Virtually Centralized, Globally Dispersed

A Sametime 3D Analysis

Arthur Valadares Cristina Lopes University of California, Irvine

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Introduction

�  Virtual worlds are not Second Life

�  Growth of immersive technologies �  $594 million invested in 63 VW Companies in 2008*

�  Big names: IBM, Sun, AMD, Nvidia, Intel, HP, Zynga, Time Warner

�  MMO, Fashion Design, Education, Business

�  Companies can no longer afford not to participate

*Source: Virtual Worlds Management, http://www.engagedigitalmedia.com/research/2008/full.html

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Thinkbalm market research 3

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Thinkbalm market research

Mixed Reality Office Space

�  Offices become a mixture of different realities �  Co-workers physically near �  Users in internal chat rooms / IRC channels �  Internal Messenger �  Virtual world meetings (Second Life) �  Web conferencing

�  Degrees of immersion influence participants behavior (Embodied social proxy, Venolia et al., 2010)

�  Sametime 3D is IBM’s approach to immersive office meetings and collaborative environment

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Sametime 3D - Description

�  Virtual Collaboration for Lotus Sametime �  “With Virtual Collaboration for Lotus Sametime (VCS),

organizations can now leverage virtual world technology to bring teams together in online meeting spaces that offer the collaborative benefits of in-person meetings without the high cost” IBM Virtual Collaboration for Lotus Sametime Website

�  Based on OpenSimulator, an open source multi-platform, multi-user 3D application server

�  Part of $100 million dollar investment in new business proposed on IBM’s Innovation Jam

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Sametime 3D - Integration

�  Integrates seamlessly to Sametime Messenger, IBM’s instant messaging application

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Sametime 3D - Offering

�  Communication �  Spatial voice chat �  Text chat �  Second Life Gestures �  User Generated Content?

�  Virtual Spaces �  Boardroom �  Collaborative Space �  Amphitheater

�  Variety of Settings

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Boardroom

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Collaborative Space

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Amphitheater

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Collaborative Space �  Tools for Collaborative Work

�  Flipchart �  Video/Presentation Screen �  Brainstorming Wall �  Interactive Polling Tool �  Whiteboard

�  Better solution than screen-sharing

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Real to Virtual

�  Believable environment leads to believable actions*

�  Non-visual collaboration environments encourages anonymity* �  E.g. Hiding in phone conferences

�  Human representations create expectation of human interaction

�  Spatial voice adds important contextual information about participants

�  Further exploratory research is required to prove effectiveness

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* (Biocca, 1997)

Results

�  Unenthusiastic reception

�  Possible reasons: �  Low cost-benefit

�  Price in the order of $50,000

�  ThinkBalm survey: $50K, 25% < vs 16% >

�  Training �  Steep learning curve �  Resistance to new technology

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Competition

�  Competition �  Sun (Oracle) MPK 20; Wonderland

�  Similar to Sametime 3D proposal �  Next step: Mixed Reality

�  Amphisocial; realxTend / Wonderland �  OpenSimulator based with extensions

�  Venuegen; Proprietary �  Bettter graphics and functionality �  Closer approximation to real

�  Body posture and face expressions �  Close comparison to WebEx �  $90 / month (10 users)

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Conclusion

�  Investment in virtual world technology is increasing

�  The gold pot is yet to be found

�  Concept of mixed office reality (virtual-real) is already happening

�  Questions �  Which real world interactions should be reproduced in a

virtual environment? �  Is physical similarity between avatars and their human

counterpart important for these interactions? �  Are we missing the killer app? �  How much should we charge for it?

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Questions?

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References

�  Sametime 3D Images: Courtesy from IBM

�  F. Biocca. The Cyborg’s Dilemma : Embodiment in Virtual Environments. Time, pages 12–26, 1997.

�  E. Driver and S. Driver. Thinkbalm immersive internet business value study. Technical report, Thinkbalm, 4 South of Commons, Box 321, Little Compton, RI, 02837 USA, Q2 2009.

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