Virtual worlds are a natural setting for experimenting and testing various AI applications and appear especially suited for “general” intelligence development because of their broadness, openness and theoretical lack of limitations and rules. Ben Goertzel and his company, Novamente, have been working on virtual pets and the results are pretty interesting. So while projects such as these are something to get excited about, it’s hard not to dismiss bigheaded goals as worthless hype without seeing the real work that has gone into specific planning and execution – at least something that does not recall the infamous Underpants Gnome plan of 1)Collect underpants 2)??? 3)Profit. So while I don’t think much will come out of this, I have to issue the small warning that the distinction between “virtual” and “real” is pretty nonexistent. All that data is comprised of real code stored on real servers with real physical locations managed by real people… And again while I do remain skeptical of anyone achieving anything close to sentient intelligence anytime soon, I am also a bit concerned about singular commercial entities working secretly on a closed AGI system. Not involving all stakeholders – that is, ALL OF US – raises some ethical quandaries that at least need to be debated.

I would put someone like Philip Rosedale (proven record, visionary thinker, deep pockets and connections) pretty high on the list of people that could make some serious headway in the field, especially in potential commercial applications; he certainly tackles the big issues. Let’s just hope Philip Rosedale doesn’t resemble Watchmen’s Ozymandias…

[New World Notes - Philip Rosedale Attempting to Create Sentient Artificial Intelligence That Thinks and Dreams in Second Life!]

Dr. Maged Kamel Boulos, the journal’s Associate Editor and professor at the University of Plymouth, UK, summarizes the issue:

Though Second Life has existed since 2002 and there are even other virtual worlds that predate it, most in the health sector are only recently starting to migrate to such platforms, as the technology is gradually maturating and rapidly becoming more affordable and popular. This special issue of JVWR on the theme of ‘3D Virtual Worlds for Health and Healthcare’ provides a good sampler of how healthcare organizations, groups and individuals are currently using virtual worlds…for a range of clinical and health-related purposes. Topics covered in this issue include: the use of virtual worlds in healthcare higher education, including in ‘virtual patients’ game-based learning simulations, with examples from both the UK and the US; the growth and direction of healthcare support groups in virtual worlds; the development of a virtual worlds’ coping skills game to prevent post-hospitalization smoking relapse in tobacco dependent cancer patients; and an examination of how the attitude and appearance of an individual’s avatar might result in positive changes in her/his real life in relation to obesity, which is one of the most serious public health problems of the 21st century.

Though I’m delighted to see so much work being done within academia, I am most excited to see the transition from research to real life application in a field that will surely witness exponential growth in the next several years. It cannot be long until we hear an announcement of a well-funded professional venture that tackles one or more specific healthcare issues using virtual world and other emerging technologies. At a time when our nation is facing a healthcare problem of gargantuan proportions, we need to turn to innovative technologies that can streamline medical care and shed billions of dollars in costs. However, beyond electronic medical records, there hasn’t been much discussion in the mainstream media about emerging healthcare technologies nor any serious and dedicated provisions in Obama’s proposal. The challenge of bridging the gap between cutting-edge academic findings and real-life social policies is one that spans every field, yet if we don’t figure out innovative and cost-effective solutions soon, healthcare costs will become the straw that finally breaks America’s back.

Readers interested in this topic who might have missed it previously, check out Popcha! principal and TurtleThink founder Mark Kizelshteyn’s award-winning research regarding therapeutic uses of virtual worlds for elderly, disabled, and convalescent people [link]. Needless to say we are all very excited for advancements in this field!

[JVWR Vol 2, No 2: 3D Virtual Worlds for Health and Healthcare]
image courtesy of TaranRampersad

As TurtleThink has written about countless times now, augmented reality is the future, and we all want that future to be a little more tangible. Help us Apple! With the release of the compass on the iPhone 3G[S], we are at the brink of some incredible consumer AR applications (as seen in the videos below). So, let’s spread the word. I am reposting the letter and some neat AR videos from Games Alfresco below.

A letter sent to Apple Developer Relations.

Dear Apple,

Signed:
Michael Gervautz – Managing Director Imagination GesmbH
Robert Rice – CEO Neogence
Georg Klein – PhD PTAM creator from Oxford University
Stephane Cocquereaumont – President & Lead Developer Int13 (Kweekies)
Maarten Lens-FitzGerald – Founder & Partner SPRXmobile, developer of Layar
Ori Inbar – Author of GamesAlfresco.com and CEO and founder Pookatak Games
Philippe Breuss – Lead developer, Mobilizy
Philip R. Lamb – CTO, Artoolworks
Noora Guldemond – Metaio
Takahito Iguchi – CEO, Tonchidot
Blair MacIntyre – Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology
Bruno Uzzan – CEO, Total Immersion
Michael Zoellner – Fraunhofer IGD
Andrea Carignano – CEO, Seac02

[via Games Alfresco]

I am a bit surprised by this statistic, but it does reveal the underlying popularity of virtual worlds, which are only on the rise. “Massively points out that the virtual world [Second Life] is also topping out over popular social networks like Facebook and Myspace.” Also noting that “This data is measured from actual homes…Almost 200,000 of them, so it isn’t just data that’s centric to the hardcore gamer. This is a random sampling of ordinary people.” Here is a summary of their analysis:

YouTube: 47 minutes per week (via Cnet)
Facebook: 84 minutes per week (via Cnet)
Myspace: 10.5 minutes per week (via ITProPortal)
Second LIfe: 760 minutes per week (via Nielsen)

These numbers are pretty shocking and show both the popularity and robustness of virtual worlds. Where will they take us? Who knows, but we still need a lot of work on the infrastructure of virtual worlds before they become as ubiquitous as social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

[Via Virtual World News and Massively]

Many people I meet, especially those outside the tech industry, are frequently unsure of what to make of virtual worlds/Second Life. Either they can’t disconnect the concept from video games, or they simply “don’t get the point;” regardless, what is missing for these people is a logical application, a use, a function.

That is why virtual conferences are usually the first scenario I mention; every working soul can relate to them, and immediately grasp the obvious benefits a virtual conference would have over a real one. Who can argue against spending less money, cutting your environmental impact, and skipping the other stresses associated with forced business travel?

Linden Lab recently published a case study detailing how IBM has used Second Life, titled: “How Meeting In Second Life Transformed IBM’s Technology Elite Into Virtual World Believers.” It provides a pretty good review, mixing attendees’ reactions with stories of individuals and departments within the organization that were behind it all. I encourage readers who are skeptical about virtual worlds and particularly their use in business to look over this short report – maybe IBM’s experience will inspire you.

[PDF - How Meeting In Second Life Transformed IBM’s Technology Elite Into Virtual World Believers]

I dug up this is discussion from Fortune Brainstorm titled “2018: Life on the Net,” featuring Lawrence Lessig (professor of Law at Stanford Law School), Joichi Ito (CEO of Creative Commons and Chairman of Six Apart Japan), and Philip Rosedale (founder and chairman of Linden Lab, who operate Second Life). It’s from July ‘08, which in internet age can make it almost irrelevant. In this case, however, the conversation remains fresh and interesting. The funniest moment: an attendee with a Southern accent calling Joi Ito, who has 24(!) current positions on LinkedIn, a ‘venture communist.’

Topics covered include: law stifling media technology, open source, venture capital trends and ethics, the internet requiring ‘environmental protection’, 2D/3D interface hybrids, producer-driven culture, and an “internet 9/11.”

[Google Video - 2018: Life on the Net]

The projects wiki states: “Sirikata is an BSD licensed open source platform for virtual worlds. We aim to provide a set of libraries and protocols which can be used to deploy a virtual world, as well as fully featured sample implementations of services for hosting and deploying these worlds.”

The Chief Revenue Officer of Kaneva Jeffrey Longoria explains, “Kaneva is a social entertainment world that is really focused on the fusion of traditional social networking and 3D virtual worlds. There are plenty of people out there that love the 2D world, but there’s this emerging 3D place and companies are trying to figure out the magic formula….The focus is now to provide that fused environment for brands looking to find a unique engagement model for their fans. Virtual worlds have been emerging onto the scene for a few years now, but most people don’t understand them yet. That’s really what we’ve been working on.”

Kaneva has not commented on the 2D vs. 3D use breakdown of its 1.5 million users, so it is unclear how well their virtual world is doing. In the greater context of virtual worlds, we have seen a slow down of large brands entering and perusing marketing endeavors. In times passed, brands failed where they were solely presenting their product in the same ways they do in the real world and expecting users to engage. That was moderately successful two years ago, but obviously that model no longer works. Brands that are seeing success today in virtual environments are ones that are offering unique opportunities for brand engagement.

Kaneva is pursuing an interesting strategy for brands and advertisers, where they are offering a range of sponsorship options. As Virtual World News reports, “At the low end, roughly $5,000, brands can introduce branded goods into Kaneva. At the next higher level, they can get a branded hangout with the look and feel of the brand, but no significant customization. The high end includes completely custom-built destinations, which could range into hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

It will be interesting to see the response of brands, especially given that advertising and marketing budgets have been slashed in recent months. At the same time, the range of options and sliding scale may be appealing to advertisers.

So, what is Coke saying? We’ve all had a digital representation of ourselves for quite sometime. But, the majority of those have been text based. User names, emails, et cetera. Are we moving into a time where we are all represented by avatars. 3D ones. Well, if Coke says we are, then we must be. What do you think?

“We can [describe] a user’s interest as seisin rather than as ownership. A tenant seised of land had sworn homage to the lord from whom he held. In exchange, the lord symbolically delivered the tenant into possession. Thereafter, the tenant owed the lord various services and feudal incidents, and in return the lord was obliged to defend his possession against outsiders to the relationship. Every element of this system maps cleanly onto Second Life. A user swears homage by clicking “I agree” to Linden’s terms and conditions; Linden delivers her into possession by changing an appropriate database entry. She owes tier fees in place of feudal incidents; Linden defends her possession via software-based access controls.”

When one hears “feudal” they automatically think “how awful!” Grimmelman, however, believes that this is not such a bad thing, and that “this analysis of the feudal dimensions of Second Life should make us optimistic about the legal future of virtual worlds.” The feudal system makes sense for now, and as virtual worlds grow and begin to interact more with the “offline world,” modern property rights will organically catch up online, too.

While I agree with Professor Grimmelmann’s interesting analysis, I am not so sure about his conclusion. The pace of growth of virtual worlds is much faster than what the law can catch up with (I think it is safe to say that technological breakthroughs and their applications always precede the laws built around them). Moreover, virtual worlds interacting with the traditional offline world will not happen in some abstract future, but is happening all the time, right now. Legitimate business activities in virtual worlds need to be protected by the law with the same agency that offline businesses are afforded, and Linden’s Terms of Use can’t be used as a magic shield that protects them from obvious breaches against its users.

For example, let’s say I rent a retail store on 5th Ave and a giant pipe in the ceiling bursts, damaging my inventory and causing a major loss of business. The landlord in this case is clearly responsible, and he or his insurance would pay for the damages. Now what if I operate a similar retail business in Second Life, and the servers go down without warning? Clearly the situation is analogous, but the protection of the business is completely off-kilter. My guess is that the legal system will only start paying attention to these issues when the money involved reaches a much higher scale, at which point, once again, it will be a bit too late.

[James Grimmelmann, Virtual World Feudalism, 118 Yale L.J. Pocket Part 126 (2009)]