Some are using OpenSim internally. But from what I've seen more companies are using proprietary platforms, like ProtoSphere from ProtonMedia. The commercial projects are more mature and polished and can offer, say, integration with Microsoft Sharepoint.
Other proprietary, commercial projects -- like AvayaLive Engage, VenueGen, or ReactionGrid's Jibe -- have Web-based user interfaces, making them much easier to end users.
Many features appear in proprietary platforms long before they show up in the open source world. (Not all, but many, especially if the open source project is governed by committee memebers with different interests.) Consider Flash, for example -- it's been around for a decade, and we're only now seeing its functionality become a part of the Web standard (as Web GL and HTML 5).
Great feedback, Maria. I've been in the same frame of mind as Mitch on this one: I haven't seen virtual worlds as enterprise relevant. But clearly, there appears to be activity we're not aware of.
That said, most enterprises involved in virtual worlds are using OpenSim and other open source technology to build their own applications and have abandoned Second Life for the most part. Is that an accurate assessment?
Yes, I've talked at length to folks working for Siemens, Avon, Xerox and other big corporate customers, to the Georgia School district, to a number of different universities using a variety of different platforms. And I know of projects going on in the pharma, petroleum, and retail industries where collaborative 3D environments are used for prototyping and research. Some projects are still in the beta stage, and not ready to go public, others are considered a competitive advantage and don't want to go public.
And, after all the hype about Second Life that fizzled out, I think some companies are reticent to talk. And when they do talk, they talk about their platforms not as virtual worlds but as collaborative design environments, or training simulations, or in other, enterprise-friendly terms to reduce the association with Second Life even further.
Interesting, Maria! You say the vendors are saying this, but have you talked with customers who are actually implementing the technology? How do we know the vendors aren't just, well, simulating demand here just like they simulate reality?
Forgive me for being so skeptical, but after three years of listening to Linden Lab pronounce how they were going to replace the Web, I'm burned out on virtual worlds.
From speaking to the vendors, there seems to be three types of areas where they're making money:
1. Corporate simulations, training videos, collaborative prototyping environments, etc... These usually involve proprietary, high-end platforms like ProtoSphere. There's a lot of money here, with some deployments running into the six figures. These guys don't care about Second Life -- it's not secure enough, it doesn't have the functionality they need, the support isn't there, and it's not stable enough.
Here's a press release showcasing what one company is doing with the ProtoSphere platform -- and which landed it in the InformationWeek 500 this year: http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2012/09/42029/
Some folks are using OpenSim behind the firewall for this, or other proprietary platforms like SAIC's Olive or Open Qwaq (formerly Teleplace). The cost isn't so much in the software here, as in the custom development time.
2. Marketing games, virtual tours, etc... -- These usually involve Unity-based platforms, run on the Web, and are aimed at connecting with the public.
3. Educational use. Scotland has a national OpenSim grid. A school district in Georgia has a district-wide grid. Many colleges have their own grids (some hypergrid-enabled). Other educators rent land on existing grids, like JokaydiaGrid, OSGrid, Kitely, and many others. There are also still educators in Second Life, but OpenSim offers more land, more prims, better support, a more stable platform (depending on the grid or hosting provider), at a tiny fraction of the cost.
OpenSim is starting from a low base -- the technology is new, and the platform is hindered by its choice of viewers, which are difficult to use. But the fact that it's mostly compatible with Second Life - same interface, same building tools, can bring in the same content and scripts -- makes it easy for folks to migrate over, or to use Second Life's extensive educational resources.
In my opinion, the big money rigth now is in the proprietary platforms, but the open platforms like OpenSim are a better bet for the future, similar to where the World Wide Web was twenty years ago.
Hi, Maria! I was a Second Life enthusiast 2007-10, but now I'm pretty skeptical that the technology has a future. What kind of demand are we seeing for this in business? How many companies are currently using virtual worlds, and how strategically are they being used?
The only people who seem to care about non-gaming virtual worlds anymore are educators, and even there the demand seems to be legacy -- hold out Second Life enthusiasts from 2007-8.
But Maria you're clearly more plugged into this community than I am. Are you seeing demand?
I would imagine a platform where you could customize your avatar and from there, you could move it to as many "Worlds" as you want. Be able to teleport into social sites, games, etc, without losing your virtual identity.
Yes, Mr. Roques, just like in the real world, you'd have the same identity everywhere.
Yes, there are currently degrees of isolation on the hypergrid -- as there are on the Web -- and I expect them to continue to evolve.
They include:
* Total complete privacy and isolation: the virtual environment is completely behind the firewall and nobody can go in or out -- all users have to be behind the firewall as well (or use virtual private networks to tunnel in).
* Almost complete privacy: the virtual environment is hosted externally, but you have to log in directly, and you can't teleport in and out to other worlds.
* Password wall: you can teleport in and out, but only if you have a password and other credentials.
* Some privacy: Some users can teleport in and out, and others can't, depending on job function. Outsiders can't teleport in at all.
* Various combinations of the above: such as, some areas are password protected, others are public. Or company employees can only go to areas allowed by their job functions, outsiders can only go to public areas. Or some areas are reserved for members of particular groups, and group leaders can decide who gets to be in the group and who doesn't.
We'll all be living in the Matrix soon enough. At least for some part of the day. And our grandkids would ask us to tell them stories about how we used to commute to work through traffic.
No, on second thought, our grandkids will be asking us to stop telling them the same old stories about commuting because they're so boring and they've heard them a million times already.
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