virtual worlds update

Virtual WorldsFriday, May 9, 2008San Francisco CA

Melanie SwanMS Futures Group

Palo Alto, CA415-505-4426

[email protected]

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


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


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


Game

World

Virtual world vs. MMORPG

Source: Linden Lab


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


Corporate presence in virtual worlds


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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)


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


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


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


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


Enterprise virtual worlds: Qwaq, Wonderland

Nanotechnology Island SIMS microscope

BASHIBA Data Climate

eCommerce

Qwaq Forums

Sun’s Wonderland


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


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


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


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

[email protected]