Flip-flop-flipping into a Mirror World

I've never done a flip-flop-flip like I've done with Second Life. A few months ago I was smitten by the endless entrepreneurial possibilities of an advanced virtual world. Then when Google made SketchUp available for free I realized that its not virtual worlds that interest me so much as Mirror Worlds (what I previously referred to as First.5).

Then, a few days ago I wandered across the Dublin sim(ulator) in Second Life (SL) and the flip-flop-flip was complete. The experience of walking down a virtual Grafton Street convinced me that Mirror Worlds have arrived.

A year ago Matt Jones (Senior Design Manager, User-Experience, Nokia Design) wrote about Practical Mirroworlds and quoted from Amazon's synopsis on Gelertner's book -

"Mirror Worlds are high-tech voodoo dolls: by interacting with the images, you interact with reality."

Just think about that for a minute. Imagine walking into any one of the shops on Grafton Street SL and having your virtual purchase translated into a real world transaction. But why would you do that when you could just visit their website? This is the argument that many critics make regarding 3D operating systems (that's what Robert Scoble calls Second Life). Indeed I would have agreed with them until recently. I felt that navigation of a 3D space was too inefficient and simply unnecessary for normal everyday computing tasks. So what has changed my opinion?

1. Adam Curry has become obsessed with Second Life in recent weeks and is now building the Podshow Palace as a venue for Podshow virtual gigs. The arguments Curry has with his wife Patricia about 'wasting time' in a virtual world are probably more elucidating than any of his monologues on the subject. One conversation went something like the following (from memory)
   

   Patricia: But it [Curry's avatar] is not you!
   Adam: Yes it is
   Patrica: Oh no it's not, how can it be?
   Adam: When I change my clothes in the evening is it still me?
   Patricia: Well yes, but.... ummmm,...

   The point Curry makes brilliantly - and this is something you just have to explore Second Life to understand - is that an avatar is as much an embodiment of our minds as our physical bodies are. And the interaction between avatars, including instant messaging, visual cues and gestures is superior to the interaction between people in regular IM. Gestures in particular, which can be scripted and customized, convey an extraordinary amount of information that smilies could never hope to emulate. Seeing another avatar shrug and sigh as you try to explain something gets the message across like no amount of writing.
2. Venture Capitalist - Joi Ito - whose Keynote at the SDForum was entitled The Future of the Metaverse, writes extensively about his experiences in Second Life and World of Warcraft. Indeed he's spent countless hours in the latter environment in recent months and his blogging output has taken a nosedive as a result. People like Joi Ito don't waste their time.... 'nuff said.
3. Business Week recently featured Second Life as its cover story and interviewed people like Anshe Chung who run lucrative virtual world businesses.
4. Eric Rice has built an incredible virtual conference and exhibition center in Second Life that's even wowing the real life architects. The center opened recently by hosting a virtual Barcamp. Rice says -
   

   "Bearing the name of and a supporting media site powered by Hipcast, this convention center is epic and supports two different economic environments. Those that exist solely in Second Life (weapons makers, clothing makers, virtual art exhibits, book faires and such, and also those that exist in RL that have a multi-faceted approach to branding/marketing, product development, education and such."

5. Version 1.10 of Second Life was recently released and includes hooks into the real web. Thus mashups with Flickr and del.icio.us, etc, are now possible.
6. Warner Brothers are promoting artists through listening kiosks in Second Life.
7. The New Globe Theater project for Governor's Island in New York harbour (make sure to watch the promotional video) has commissioned a mirror world of the island in Second Life to promote the idea internationally. Casting will soon begin with actors from around the world for production of Shakespearean play within Second Life.
8. In a Metaverse Sessions podcast with Reuben Steiger of Millions of Us (involved in the New Globe project) he says the presence of VCs at SD Forum is an indication that they're ready to jump into the space
9. The 3D capabilities of the Nintendo Wii controller point to the exciting developments coming down the line as regards the navigation of virtual worlds.

All in all there's a bunch of smart people doing some incredible things in this new frontier. They can't all be wrong can they? I don't think so because if you spend any amount of time in a mirror world like the Dublin sim the possibilities suddenly seem endless. As Matt Jones says -

"What realisations and reactions would we have if we could gaze into this mirrorworld knowing it was real, not a simEarth, and further more - the only one we’ve got?

It would be the software-equivalent of when the space program in the late-sixties afforded us the first view back at the pale blue dot we’re stuck on."

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Bernie Goldbach says students are guaranteed social lepers if they choose to remain outside of virtual worlds.

Technorati Tags: second life, mirror worlds, virtual worlds

Comments

[Bernie Goldbach]

The way I see it, any virtual world that has as wide-ranging facilities as browser engines and micropayments is doing something more than entertainment. Adam Curry is acting like Gerry Ryan when he discovered the "on" switch. Inside SL, the swarm can be intimidating. Anyone who enjoys MUD activities, building SIM cities, live chatting or webcams with cuties will sacrifice TV time for Second Life.

This is not an endorsement, just an observation.

Once the social psychologists start probing SL, I'm certain it will be deemed unhealthy for normal relationships.

[Conn O Muineachain]

Hey James, let's have the next Limerick Geek Dinner in there! ;-) The Dublin sim is amazing isn't it? (although Grafton Street is a bit short!) Full marks to those involved.

[Emmet]

James, you've got an odd knack of writing about things that I've just started to be curious about, and providing a wealth of references for me to check out.

I wrote about the same idea as your mirror worlds without realising it a while back (http://blog.thoughtwax.com/?p=158), and have recently come back to thinking about it in relation to online gaming.

[James Corbett]

Interesting angle Emmet. I must admit this area is my new obsession and I'm probably going to piss people off blogging about it as much as I do blogging about OPML ;-)

[John Mahon]

Thanks for your comments about my Dublin Sim in SL. Unlike all other builds in SL, I worked my team to provide the highest level of accuracy we could achieve while still including some key Dublin landmarks.
During a meeting with Linden Labs in San Francisco, they also raised the prospect of virtual shops, with virtual assistants conducting real transactions.
If you're wandering around Dublin in Second Life, don't forget to say hello.

[anto]

dublin