Real Business in a Virtual World
In 1997 I predicted it, dreamed about it and anticipated the day when virtual reality would be a real-time experience. Oh it was already happening then but not on a mainstream level. In 2006 and beyond virtual reality is um… a reality. I am not talking about video games I am talking about real human interaction with other real humans in a virtual environment. (Sit back boys and girls…I feel this post is going to be long)
Before I can make my point I need to give you some back story. My first experience interacting with real people in a virtual world was on a game server in my office at Netsales Inc (now defunct) Yep it was always Sales (my department) against the Techs and boy did I think my handle was cool “KillerSalesman†Halflife was the game and we were so happy that we had access to a fast pipe (in 1999 cable Internet was still not common though growing by leaps and bounds) and working for a technology company had its perks. T1 access, a fast computer and loads of Mountain Dew!
Fast forward to 2002; and you would find KillerSalesman exploring the virtual landscape of www.worlds.com A smart offering that served up 3D worlds with simple maps and blocky Avatars (see definition 3) What made Worlds.com cool was the endorsements of such rock royalty as Aerosmith , David Bowie and One hit wonders Hanson. Users could text chat, add buddies, visit different locations (and there were secret rooms with no doors and hidden areas which made exploring more fun).
2003 found KillerSalesman in a quandary as he beta tested two more virtual properties the first being 
www.secondlife.com see video. What is attractive about this property is their fee based model allows users to OWN virtual property. Let me say it again…You pay real world money to BUY property that you OWN for life in the virtual landscape. You convert real dollars to virtual dollars called Linden Dollars and spend them inside the virtual economy. Yes folks that revelation changed everything. It meant that people found so much value in the social aspect of these virtual worlds that they would pay to set up shop for life! I won’t go into details about Worlds.com because it is not the focus of this post. Visit their site and join for free to discover for yourself just how cool their network is.
The second aforementioned property is www.there.com see video this is the one that really struck a chord with me. I was
in on the beta so I got to see the community grow and change. I saw advertisers like Nike and Levis advertising on virtual billboards in a virtual landscape to real people. I saw a virtual economy sprout up as developers built vehicles, houses and all types of creative objects for sale in There auctions. When There added voice over IP I was one of the first to test it. Now we could talk to one another and that made it almost like being there. In the first days of Voice I was actually hosting live concerts. I would play guitar and sing on a virtual stage and people would literally come to my show and sit-down and listen. They would even applaud after each song. No doubt about it “There†was like being…there!
So getting to the point of this post (I appreciate you the user for humoring me and especially the Editor for approving this post because it is not a post about hardware)
I think that in the future the whole web experience will be 3D. You will literally surf to a site. Platforms like Yahoo will be Immersive 3D communities. When you want to visit a site you will fly there or take a hot air balloon. Shopping for jeans will be literally like walking through the mall. Walking into the Gap you will see live camera feeds. You will speak to the sales assistant via VoIP. Companies will hold conferences connecting offices from across the world in a virtual conference room. They will show real video and demonstrate products with live camera feeds.
Is business ready for 3D? You bet! The Internet is STILL redefining the way the world does business and interacts. Three years ago a startup company named Netflix changed the way the world rents DVDs forever. Right now there is a 15 year old that in the next decade is going to become a BaJillionaire for inventing a technology or business model that incorporates an immersive 3D experience with social networking and user created content. The sky is the limit and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out!
If you want to meet KillerSalesman his new name is SONray. You can find him exploring the Metaverse in There.com surfing on his HoverBoard or flying with his HoverPack. He’s an approachable guy and once in a while he still does a live show or two but most of his time is spent dreaming up new ways to exploit this revolution that is 3D and immersive worlds where social networking meets virtual reality.
Have Fun!
Tom Cellie
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