result of using the SLTk Pro tool.



There's a couple of freebies, but nothing to get too excited about. And that, basically, is it. If you are already a Maya user (with deep pockets) you might find this tool really useful, if you do not have something for SL prim imports already.

* A 3DStudioMAX version is due soon.

Thunderbirds are go...

OK... a very quick one. While on my evening rambles in Second Life I came across this echo of my childhood that I thought I would share with you:

There I told you it was a quick one! For those unfamiliar with this check out this link.

In me Liverpool 'ome

I've blogged about many towns and cities from across the globe that have decided to extend themselves into the virtual world of Second Life. Tonight, however, I am coming a lot closer to home - with a trip to the virtual Liverpool sim of Mathew Street. The street is home to The Cavern, the club where The Beatles played in their early days, and famous as the cradle of Merseybeat.

Liverpool has been awarded the honour of being European City of Culture, 2008 - which means a significant investment in the old place, and an influx of tourists who, hopefully, are not just there for the constant barrage of Beatles memorabilia. The Mathew Street sim appears to be part of the promotion for the 2008 event. It has been under construction for quite a number of months now, and seems to be taking shape nicely - although there is much still to be done. Here is a map of the sim - apologies about the poor quality, but it did not appear to get any better than this:


Whether you like it or not, it is inevitable that "iconic buildings" will feature in a construction of this type - and here they are in abundance. Aside from the street itself, the Royal Liver Building takes pride of place. As well as The Cavern, many of Liverpool's more recent clubs and music venues are here, including Cream and the wonderfully scuzzy Barfly:



Even in its current state of build, there are a number of slightly less expected items - such as Anthony Gormley's "Another Place" installation of statues along the tideline at Crosby, just to the North of the city. Inevitably, there is also a Yellow Submarine:



I have actually checked out this sim on a few occasions in the past, watching it coming along - and have noticed that it is rarely devoid of people. I have only really skimmed the content here, and there will be more in the months to come - but it is clear that this place is doing something right. The range of music, dancing and chatting venues is large - and their scale is intimate. Combine that with the inate clannish behaviour of Liverpudlians and you have yourself a sim that should continue to grow in popularity.

The title of this piece comes from a well-known ditty - the words of which can be found here. Just for the sake of clarity, I would like to point that Liverpool is not, in fact, my hometown or home location.

Sint Jan - 's-Hertogenbosch

You might recall that I looked at the impressive recreation in Second Life of the Koelner Dom (Cologne Cathedral), not so long ago. Well I have now encountered a church building on an even grander scale - a recreation of St Jan's Cathedral 's-Hertogenbosch. The city of 's-Hertogenbosch ("in the Duke's Woods"), mercifully abbreviated to Den Bosch, is the capital of North Brabant, and its cathedral, started sometime around 1220, is considered one of the most attractive in the Netherlands*. The city was also the birthplace of painter Hieronymus Bosch.

The Second Life version of the cathedral can be found on the Den Bosch sim. However, you may need to approach it by flying in from the adjacent BrabantStad sim, as there are restrictions on access below a certain altitude. Here are some snaps to give you the flavour of the place:



The build is simply enormous. In fact, it barely manages to fit on its sim, which could make for frustrations as it is almost impossible to circumnavigate, and definitely impossible to get a complete view from any position other than due East (in Brabantstad). There is still a lot of work to be done on the building, so it would not be fair to pass an opinion - though I have to say, despite the care and attention being lavished on it, this is not in the same league as Koelner Dom as far as I am concerned. This is not reflection on the builder. but on the original building itself.

It looks like a small cluster of Dutch Brabant sims may build up around this spot - there are 2 already - indicative of another region joining Second Life.

* Depending on your point of view, this claim may not mean much!

Vedior Asia Pacific and Sapphire

Recruitment seems to be one of the hot business objectives in 2007, with many specialist companies doing their darnedest to attract the brightest and best to their recruitment fairs. One which I hadn't seen before tonight is Vedior Asia Pacific and their Sapphire Technologies brand, which aims to provide "innovative IT contract and permanent staffing solutions." I found their island by my usual, random trial and error technique, that has served me well (and not so well) for nigh on a year now. It seems I am actually a few months late - since the island was trumpeted in a press release back in July. Although I have learned to stop taking such statements at face value. Certainly this island does not look at all complete - though to be fair, the Sapphire Technologies area does seem to be largely finished.

The island is parcelled up, presumably with the aim of co-locating other Vedior brands over time. Right now, Sapphire seems to be the only resident, though a large board in the middle of the island does provide links to a number of recruitment websites. There's a small, quiet sandbox for anyone seeking an out-of-the-way place to practice some building. Sapphire's office in the only construction of any size. I have to say, I don't really like it. It feels cramped and a lot of the detailing (desks, computers etc) is unnecessary, serving to cluttler the small space available. On the plus side, freebie-lovers will be pleased to know there is a range of free T-shirts, and there is some informal meeting space on the top floor where you can indulge in a free (if rather clunky) game of pool. You can also listen to podcasts about recruitment opportunities in the Antipodes.



I think what disappoints me about the Sapphire building is that it is trying to be like a Real Life building, while at the same time being architecturally unsound. And it is too "busy", with too much being crammed unnecessarily into too small a space. It could be a lot more effective if made simpler. Well, that's my tuppence worth.

Evian

Get free skins and a bottle of Evian from one of a variety of drinks dispensers, located at the following SLURLS:

EVIAN PUBLIC VENDORS LOCATIONS Oct. 4
Romantica Beach Club: Romantica (198, 116, 23)
Freebie Planet (3 vendors - one right at the tp area): GamersBrand (74, 203, 25)
Freebie Beach: Freebies (236, 25, 22)
Japan Resort: Japan Resort (116, 85, 21)
France 3D – Courchevel: FRANCE3D Courchevel (39, 175, 22)



Nice idea giving away free skins, made by RealSKIN, but despite some upbeat marketing reviews I was not impressed. At the end of the day, I sought out this dispenser to get freebies - it does not give me any lasting link with Evian, and the subtlety of pure water being good for my skin (or whatever the subtext is supposed to be) was lost on me. Still... it's garnered them a few column inches for very little outlay, so it's probably earned its keep.

Rezzable Hallucinogen

I'm always keen to see what the latest thing that the creative team at Rezzable have cooked up, but it was quite by chance that I happened upon this, their latest build(?), Rezzable Hallucinogen. There isn't a great deal to say about it really - the pictures tell you must of what you need to know.

It is modelled as a sort of atoll, or maybe a circlet of basalt outcrops. A pathway of sorts leads you around these outcrops in almost a full circle. I say "of sorts" as the path has a number of breaks in it, so I don't think there's any way of actually walking it, should you choose to do so. In the centre of the circle a huge statue rise up. There are numerous dreamlike particle effects, and to add to the hallunicatory nature of the place, you will find that all of the basalt outcrops are "phantom" - that is, you can walk (or fall) through them - although the path itself is solid enough. It had a feel of Myst or Riven about it. There is no information, and no obvious thing to do, other than go "Wow! Impressive!" - because it is!

Anyway, take a look and judge for yourself:







If you have visited the Greenies sim, you might recognise the statue in the last picture. If you haven't - then you really should!

I can't help but notice that Rezzable often leave it to the curious ramblers of SL to unearth their builds, so that word spreads virally.

NBC and General Electric

Those of you who have been in or around Second Life for some time may remember that in November, 2006 NBC hosted a joint Real World-Virtual World event: switching on the Christmas tree lights at the Rockefeller Center. To accommodate the numbers, NBC used something like 17 sims, each capable of holding around 50 people. This large estate hung around for a short while before being drastically cut back. One copy of the original site remains at NBC1, now bedecked in its Summer/Fall[?] finery. However, there are a several Virtual NBC sims surrounding it - and it is 2 of these I want to talk about: Virtual NBC 5 and 6.

I'm not sure why I decided to check out NBC. Perhaps it is simply that it is a long time since I last visited. When I checked on the map the familiar view of NBC1 was apparent, but the 2 sims to the South looked quite different, with a number of odd-looking, unfamiliar buildings - worthy of further investigation! And to cap it all, the sims were open - so that rather made my mind up.

The sims, despite their name, play host to General Electric. The scale of the place is truly impressive - too much for me to squeeze in to this one visit. There are buildings for some, perhaps all, of GE's principal divisions. I wandered around the GE Healthcare Experienced Commercial Leadership Program(ECLP) building, which contains meeting areas, a lengthy presentation and something I've not seen in SL before - real virtual people. "What?" Let me explain with a few pictures:


Basically, there is a set of rooms, and in each you will find (a picture of) a person. As you approach, you trigger a movie - and these people start talking to you about who they are, what they do... yada yada. There is a spooky effect when each first starts since their outline goes black and fuzzy (as the media loads) - giving a strange ghostly appearance. The idea is pretty cool - even if, like me, you are not even remotely interested in what they have to say! The impact is heightened by the use of some fine textures. In fact, the textures used throughout the 2 islands are extremely rich and convincing.

Here are some more snaps:




As you can see from the first of these, the list of buildings is quite comprehensive. In the second picture you can see the Recruitment Centre, which also contains a small 6-station orientation zone. Outside is a banner welcoming ECLP candidates. Above the sims, at around 500 metres, is a floating platform, accessible by a lift, that contains a boardroom - replete with fish tank - and a waiting room.

This is only skimming the site however. There is much, much more. Broadly though, the objectives of the buildappear to include: recruitment; company information; formal and informal meetings. It does not look quite finished yet - there are some presentation areas still awaiting content. But it is almost there. It's not really to my taste - being very corporate in nature - but nevertheless I am impressed by the care and attention, and sheer build quality of the place.

The construction look quite "Aimee Weber", but was actually done by Fatal Raine under the aegis of NBC Digital Innovation. For the record, I understand that NBC is owned by... umm... General Electric.

Chinese School - Michigan State University

After a couple of posts that have been lacking in photos, I thought I should redress the balance. Tonight's foray took me close to Kolding Danmark, that I mentioned yesterday. "Close" in SL terms, but in Real Life a long way apart - for this trip was to Chinese School, run by Michigan State University.

The sim provides a number of lessons in Chinese - I am assuming Mandarin, though that wasn't clear. At the moment, although many of the buildings appear complete, it is clearly still under development - with a lot of "virtual building rubble" lying about and many of the features awaiting completion, such as the calligraphy house. The lessons appear to work fine though - at least the ones I tried. You can pick up a HUD* to guide you around - but this, too, seemed to be far from ready. In picking up the HUD, it suggests you can win L$ - always a good way to bring in the punters! The accompanying card tells me: "You will be given missions on this island which will result in gaining and spending money and other items. You will have to demonstrate an increasing knowlege of the chinese language in order to progress." I did not spend long enough to find out if this works yet - but I'm guessing not. Anyway... to the photos:



There are some cute ideas at work here - if a little raw at the moment. For example, the guy in the restaurant (see above) has an animated face, so that in theory it looks like he is actually talking to you. In fact, he looks like he has a major eye infection to me - but the idea is a nice one. At the bottom right you can see a still from the first lesson, shown on a video box. The movie I saw was a bit stilted - but then it's not there to win Oscars, but teach basic language skills!

Disconcertingly, the island is dotted with "chat listeners" that will record all chat near them. On reflection, I realise my initial paranoia about Big Brother China listening in on conversations was somewhat misplaced. I'm not entirely clear of the purpose - but I think there are sound educational reasons for doing this! Or so I like to think.

As for the builds - to me most are rather garish, lacking in much subtlety or depth of texture. But perhaps plans are in place to render them a little more convincingly. It seems that the majority of the work is complete here, and I would hope it was only a matter of weeks (who knows? Maybe days) before it opens officially.

*Head-Up Display

Update 12th Dec 07:
Title corrected from "University of Michigan" to "Michigan State University."

Accenture Scales Up

Accenture, one of the world's leading IT consultancies, is taking a well-trodden and reliable route into Second Life. Some months ago (I lose count - 6, maybe?) they established a private island called Accenture Techlabs. This was then followed by a small amount of hullaballoo when Accenture Italia showcased an office on one the Italian sims (reviewed at Kzero). Not long after, this Italian business unit acquired its own island, while the French tried their hand at recruitment in Second Life (covered here).

Now, after all these disparate dabblings, I find that a 6-sim island has appeared on the map, unsurprisingly named Accenture 1-6. At the moment these are closed to ramblers, but this is hardly surprising, as the Map View indicates that they are still in the early stages of development. Indeed, 2 of the islands still look to be in their default, delivered state.

For all I know, there are other islands - not emblazoned with the company name - where they are working with customers. I would be surprised if they weren't.

This approach reminds me very much of another IT company in Second Life. Starting with small, private, regional (or business vertical) sites to test out the feasibility, then ramping up to a significant presence once internal buy-in had been achieved - with a mix of both private and public sites. The boys at eightbar will doubtless recognise this - even if I have over-simplified things. The Accenture build may not (yet) be anything like the same scale - but it does seem to be following a similar track. And very effective it is too.

You have to start small unless you already have top level buy-in - and that would be verging on the miraculous, to put it mildly. The best way to get the necessary buy-in is using a low cost "build and promote" approach. Until your colleagues have actually got their virtual hands on Second Life, they probably will not "get it." So build something privately that gives management or, rather, the key influencers an opportunity to try out the environment. Once they have seen for themselves at first hand, then getting approval for scaling up should be relatively easy. Interest groups with their own agendas spring up, and the build can diversify to encompass a wide range of activities and objectives. However, merely constructing a "field of dreams" is not enough. Internal communication and promotion is vital, in order to spread the word, and to build and maintain the momentum.

Of course, this may not be behind Accenture's ramp-up, but it certainly seems plausible to me.