3D applications and virtual worlds are moving dramatically
into the enterprise and not just in the realm of e-learning. Virtual worlds can enhance collaborative work inside the
enterprise and deliver value to customers in the marketplace.
This week, I attended the Virtual Worlds Conference in San Jose, and Wednesday’s enterprise panel on “Applications That Work” , moderated by Linda Ban of IBM’s 3D Internet and Digital Convergence group, assured the audience that the enterprise virtual world was not synonymous with Second Life. Business needs for virtual private worlds with security and access control were acknowledged.
There’s a tendency to use the terms virtual worlds and 3D applications interchangeably. 3D applications are often employed to do group exercises and practice (i.e., disaster and emergency responder scenarios, visually rich training experience on complex tools and instruments).
Virtual worlds are 3D, visually immersive collaborative
environments, with strong elements of online social networks to foster
interactivity and informal learning, and often in a way that is persistent and
sustained beyond a vocational training session.
Virtual world communities of interest and interaction can be part of a spectrum of tools to enable distributed project management. Teams in a virtual world, meeting in a 3D project or situation room, readily access unified communications mechanisms (IM, VoiP, Chat), or and can integrate document and application sharing functions into the 3D experience.
Proton Media’s initial core competency in e-learning has
evolved to include, ProtoSphere,
a 3D environment for project collaboration and informal learning. A hosted or on-premise offering, depending
on the customer’s preference, Protosphere’s live, virtual 3D world, also has
social networking and collaborative tools such as blogs and wikis, simulation
capabilities, VoIP and text chat.
VT&T’s capability wasn’t 3D, per se, but a 2D representation of a meeting room, with whiteboards and screens for application and document sharing, a “file cabinet” in the corner, that contained all the team’s project artifacts (documents, project plans). VT&T’s strength was in its robust integration with typical corporate communications and applications environments, making the project room an easy extension of existing infrastructure
While Multiverse’ platform play is primarily focused on the online game and 3D Massively Multi-player Online Games (MMOG) it’s capability is readily used for non-game virtual worlds. Their customer, Accelerate was demonstrating a virtual employee “on-boarding” application where a new employee receives their initial orientation.
IBM had a strong presence at this conference, with a large booth, and presenting or moderating several panels. According to Wayne Smith, a consulting specialist with the 3D group, IBM is very active in helping customers identify the right virtual world technology for use internally and for customer engagement.
*Second Life Brand Map
Wayne demonstrated the Deutsche Bank presence on Second Life, where DB engages their customers in visualizing some of their real-world goals and then develop a financial plan to realize those goals. Deutsche Bank, according to Smith, has kiosks in their brick-and-mortar settings for customers to access the Second Life-delivered services.
It was a fascinating two days. More observations and summary on the way.
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