Last posts on second life

Repères at SEMO

2009-12-09T11:24:00+01:00

Every year the SEMO exhibition is the most important event in the survey and opinion poll industry in France, and it is an occasion for Repères to meet its clients, prospects and partners.

It is also a fine opportunity to present our latest research in methodological workshops. Whenever possible we try to organise these workshops in partnership with a client who is a user or co-designer of a method.

In recent years we have had the opportunity to present the following innovations at SEMO:

In 2005:

The creation of the Emotional Monitoring method with Moet Hennessy (renovation of imaginary approaches to the brand)
The Product Insight method (a qualitative approach that makes it possible to identify by means of a blind test all the “stories” a product conveys)

In 2006:

The creation of the Home Use Blog with Danone Research, a protocol for real-time testing of prototypes, even disruptive innovation prototypes.
The PackExpert packaging test that combines quantitative research and the memory expertise of Impact Mémoire (Memory Impact)

In 2007:

The Blog’in blogosphere watch method in partnership with Ami Software
The 2.0 approaches: Co-design and Communities

In 2008:

The Heineken case study on the use of Emotional Monitoring
Our research with Franck Saunier in the field of Video Studies (integration of non-verbal communication in the research process)

In the same vein, we will have the pleasure of presenting two workshops at SEMO 2009, with clients participating in presenting case studies:

On Wednesday 4^th November at 3:30 p.m.: The case study of an interactive and prospective co-design experiment, presented by Catherine Roty from CTIFL. This protocol, which we have now used several times in different sectors, makes it possible to generate operational disruptive innovation routes for new products and services. It is based on a collaborative consumer approach, boosted by prospective stimuli designed by the Proâme agency.

Thursday 5^th November at 3:30 p.m.: A case study on the identification and modelling of product appreciation drivers, presented with Valérie Sarkis from PEPSICO. These studies based on Bayesian networks make it possible to greatly increase the added value of product tests, especially by providing highly operational optimisation recommendations.

Brand and Virtual World Experiences: The results of a Repères Second Life study

2008-05-20T10:15:00+02:00

Beyond implementing the Co-design process, the purpose of Repères in Second Life is of course to explore these new digital words to gain more knowledge of them and to advise our clients in their marketing strategies in these virtual worlds. We also want to play an active role in the Second Life community and to participate in its development, namely by disseminating the results of studies we conduct on our own initiative, or by making research organisations benefit at cost price from field studies conducted by our panel of avatars. It is within such a framework that we are publishing the results of a qualitative study we conducted last year on the perception by the residents of Second Life of the first launches of brands in SL. The investigation, under the form of an "in world” focus group (via avatars in SL) and in Real Life, concerned the automobile sector which already presented a certain diversity in marketing terms. The aim of the study is to determine the key factors of success for a successful launch in a virtual world.You may download all of the findings here, which you may also view in a slide presentation below (given the density of the text, I recommend the option “view on slideshare / Full”)For further details, please contact Emilie Labidoire, project manager at Repères Communities.

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The Metaverse : Towards the Integration of the Digital world in Our reality

2008-04-04T16:20:00+02:00

The development of virtual worlds about which we regularly communicate is a part of the more global process of the massive integration of digital technology in our reality. This new reality we are moving towards, where the border between the virtual and reality will become less and less discernable, is sometimes referred to as the metaverse. In the spring of 2007, a group of experts, researchers and players in the field of virtual worlds published a remarkable study on this subject : the metaverse roadmap overview. The authors identify four leading trends which, through their convergence, lead us to the metaverse:. Virtual Worlds. the mirror worlds, the digital reproduction of reality (Cf. Google Earth). enhanced reality : the integration of the digital in the real world, for example via enhanced reality glasses (you walk in an Antique site and thanks to these glasses you have a completed view of the buildings instead of the ruins). lifelogging, which consists of recording all the events of one’s life on a digital medium.You will find here the support materials from a talk I gave on this subject at the summer university of a consulting company. In addition to the 4 trends of the Metaverse Roadmap, you will find some elements concerning another change I believe is fundamental: the notion of the enhanced body (exoskeletons, cyborgs and brain-computer links) where, here again, the visions of science-fiction writers are confirmed. To finish with this theme of the metaverse and immersion, here is a video in which a system for measuring brain waves makes it possible for a person to move his avatar in Second Life mentally:There are many surprises in store for us.

Vodafone ”InsideOut” connects phones to Second Life

2007-11-26T00:09:49+01:00

Via Textually.org

Vodafone offers a new service called "InsideOut" that allows interaction between characters in Second Life and real phones.

"Both voice calls and text messages can be ferried in and out of the game, with SMSes running a cool L$300 (around $1) and voice calls running L$300 per minute.

Calls and messages placed to Second Life, though, are billed at the same rate as they would be to a traditional German phone."

AjaxLife

2007-10-21T23:45:00+02:00

A new application called AjaxLife allows browser-based interaction with the online virtual world SecondLife.

Using AjaxLife, users do not need a video card and a graphical client to connect to the SecondLife world. However, the AjaxLife client supports only limited functions, such as in-game chatting, teleporting to various locations and checking the status of the user's inventory, friends and Linden Dollars, and there is no representation of in-game avatars.

The web application was developed by Katharine Barry, a fifteen (!) year old English schoolgirl.

Toward a Metaverse

2007-06-24T23:30:00+02:00

Via Networked Performance

In this interesting article recently published in Technology Review, Wade Roush predicts that the line between the real world and its virtual representations will soon start blurring. Here is an excerpt from the article:

[...] The first, relatively simple step toward a Second Earth, many observers predict, will be integrating Second Life's avatars, controls, and modeling tools into the Google Earth environment. Groups of users would then be able to walk, fly, or swim across Google's simulated landscapes and explore intricate 3-D representations of the world's most famous buildings ... A second alternative would be to expand the surface area of Second Life by millions of square kilometers and model the new territory on the real earth, using the same topographical data and surface imagery contained in Google Earth ... That's a much more difficult proposition ...

[W]ithin 10 to 20 years--roughly the same time it took for the Web to become what it is now--something much bigger than either of these alternatives may emerge: a true Metaverse ... It will look like the real earth, and it will support even more users than the Snow Crash cyberworld, functioning as the agora, laboratory, and gateway for almost every type of information-based pursuit. It will be accessible both in its immersive, virtual-reality form and through peepholes like the screen of your cell phone as you make your way through the real world. And like the Web today, it will become "the standard way in which we think of life online..."

While Second Life and Google Earth are commonly mentioned as likely forebears of the Metaverse, no one thinks that Linden Lab and Google will be its lone rulers. Their two systems are interesting mainly because they already have many adherents, and because they exemplify two fundamentally different streams of technology that will be essential to the Metaverse's construction...

"Google Earth itself is really neat," comments Jamais Cascio, the Metaverse Roadmap coauthor. "But Google Earth coupled with millions of sensors around the world, offering you real-time visuals, real-time atmospheric data, and so on--that's transformative."

Indeed, it's important to remember that alongside the construction of the Metaverse, a complementary and equally ambitious infrastructure project is under way. It's the wiring of the entire world, without the wires: tiny radio-connected sensor chips are being attached to everything worth monitoring, including bridges, ventilation systems, light fixtures, mousetraps, shipping pallets, battlefield equipment, even the human body ... "Augmented reality and sensor nets will blend right into virtual worlds," predicts Linden Lab's Ondrejka. "That's when the line between the real world and its virtual representations will start blurring."

Second Life gets virtual mobile operator

2007-01-25T22:06:31+01:00

From Textually.org

Vodafone is planning to launch itself as a mobile operator in the game Second Life alongside its Vodafone Island area within the popular virtual world, reports TechDigest

"Second Life users will be able to use branded handsets to call each other within the world, as well as send text messages."

Second Life Cell Phones can SMS real world Phones

Imaging Place SL: The U.S./Mexico Border

2007-01-07T23:32:11+01:00

Re-blogged from Networked Performance

Imaging Place SL: The U.S./Mexico Border by John (Craig) Freeman: Jan 5 - Feb 23, 2007: Ars Virtua: Gallery 2: Opening 7 - 9pm SLT(Pacific Time) Friday January 5, 2007. Go there

"Imaging Place," is a place-based, virtual reality art project. It takes the form of a user navigated, interactive computer program that combines panoramic photography, digital video, and three-dimensional technologies to investigate and document situations where the forces of globalization are impacting the lives of individuals in local communities. The goal of the project is to develop the technologies, the methodology and the content for truly immersive and navigable narrative, based in real places. For the past several months, Freeman has been implementing the "Imaging Place" project in Second Life.

When a denizen of Second Life first arrives at an Imaging Place SL Scene he, she or it sees on the ground a large black and white satellite photograph of the full disk of the Earth. An avatar can then walk over the Earth to a thin red line which leads to an adjacent higher level platform made of a high resolution aerial photograph of specific location from around the world. Mapped to the aerial images are networks of nodes constructed of primitive spherical geometry with panoramic photographs texture mapped to the interior.

The avatar can walk to the center of one of these nodes and use a first person perspective to view the image, giving the user the sensation of being immersed in the location. Streaming audio is localized to individual nodes providing narrative content for the scene. This content includes stories told by people who appear in the images, theory and ambient sound. When the avatar returns to the Earth platform, several rotating ENTER signs provide teleports to other "Imaging Place" scenes located at other places within the world of Second Life. In "Imaging Place SL: The U.S./Mexico Border," Freeman explores the issues, politics and personal memories of this contested space.

LIVE PERFORMANCE by Second Front: Friday, January 05, 2007 - 7 PM PST Second Front is the first dedicated performance art group in Second Life. To officially open JC Fremont's Installation at Ars Virtua, Second Front will be creating a realtime interpretive and site-specific performance based on JC Fremont's theme 'Borders' to compliment "Imaging Place SL: The U.S./Mexico Border."

Second Life avatars consume as much electricity as Brazilians

2006-12-22T00:25:12+01:00

From 3Dpoint

Nick Carr calculates that a Second Life avatar consumes as much electricity as a Brazilian:

If there are on average between 10,000 and 15,000 avatars "living" in Second Life at any point, that means the world has a population of about 12,500. Supporting those 12,500 avatars requires 4,000 servers as well as the 12,500 PCs the avatars' physical alter egos are using. Conservatively, a PC consumes 120 watts and a server consumes 200 watts. Throw in another 50 watts per server for data-center air conditioning. So, on a daily basis, overall Second Life power consumption equals... 60,000 kilowatt-hours....

Which, annualized, gives us [an average avatar consumption of] 1,752 kWh. So an avatar consumes 1,752 kWh per year..... [T]he average citizen of Brazil consumes 1,884 kWh, which, given the fact that my avatar estimate was rough and conservative, means that your average Second Life avatar consumes about as much electricity as your average Brazilian.

Which means, in turn, that avatars aren't quite as intangible as they seem. They don't have bodies, but they do leave footprints.

The 1rst survey from Reperes Second Life

2006-12-01T19:45:00+01:00

Today we are communicating the main research findings of our 1st exploratory study conducted with residents from Second Life and dealing with their perception of this universe. 137 residents from our panel have completed our survey. These results reinforced our perception of Second Life as a deeply humain universe. According to its residents, Second Life is first at all :The largest community ever created, offering opportunities for exchanges with other people ranging far beyond that of the simple chat room,A step forward for humanity with :. more athenticity and access to the real self,. the opportunity to develop and even surpass oneself via apprenticeships and the use and unexploited skills,. an infinite potentiel for discovery and creativity.I invite you to read the main research findings of the analysis. For more details about this survey, do not hesitate to contact Emilie Labidoire, Reperes Second Life project manager.