The Watch – virtual worlds in the news

1. Science Daily (USA) – Avatars Can Surreptitiously And Negatively Affect User In Video Games, Virtual Worlds. “Although often seen as an inconsequential feature of digital technologies, one’s self-representation, or avatar, in a virtual environment can affect the user’s thoughts, according to research by a University of Texas at Austin communication professor. In the first study to use avatars to prime negative responses in a desktop virtual setting, Jorge Peña, assistant professor in the College of Communication, demonstrated that the subtext of an avatar’s appearance can simultaneously prime negative (or anti-social) thoughts and inhibit positive (or pro-social) thoughts inconsistent with the avatar’s appearance. All of this while study participants remained unaware they had been primed. The study, co-written with Cornell University Professor Jeffrey T. Hancock and University of Texas at Austin graduate student Nicholas A. Merola, appears in the December 2009 issue of Communication Research.”

2. Computing (UK) – From ancient to virtual worlds. “he notion that your customers are only 10 seconds away from your competitor’s web site still holds true. But while the server and network infrastructure needed to deliver a web site that stays up 99.999 per cent of the time is one aspect of delivering a good online experience, the phrase “content is king” is equally relevant, and just as important for customer retention. Would a better way to engage customers be by spicing up that dowdy site with some visually stunning graphics, tied into standard e-commerce transaction middleware? For visually stunning graphics, read virtual worlds, whose genesis can be traced back to the multi-user dungeon program MUD, which originated in 1978 at Essex University. But it was many years before what people now think of as a virtual world was realised – a 3D, immersive world, available 24/7 via a web connection.”

3. Financial Times (UK) – Habbo Hotel creators hope to welcome older users. “Creators of virtual worlds and other online communities are hoping their members will continue to pay for digital goods as they grow older. Sulake , a private Finnish company, is hoping to build on its success with Habbo Hotel, a virtual world visited by 14m teenagers every month, with a new mobile version for young adults, Bobba Bar . The application, launching today on Nokia and Apple smartphones, is only available to over-17s. It allows members to create a unique digital character and chat to other avatars in themed rooms, such as sports, technology or “romance”.”

4. Virtual Worlds News (USA) – Kid Command Set For Launch. “Today, Collin Caneva will take his Kid Command virtual world live. The world, targeted to kids and tweens, hopes to instill an appreciation of the environment and world’s fragile eco-system. As the growth of virtual worlds, social networks and web-based entertainment explodes, Omaha-based Caneva hopes to carve out a special place in that digital eco-system that will taps kids’ curiosity and innate intelligence, talking up to their intellect rather than down.”

5. The Economic Times (India) – Endgame for reality. “Technology, like much else in life, seems to come with a built-in ‘dual use’ possibility. Take computers, and all else associated with them: the internet, gaming et al. There is, of course, the information revolution, the educational benefits, or just plain downright entertainment that comes with this. And then there’s the dark side. The world of pervasive online porn, of cyber terrorists, of even computers or the net so taking over people’s lives as to over-rule the real. A recent report has it that among the plethora of existing execrable violent games , which seem to have legions of addicts across the globe, a new one is based on the ‘raping skills’ of players. ”

6. Techdirt (USA) – Virtual Goods, Scams, Investigative Reporting And The Media. “For many years, we’ve been quite skeptical of any business model in virtual worlds/social networks that rely on “buying virtual goods.” That’s because these are all based on artificial scarcities, and as we all know (hopefully, by now), relying on artificial scarcities for a business model is incredibly risky, especially once people realize the scarcities are artificial. And yet, over the past few years, a number of businesses have been built on this very premise. In fact, Silicon Valley is crawling these days with businesses built on selling virtual goods, and if you talk to many VCs about it, you’ll quickly note that they’re positively giddy over the fact that people are paying for this stuff. What they don’t seem to realize is that it’s unlikely to last. ”

7. Business Standard (India) – Virtual classrooms go commercial. “Ramesh Thorat (not his real name) is at home. But sitting on his computer, he is intently watching and listening to a lecture on the internet. He has a broadband connection, a webcam and even a microphone to interact with the lecturer if he has any question. In fact, Thorat is one of the many engineering graduates from the Pune Institute of Computer Technology (PICT) who studies in a “virtual classroom” called “kPoint”. Developed by Pune-based Great Software Laboratory Pvt Ltd (GS Lab), this virtual classroom tool “kPoint” is a concept which is fast catching up in the city. It has been successfully deployed at outsourced product development (OPD) firm Persistent Systems, too, to train newly-recruited engineering graduates at its Nagpur campus from its parent facility in Pune.”

8. CBS News (USA) – Scams Target Gamers on Social Sites. “Farmville, Mafia Wars and Restaurant City are Internet-based games that can be played on sites like Facebook, where millions of people have signed up. But click on the wrong places in these virtual worlds, and you could lose real money without ever knowing it. CBS News Science and Technology Correspondent Daniel Sieberg reported where there’s a popular online trend like these games, advertisers are sure to follow. But the legitimate ads aren’t the problem — it’s the ones that promise a free trinket or virtual cash to be used in your game. And if you’re tricked into clicking, they start draining your money.”

9. Information Week (USA) – Second Life Steps Into The Enterprise. “Second Life is attracting a cult following among businesses, who say the virtual world gives them richer collaboration than teleconference calls or video conferences. But Second Life still has limitations that pose barriers to enterprise adoption. Ericsson has become the first vendor to prove end to end interoperability in TD-LTE, another standard of 4G radio technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile telephone networks. One of the major limitations is that Linden Lab, which developed and operates Second Life, runs the service on its own server farms. This software-as-a-service model creates problems for user control and confidentiality of sensitive conversations.”

10. The Korea Herald (South Korea) – Second Life withdraws from Korean market. “The virtual world community game Second Life has effectively withdrawn from the local market.
According to industry sources, the U.S.-based developer of Second Life, Linden Lab, failed to extend the contract with the local game company Barunson Games Corp. Barunson was first contracted to operate Second Life services in Korea in October 2007. However, the Korean Second Life community Sera Korea will continue to be serviced. Linden Lab’s official position is said to be temporarily closing local operations. However, the company is reported to have no plans to revive the operations as yet.”