Retail sector timelines
Retail sector timelines. After a pretty slow start, real world retail brands are quickly beginning to realise the importance of a virtual world presence.
Here’s the updated timeline for the retail sector in Second Life.
Retail sector timelines. After a pretty slow start, real world retail brands are quickly beginning to realise the importance of a virtual world presence.
Here’s the updated timeline for the retail sector in Second Life.
Armani opens for (limited) business. Well, after the rumours and news flow, the Armani Second Life store is now open (ish).
The store is on its own island and modeled on the real world shop in Milan. So, let’s break this down a little….
It’s on it’s own island. Based on the actual size of the build, there’s a lot of wastage. Basically the island only contains the shop and a small press area with the rest of the space unused. The pro’s and con’s of real world brands locating on their own islands are discussed here.
The Second Life store (here’s the SLurl) is modeled on the real world shop in Milan. Recreating real places in virtual worlds does bring benefits such as familiarity and a point of reference. However, retailers have to re-think the rules of selling and presentation in virtual worlds.
Continue reading →
Supersize Me. A post about design creativity in virtual worlds.
It’s interesting to assess how virtual worlds are built. Taking Second Life as an example, the vast majority of the landscape has design values based on the real world.
There’s houses, with windows and roofs. There’s roads with stop signs and road markings. And importantly, designed objects are in 99% of cases scaled in accordance to the height of an avatar.
And there’s nothing wrong with this. After all, virtual worlds need to be useable and functional, so the objects within them need to be fit for purpose in terms being designed for the user. But, let’s not forget that from a design perspective, virtual worlds are blank canvasses for creativity.
In some instances, creating objects at sizes far larger than normally expected can bring advantages. These include:
Here’s some examples of supersized objects and places in Second Life and There.
Over on Dell Island there’s a giant version of the XPS 710 desktop machine. The object is fully interactive, with moving fans and the ability to explore how the machine has been built.
Is this interesting?
Continue reading →
7 Point Plan for Marketing in Second Life – updated. The 7 Point Plan for Marketing in Second Life was the first ever generic strategic framework for marketers looking to enter virtual worlds.
The Plan contains 7 key steps needed to be considered when implementing metaverse strategies and contains relevant case studies from brands such as Coldwell Banker, Crown Plaza, Mercedes Benz and Nissan.
Second Life developers included in the Plan include Code 4 Software, Phase 4, Rivers Run Red, Spun Logic, Millions Of Us and the Electric Sheep Company.
The 7 Point Plan for Marketing in Second Life can be ordered here.
Here’s an extract from point number 5.
Continue reading →
London in Google Earth. The concept of re-creating real world places in virtual worlds has proved to be a popular way of encouraging and harvesting communities in Second Life.
Although Google Earth isn’t a virtual world (yet) there’s already a high number of buildings available to view in 3D. The Google 3D warehouse is a repository of cities (and other items/objects) across the world starting to be modeled and available in Google Earth.
Here’s some shots using the Canary Wharf area of London as an example.
Continue reading →
Skype Out of this (virtual) world. Such a simple idea but fiendishly useful.
The ability to remote view or see inside Second Life without having to have the client running is a subject that has had a fair amount of discussion over the last few months. Now, it’s possible via video conferencing on Skype and Sightspeed.
K Zero will be running a series of demonstrations of this technology next week (wc Oct 1) in conjunction with Mellanium, a start-up company based in Toronto and Preston, UK. Contact K Zero to reserve a place on the tours or to learn more about broadcasting from Second Life using Skype.
Google Sketchup content creation. Seeing as we’re talking about the Google and their plans for virtual worlds, here’s some videos showing user generated content using Google Sketchup and Google Earth. Further reading and insight into developments to date in Google Earth can be found on the excellent Google Earth Blog
The Google virtual world game plan. News stories of the last few days have been numerous reports about Google launching a virtual world. Here’s a few of those headlines:
Google Testing “My World” Second Life Rival?
‘Rumors of Google’s plans to create a virtual world that rivals that of Second Life have popped up once again over the weekend. The company could now be collaborating with Arizona State University to test the 3D social network, which may be tied into Google’s current applications of Google Earth and Google
Maps.’
Google’s Virtual World Could Be Business Answer To Second Life
‘Google’s venture could be competitive right out of the box. That’s because My World — the expected name for the venture — won’t be starting from scratch. It will likely be cobbled together from a bunch of technologies already in existence at the company, including Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google SketchUp for 3-D modeling.’
Rumor: Google Planning Second Life Rival?
‘A few teasers have led most to conclude this must be a Google project:a major internet company – yep, that sounds like Google. Questions asking if you have a Gmail account – hmm, I doubt MSFT or Yahoo would be asking that. Google already has Google earth and 3D modeling software.’
The backbone of most of the circulating stories is the piecing together of core Google applications – Google Earth, Google Maps and Sketch-up – three apps based around the presentation of referenced spacial data plus the ability to create 3D modeling. So, on this basis it would seem like a logical step. Continue reading →
Audio stream from ‘Protecting Brands in Second Life’ panel. Thanks to Celebrity Millionsofus for moderating the panel about virtual brand management. The 56 minute audio of this event is available here VW_Panel_2_Branding.mp3 .
Any marketers or brand owners interested in the metaversal applications and implications of managing their brands in a virtual space should listen to this smorgageboard of insight.
Interestingly (if you’re into this type of thing) and totally off-topic, the world ‘smorgageboard’ only produces 24 unique search matches on Google. Or maybe I’m spelling it wrong.
K Zero has a brand-new case study available called the ‘5 Rules of Virtual Brand Management‘ fresh off the press. F
Order the 5 Rules here.
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