It's interesting: a few months ago, there was a backlash against virtual worlds in the media, based mainly on the perceived lack of success of marketing and branding campaigns within these worlds. However, right now, there's a lot more optimism about corporate virtual collaboration. So perhaps it's no surprise to see agencies who've previously focused on the branding side moving into this new sector. For example, Rivers Run Red.
The company is one of the most respected virtual agencies, but it’s just announced its Rivers Run Red Immersive Workspaces platform, which it’s pitching as a tool for companies to communicate, collaborate and co-design in virtuality. What that means is a 3D environment for each client, working with a set of web applications.
These include a tracking and activity monitoring system, meetings and transcript reporting, diary management and room bookings, and a bunch of widgets that present real-world data in the 3D workspace. Hopefully all this has been made easy to use for enterprises who don’t have much experience in virtual worlds. Rivers Run Red CEO Justin Bovington is certainly talking up the move:
“It’s time for virtual worlds to go to work. We’ve witnessed a shift from their use for entertainment and PR to having a real and relevant role in enterprise applications. With our platform bridging the gap between the web and the Second Life Grid, it’s no longer about 2D or 3D virtual worlds but rather how they can each amplify and add value by complementing each other’s strengths.”
Interestingly, that mention of the grid is the only time Second Life is mentioned in the press announcement - Rivers Run Red hasn’t chosen to flag this new initiative up as ‘Collaborative workspaces in Second Life’, although that’s seemingly what it is. However, Linden Lab VP of marketing and community development Robin Harper is quoted as saying the solution is “spot on, delivering on the promise of virtual worlds for the enterprise”, so it’s clearly seen as a positive step.
There’s a video demo via the link below.
1 comments
Carlos Vera
05.04.08 at 06:36