Virtual WorldsFriday, May 9, 2008San Francisco CA
Melanie SwanMS Futures Group
Palo Alto, CA415-505-4426
2Virtual Worlds Update
Virtual worlds summary
• Virtual worlds are the natural evolution of the Internet as an information, communications and commerce platform
• Virtual worlds are becoming increasingly routine for business, academic and government use
• Like other newtech, virtual worlds are complementary and category defining
• Virtual worlds are not just for architectural builds, simulation and interaction, the next obvious step is streaming in live data and representing it visually
3Virtual Worlds Update
Agenda
Virtual worlds• What are virtual worlds?
• Who is using virtual worlds?
• Second Life
A closer look• Technical details
• Economy
• Accounting, tax and legal issues
Advanced data applications• 3D command centers / green data centers • Data visualization tools
Opportunities for your firm
4Virtual Worlds Update
What are virtual worlds?
Source: http://www.virtualworldsreview.com
• Definition: 3D online persistent world with a sense of presence and simultaneous experience in context; 3D social network
5Virtual Worlds Update
Game
World
Virtual world vs. MMORPG
Source: Linden Lab
6Virtual Worlds Update
Who is using virtual worlds?
IBM
Dr. Dobbs Life 2.0 Conference International Spaceflight Museum
Showtime “The L Word”CBS “CSI New York”
Vodafone
SLCN “Metanomics”
Princeton
US Congress
Second Health Operating Theater
7Virtual Worlds Update
Corporate presence in virtual worlds
8Virtual Worlds Update
Second Life is the biggest virtual world
• 45,000 concurrency (at any time)• 475,000 active users (last 7 days)• 1.2 m active users (last 2 months)• 13 m total accounts
• 2 m assets created per day• 35 TB of user-created data• 800,000 unique items sold or
traded per month • 500 events per day• 15 m concurrent scripts• 10 Gbps peak bandwidth
Source: http://secondlife.com/whatis/economy-graphs.php
Million Square Meters of Second Life Land
Total User Hours (millions)
Source: Linden Lab
9Virtual Worlds Update
Diverse Second Life residents
Source: http://static.secondlife.com/economy/stats_200804.xls
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
18-24 25-34 35-44 45+
Average monthly hours by age tier
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
18-24 25-34 35-44 45+
Resident market share by age tier
%• 43% female• 60% international
– Top 5 countries: US, Germany, Japan, UK, France
10Virtual Worlds Update
Technical details
Linden Scripting Language (LSL)• Event-driven and states, not object
oriented
Havok 4 physics engine
Primitives, assets and lag
Open-source initiatives• Client exists
• Server TBA
• Standards and portability
Security
Griefer attack
Open standards information: http://opensimulator.org, https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Architecture_Working_Group
Linden Scripting Language
11Virtual Worlds Update
Economy and Linden$ currency
Source: http://secondlife.reuters.com
US$ Spent by Users
(in Millions)
US $ Exchanged on Lindex
(in Millions)
• LindeX exchange operated by Linden Lab
– Buy: USD $.30 transaction fee – Sell: 3.5% transaction fee
• Monetary policy• Banks, stock exchanges
US Dollars spent in Second Life over the last 24 hours
Source: http://secondlife.com/whatis/economy-graphs.php
12Virtual Worlds Update
Land is the most significant virtual asset
Source: http://www.secondlife.com
Available plots
Available island areas
200820052003
Raw Land
Growth of Second Life
• Purchase via auction or resale– Premium membership required ($9.95/mo)– USD $13 + $5/mo for 512 sq m– USD $1,675 + $295/mo for 65,536 sq m island
Anshe ChungReal Estate Developer
13Virtual Worlds Update
Virtual world accounting and valuation issues
• Intangible assets– Land and real estate– Objects – Scripts, animations and applications– In-world businesses: product, service– Brands: sim, business, avatar– Accounts: avatars/characters, assets– World platforms
• Specific risks – World disappearance– Economic disturbance– Ease of copying– Low transparency
Motorati SpokesAvatar: caLLie cLine
BarCamp Second Life
14Virtual Worlds Update
Virtual world tax issues
• VAT, sales tax• Income tax
– 1099 contractors
• Gains tax
• Challenges of levying tax– Identity verification – Jurisdiction determination– Identification of activity– Monitoring, tracking and enforcement– Highly international environment
15Virtual Worlds Update
Legal and other issues
• Key rules– Linden Lab: Terms of Service Agreement,
Community Standards, Privacy Policy, Digital Millennium Copyright Act
– Sim covenants
• Dispute resolution– Metaverse Republic
• Recent cases– Eros, LLC v. Doe (pending)
• Copyright infringement (US $2,250)
– Marc Bragg v. Linden Lab (Oct 2007)• Land acquisition via landbots (US $8,000)
• Money laundering
16Virtual Worlds Update
Data visualization: IBM’s 3D command centers
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/IBM%209/170/124/141
IBM’s green data centers, VNOCs (virtual network operating centers)
17Virtual Worlds Update
Eolus and Smiley 3D command centers
Smiley Telescope, PARI, Balsam Grove, NC USA
Smiley in Second Life Smiley Virtual Control Room: real-time radio data received into 3D graph
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/strace%20island/55/43/27
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/EOLUS/170/139/42Eolus enterprise facilities
management control room
18Virtual Worlds Update
Data visualization: data representation tools
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/uvvy2/90/243/29SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/SciLands/170/92/28
GreenPhosphor’s Glasshouse plotter MS Futures Groups’ 3D Stock Chart
19Virtual Worlds Update
VIT Mindmap
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/VIT%20World/128/128/0
20Virtual Worlds Update SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ACS/174/82/114
Cheminformatic-Assisted Image Array (CAIA)
8 images24 meters
36 meters 12 images
21Virtual Worlds Update
Data visualization in Second Life
Real-time LAX airport traffic
Real-time NOAA weather data SAP airline booking application
Wiki: http://sldataviz.pbwiki.com
SAP eCommerce
22Virtual Worlds Update
Enterprise virtual worlds: Qwaq, Wonderland
Nanotechnology Island SIMS microscope
BASHIBA Data Climate
eCommerce
Qwaq Forums
Sun’s Wonderland
23Virtual Worlds Update
Virtual world ecosystem
Investment transaction in the last 12 months or was acquired
Virtual World PlatformsLinden Lab’s Second Life, ActiveWorlds, Entropia Universe, There, Kaneva, MultiVerse,
vastpark, metaplace, Cybertown, Habbo Hotel, Muse, Taatu, Whyville, Voodoo Chat, Traveler, Sims Online, Club Penguin, WebKins, Hipihi, Uonenet, Noviking
3D Modeling and Physics Engine Platforms Havok, Ageia PhysX, Unreal Engine, Open GL, Maya, 3D Studio, Croquet,
SoftimageIXSI, Form Z, Strata 3D CX, RenderMan, Blender, Wings3D
Virtual Businesses and BrandsSL Boutique, Anshe Chung Studios, DeCuir Creations, FairChang, Etopia, Hunter’s Cove, Preen, House of Nyla, Second Life Cable Network, Rezzable, caLLie cLine,
PeoplePool, Raven Pennyfeather, Lapointe & Bastchild Designs, InStyle, Vista Animations, Chai Skins, Acedia Albion, AV Puli Animations, Reel Expression,
J&S Aviation, SZ Designs, Vindy Vindaloo, Esoterica Couture
Virtual World Developers and Agencies Electric Sheep Company, Millions of Us, Rivers Run Red, CMP, Aimee Weber
Studio, Campfire Media, depo consulting, Forterra, Metaversatility, Wish Farmers, Virtual Worldlets, Icarus Studios, Proton Media, NGI Group 3Di, DAZ 3D, Code 4
Software
24Virtual Worlds Update
Opportunities for your firm
• Provide industry leadership – Virtual worlds white papers– OpenSim working group– Data visualization development
• Support clients in the virtual medium– Platform counseling– Enterprise simulation setup – 3D command center setup– Security and traffic management (SOX)– Interaction opportunity
• Facilitate internal initiatives– Recruiting, telepresence, collaboration
25Virtual Worlds Update
Virtual worlds summary
• Virtual worlds are the natural evolution of the Internet as an information, communications and commerce platform
• Virtual worlds are becoming increasingly routine for business, academic and government use
• Like other newtech, virtual worlds are complementary and category defining
• Virtual worlds are not just for architectural builds, simulation and interaction, the next obvious step is streaming in live data and representing it visually
26Virtual Worlds Update
Resources
• Open standards and data visualization– http://opensimulator.org– https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Architecture_Working_Group – http://sldataviz.pbwiki.com and Data Visualization group
• Second Life SLURL Directories– http://nbhorizons.com/list.htm (companies)– http://edumuve.com/tour/ (international locations)– http://npsl.wikispaces.com/Tenant+Directory (non-profits)
• Getting started in Second Life– http://sl.nmc.org/wiki/Getting_Started
• Event listings– http://secondlife.com/events– http://metanomics.net/ *
• News, blogs, etc.– http://secondlife.reuters.com/ *– http://www.ugotrade.com/– http://www.virtualworldsreview.com/ * Business-related
Provided under an open source Creative Commons 3.0 licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Thank you
Melanie SwanMS Futures Group
Palo Alto, CA415-505-4426