For the past 2 weeks we have looked at Avatars and the impact they have had on the online world. This week we will look at who, I believe, is ushering the avatar into a new era of existence. I am sure everyone out there has heard of Second Life and if you haven’t you shouldn’t be allowed online.

Since the inception of Second Life people have been obsessed with it. It is quite possibly the ultimate chat program. It allows its users to chat with one another in a 3D world, where they can actually see virtual representations of one another. Saying that second life is just a chat program is a complete understatement and I actually feel a little guilty saying that, but that IS initially how it did start. Second Life did have features that set it apart from other 3d Chat Programs though, mainly the ability to make your own items and customize anything you want to. Through a Pseudo-open ended interface Second Life allowed its users to customize their avatar anyway they wanted if they put the time in to learn the code. Of course there are some stock items that your Avatar can wear but that’s boring, right?

I think the open ended interface was probably somewhat of an experiment to begin with. I don’t think Linden Labs expected this type of response or their creation to turn into one of the first and most interesting online social experiments. Let me explain. The “residents” of Second Life have completely shaped the landscape, economy and social structure of the land. Trade skills are in high demand and are probably the most sought after type of player. The people who are making the most money from Second Life are the “Real Estate Agents” from all accounts that I have seen, they can make between $150K to $1M a year. Quite Amazing if you ask me.

But how does Second Life relate to Web 3.0 you ask? Well to truly understand we need to continue the story of the evolution of Second Life. As we have just seen, trade skills and real estate are in high demand, which means that Virtual Customized Structures are able to be built from landscapes to mansions to storefronts!

Storefronts! This is where it gets interesting. A few months ago Adidas was one of the first real world stores to put in a virtual store. The store was selling virtual Adidas Products such as Jerseys and Shoes that You could put on your avatar and then go test it all out on the virtual basketball court they had outside. This is what got me thinking about this article in the first place.

IF Second Life can find a way to recruit more merchants and the merchants start building more and more virtual malls and stores eventually people might start going on to second life to browse for items since they can get a 3D representation of it. Imagine logging in to go shopping online, except you are represented by a virtual version of yourself and you can visit virtual stores where you can get information about a product by “virtually physically” touching it.

It would be an interesting experience to be able to visit these virtual stores and malls and browse for real items. Imagine this, and really imagine, you log on to Web 3.0 with a few friends because you are all interested in doing some online shopping. You decide that you will all meet at the virtual mega mall downtown. Instead of taking a cab, you fly there or teleport and meet out front by the fountain. There are people everywhere doing the same things that you are doing. You get a Instant Message from one of your friends saying “Be there in a few minutes”. Meanwhile one of your other friends shows up and starts talking about the virtual house she just bought. The friend who was late just showed up. You all gather together and walk towards your destination of The Gap or Forever 21. Once you get in the mall you consult the virtual directory and you can either click on the store to teleport there or walk. You decide to teleport to get the true virtual experience. Once inside you start browsing through racks of clothes, you grab what you like and go to the virtual changing room to model the clothes on your avatar. You decide that you like 4 shirts and 3 pairs of pants and you purchase them, so you get them for your avatar and the real items are also being shipped to you immediately. Your day at the virtual mall is completed by stopping for an Orange Julius and then you all part ways and decide to meet up later to go to a virtual club.

Ok so perhaps that is a bit of a drawn out scenario but that is where I see avatars going and I truly believe that Second Life has the potential to take it in that direction. I just hope that Second Life is not too far ahead of its time and it never gets the chance to take over.

I would love to have some feedback on this. So if anyone found this article interesting please leave your feedback or ideas as I am a little obsessed with futurism and hearing what others think about whats to come.

You can see some Second Life Stats Here and read an interesting Web 3.0 Article Here

Until Next Time…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 6th, 2007 at 3:58 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, internet marketing, marketing, fringe marketing, new marketing technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.