Nov. 16, 2009 – The virtual world is becoming the new corporate conference room--at least that is what one internet company is offering customers through their new Beta program centered around secure, online meeting scenarios.
Linden Lab, creator of the Second Life virtual world, announced the release of their new, more corporate-friendly version of the less-secure, more public program on Monday, called Second Life Enterprise.
With the release of the of the Beta program, the company revealed the $55,000 price-tag for the product, as well as a plans to launch a platform for virtual goods exchange and an enterprise application marketplace.
According to the company’s product website, customers of Linden Lab’s new “behind-the-firewall” product are entitled to features not available in the original Second Life platform, including security and privacy per world grid, the ability to create regions and the option of creating custom names or using real names for avatars.
Among some of Linden Lab’s clientele using the Second Life Enterprise product are IBM, Northrop Grumman, Case Western Reserve University and Naval Undersea Warfare Center.
Brett Atwood, a web content strategist for Linden Lab, said some of the attractions to the product can be traced to reduced travel expenditures by companies flying representatives to distant conferences.
“We’re in an environment with a high cost of travel,” Atwood said. “This is a significantly cheaper way to bring people together in real-time.”
Atwood said the uses of Second Life Enterprise extend past virtual meetings into other uses, including holding socializing “water-cooler” activities, company recruiting, new-hire orientations, scenario-based training and multimedia and 3D presentations.
Other features, Atwood said, like Telepresence, the phenomenon of how we perceive simulated presence, are unique attributes of the Second Life server.
In the company’s press release, Linden Lab also reported that the up-and-coming Second Life Work Marketplace virtual environment will boast new features, including giving the customers the ability to browse, test and purchase content from third-party developers.
According to the announcement, the Second Life Work Marketplace is set for a 2010 launching.
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