CSC Report: Digital Disruptions: Technology Innovations Powering 21st Century Business Serialized on Forbes.com, and acclaimed by eWeek, The Financial Times, Signal Magazine et al.

1. Technology Innovations
Powering 21st Century Business
Leading Edge Forum
2008
Digital
Disruptions
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2. DIGTAL TRUST | LEADING
ABoUT THE VoL. 8 EDGE FoRUM LEA DI NG EDGE FoRU M
As part of CSC’s Office of Innovation, the Leading Edge Forum to provoke conversations in the marketplace about the potential
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LEF LEADERSHIP
WILLIAM KoFF
PAUL GUSTAFSoN Vice President and Chief Technology Officer,
Director, Leading Edge Forum Office of Innovation
Paul Gustafson is an accomplished technologist and proven Bill Koff is a leader in CSC’s technology community, providing
leader in emerging technologies, applied research and strategy. vision and direction as vice president and chief technology officer
As director of the Leading Edge Forum, Paul brings vision and for the office of Innovation. Bill plays a key role in guiding CSC
leadership to a portfolio of programs that make up the LEF and research, innovation, technology thought leadership and alliance
directs the technology research agenda. Astute at recognizing partner activities, and in certifying CSC’s Centers of Excellence
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He has published numerous papers and articles on strategic speaker on technology, architecture and management issues,
technology issues and speaks to executive audiences frequently Bill’s areas of interest include system architecture, digital disrup-
on these topics. tions, innovative uses of data, and the open source movement.
pgustafs@csc.com wkoff@csc.com

3. L E A D IN G E D G E Fo RU M DIGTAL TRUST | VoL. 8
Digital Disruptions Leading
Edge
Forum
2008
Technology Innovations
Powering 21st Century Business
CoNTENTS 2 Why Digital Is More Disruptive
4 New Media
We have met the new media, and it is us.
15 Living in a New Reality
We will blend physical and virtual reality, improving both.
27 Social Power
The power inherent in connected people surges.
36 Information Transparency
What is observed by one will be known to all.
47 New Wave of Waves
The sky is not the limit as spectrum goes digital.
59 Platform Makeover
This is not your father’s computing platform.
69 Smart(er) World
Smarter everything makes us smarter everywhere.
80 Thriving on Disruption
82 NoTES
93 ACKNoWLEDGMENTS
Get all LEF reports by subscribing to the LEF RSS feed: www.csc.com/lefpodcast
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4. DIGITAL DISRUPTIoNS LEA DI NG EDGE FoRU M
Why Digital is More Disruptive
over the centuries we have experienced at least a few principal disruptions play out, they will raise questions, alter behaviors,
disruptions to “business as usual” and “life as we know it,” trigger new business models, and ultimately become part of
including the Industrial Revolution, the Computer Revolution, the foundation of a new economy.
and most recently, the Internet Revolution. Though these
unstoppable and, for the most part, irreversible disruptions
have brought unprecedented economic growth, the digital
disruptions begun with the Internet’s launch at the end of the As these disruptions play out, they
20th century and responsible for a tremendous spike in global
will raise questions, alter behaviors,
productivity promise a second-round impact in the 21st century
that we can only begin to imagine. trigger new business models,
and ultimately become part of the
Digital disruptions are about information and communication
technologies that change business models deeply, and often foundation of a new economy.
shockingly. These disruptions, on par with the telephone and
automobile, transform the marketplace and society so completely
that it can take decades for their full effects to be realized.
The seven digital disruptions that will reshape 21st century
Clayton Christensen first introduced the notion of disruptive business are:
technologies in his seminal book The Innovator’s Dilemma. A
disruptive technology, in contrast to a sustaining technology, 1. New Media — old media was about stiff distribution channels,
introduces a very different value proposition than was previously big-studio creators and power brokers. New Media is about
available. Disruptive technologies are often not recognized by
1
flexible distribution channels, self-created content and broad
existing customers as something they need currently, so firms find participation. Content moves from isolation to interaction.
themselves facing a dilemma: if they listen to their customers and Creators are you and me. Distribution channels vary and
bypass the innovation, new entrants may swoop in and take over, overlap, so that TV comes over the Internet and vice versa.
often appealing to a different market first but then gradually taking Prime time and media-controlled broadcast and distribution
over the original market. Therefore, disruptive technologies need to are things of the past. When the Writers Guild of America
be considered from a market standpoint (what market values the went on strike to obtain royalties for digital viewings, the
new technology’s characteristics?), not a technology standpoint. chaos ignited by the strike — TV shows were cancelled, reruns
ran aplenty — showed that progress with new media will not
This report focuses on the latest disruptive technologies in necessarily move from business model A to business model
information and communication technologies. These digital B, but more likely from A to chaos to B. This is likely to be
disruptions are completely reshaping industry, much the way true for all the digital disruptions.
the music industry has been rocked in the last decade by the
advent of digital media. The seven disruptions identified in 2. Living in a New Reality — We can break free of the physical
this report are all at various stages of maturation and, like the world’s constraints by venturing into the virtual world.
music industry transformation, are works in progress. As these Augmented reality, a blending of the virtual and real, enables
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5. L E A D IN G E D G E Fo RU M DIGITAL DISRUPTIoNS
us to move effortlessly in time and space, interact in new 6. Platform Makeover — Silicon has its limits, so it is only
ways, and experience things like never before. Participate in natural that new methods are being explored to provide
a real-world event like a NASA spacecraft landing. Fly across next-generation computation power, in many more places,
a weather map of the country to see where it’s raining. Host and with many more purposes than today’s computers.
a town hall meeting for 100,000 employees without anyone As the new methods emerge — nanotechnology, molecular
having to travel. Control your data center remotely. Learn computing, quantum computing, optical computing — they
from life-size virtual guides at a historic tourist site. The ability will challenge silicon-based business models and markets.
to visualize data from numerous sources in 3D will enhance one key disruption will be in cryptography. Quantum com-
learning and productivity beyond what we can imagine today. puting blows apart current encryption techniques, which are
effective because it takes a long time (hundreds of years) to
3. Social Power — Leveraging the power inherent in connected factor a large number and break an encryption scheme. A
people is disrupting how we locate and retain expertise, col- quantum computer can do it in seconds. When that day comes,
laborate, advertise, lend money and even listen to music. New everything that depends on encryption, from credit card
business strategies harnessing social power put a premium transactions to e-mail, will be wide open and unprotected
on relationships and what others say and do, and tap the viral until new security techniques are created.
capability of social networks as distribution channels for
advertising, software applications and more. Enterprises need 7. Smart(er) World — It doesn’t take long to point out what is
to “let people be people” and flex their social muscle at the “dumb” about our current technology landscape: applica-
office (with blog posts, social networks, etc.), but within tions that don’t understand what we mean, rapidly-changing
corporate guidelines for acting responsibly. With social technologies that don’t work well together, systems that
networks infiltrating the enterprise as well as becoming the crash for no known reason, computers that you “talk” to by
hub of one’s Internet experience, major disruptions are afoot. typing. A smart(er) technology landscape that understands
language and can reason is in the works. With that comes
4. Information Transparency — Information that was once cloaked innovations in knowledge gathering, decision making and
in darkness — inaccessible or nonexistent — is now available in predicting. Smart virtual assistants are the future of online
droves, shedding light on previously opaque people, processes customer service, disrupting labor-intensive call centers.
and things. This leads to more efficiency and fewer surprises, Semantics can be put to work to find expertise in the
and can redefine activities such as criminal investigations, enterprise, solving problems faster and averting crises.
product comparisons, driving patterns and, thanks to ubiqui- Semantics at the IT infrastructure level make services more
tous cameras, overseas hiring. When enterprises know where shareable and organizations more agile, since they can develop
their employees and assets are in real time, they can operate applications and manage change faster.
more safely and effectively. People are demanding access to
more data, on their terms, and this force will be disruptive as Many of the digital disruptions overlap, triggering new and
enterprises and government agencies work to respond. more powerful disruptions. Virtual worlds are the next frontier
for social networks. Social networks have a strong influence
5. New Wave of Waves — The communications infrastructure is on new media. Information transparency is a prerequisite
undergoing a major overhaul as the Internet and new radio for a smart(er) world. New waves are a key enabler of infor-
waves that are extending the Internet create platforms that mation transparency. New platforms will turbocharge all the
challenge the old regime. A general purpose communica- other disruptions.
tions utility has formed that obliterates the limited products
and services of telephony, TV and radio that used to ride This is an exciting time. In the pages that follow, we examine
on 20th century infrastructures. As spectrum opens up, and each disruption and its potential to redefine 21st century
spectrum allocation eventually falls by the wayside, the business. Forewarned is forearmed; explore with us what lies
air waves become fertile ground — some say “beachfront ahead and plan accordingly.
property” — for a vast array of new services from new
players, not just traditional operators. This sets up a perfect
storm for innovation, where it is not clear who the ultimate
winner will be except for the consumer.
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6. DIGITAL DISRUPTIoNS LEA DI NG EDGE FoRU M
neW MeDia
We have met the new media, and it is us.
When you’re on youTube, you’re looking new media in the to traditional media sources. The proviewer is prolific and
eye. The new media is the ordinary person — you and me — garners an enthusiastic, if narrow, following. The proviewer
creating and sharing life experiences through videos. It is the actively creates, modifies, shares and evaluates; this is “lean
citizen journalist, the blogger, the podcaster, the basement forward” rather than “lean back” media.
musician, the cell phone author. It is professional talent freed
from the vise of Big Media. New media is consumer-driven, Are we returning to our roots? Some say that the new media
interactive, social, customized and personal. People want to is renewing the art of personal storytelling.2 We are enter-
participate, and on their terms — their content, their schedule, taining each other individually and informing each other
their place. personally, not unlike how people communicated hundreds
of years ago.
New media is about entertainment and news — digital video,
audio and text — delivered for personal consumption and In conjunction with this, video is exploding. Video is often
customization, typically on a laptop, mobile phone, game considered the best way to tell a story or convey information,
box or hand-held device. New technologies continue the new and the Internet and related technologies have lowered the
media revolution, with consumers wresting more control from barrier to widespread video. Enterprises can convey more of
media titans and enjoying entirely new ways of experiencing their corporate messages in video, and proviewers are becoming
entertainment and news. as facile with video as they are with text. Video is becoming
just another data type: ordinary, plentiful and expected.
The Internet has become a global channel for new media,
breaking down the strong-hold grip that Big Media — traditional So although new media is not just about video, video is a
TV, radio, film and news producers — have on their content and very important part of the story. Let us examine the story by
their audiences. The Internet levels the playing field, allowing exploring the disruptions in content and distribution that are
others — you and me — to play. driving the new media revolution.
This new media world, where we can interact with artists and
TV (AND EVERyTHING ELSE) oN My TERMS
journalists and even be the artists and journalists, requires
a new way to navigate it all. The entire access experience is Created by Me
changing and will continue to change, as the content itself Content is no longer the sole purview of big TV and film
also changes. These changes will be of huge importance, for studios, radio stations, newspapers and magazines. Proviewers
they are designed around the consumer, not the producer. generate content and are an entirely new source of creativity
Whoever anticipates and meets the needs of the consumer and competition. There are many examples: youTube, CNN
best will win. iReports and other forms of citizen journalism, six million
blogs, currenttv.com, Apple’s Garage Band and cell phone
This starts with recognizing that “consumer” has become novels. These new media put the individual in charge of creating
an anachronism. yesterday’s consumer has become today’s content, at once personalizing, diversifying and enlarging
“proviewer,” a producer and a proactive viewer. The proviewer the content mix. Some call this mass social media, depicted
has become a new source of content and a potential threat in Figure 1.
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7. L E A D IN G E D G E Fo RU M DIGITAL DISRUPTIoNS
Figure 1 T HE E ME R GE N C E A N D R I S E oF MASS S o CIAL ME DIA view time and most popular clips. Video
can more readily be part of a mixed-
media marketing campaign.
Traditional Media
When DuPont wanted to educate a
Institutional
Television Control younger audience about DuPont science
and innovation and encourage conversa-
observe
Movies tion, it turned to video storytelling and
Media Outlets
used Brightcove to deliver the message.
centralized Does Old Media Radio
mediation Matter? DuPont hired advertising agency Denuo,
a unit of Publicis Group, to create short-
Print
sh form videos describing the relevance of
publi
DuPont’s science innovations to every-
distributed mediation
push
Shift
day life. Denuo worked with Brightcove
Social Media
con
to place these “Science Stories” on blogs
tribu Syndication
te Podcasts such as BoingBoing and SEED Network’s
ne
tw
ScienceBlogs, streaming the stories in
Us blog
blog
blog
or
Vlogs
k
Social dedicated players. In this way, viewers
ed
ge
blog blog
Consumption Forums could easily spread the videos in a viral
network via commments, Blogosphere
effects trackbacks, IM, empty center manner. (See Figure 2.)
feedback, etc. blog blog Wikis
blog blog
blog Enterprise 2.0 Consumer
pull Though DuPont has a long-established
Platforms Control
brand, with this effort Denuo helped
DuPont connect with a new audience
in a very targeted, different and relevant
Source: Dion Hinchcliffe’s Web 2.0 Blog, Social Computing Magazine. Licensed
way. The program generated tremendous
under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
http://web2.socialcomputingmagazine.com
word of mouth, with 25 percent of views
generated from word of mouth and 75
percent of those aged 18-24 (60 percent
of those aged 18-44) indicating they
In the enterprise, companies are enjoying similar freedom to would tell an average of five people about the videos. (For
become content creators. Enterprises can build and launch more on word of mouth, see Social Power.) DuPont made a
their own TV channels, and get corporate messages to large positive impact on its target audience — 90 percent indicated
audiences through video, audio and imagery rather than the videos were interesting and informative — using new media
standard text. Brightcove provides an Internet TV platform to reach that audience directly.
for enterprises to publish on-demand video and other digital
media assets online. Whereas in the past it was cost-prohibitive “The emergence of new digital media channels has created
for enterprises to communicate extensively, if at all, in video opportunities for any marketer to reach audiences in new,
(it involved broadcasting or DVD manufacturing), Brightcove’s exciting ways and enable these audiences to share the content
platform, delivered as a hosted turnkey service, makes the they view easily with others, amplifying the marketer’s voice,”
video proposition cost-effective, especially for those serving notes Gary Spangler, e-business leader, DuPont Electronic and
niche markets. Communication Technologies.
Brightcove’s technology enables further distribution through If enterprises can bypass big studios, artists can too. Professional,
syndication and viral video sharing; video content can be acclaimed talent can create their own material uninhibited
e-mailed, embedded in a blog or put in an RSS feed, so the by producers and release it to a global audience, as with
message gets out much further. Content can include advertising, Funnyordie.com, a comedy video site that combines proviewer
and metrics can be analyzed such as number of views, average content with original exclusive content from professionals.
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8. DIGITAL DISRUPTIoNS LEA DI NG EDGE FoRU M
Figure 2 BRI GH TCoV E ’S P L Ay E R E NAB LE S VIE WE RS To S PRE AD T H E Wo RD
A Bo UT D UP o NT ’S S C I E NC E STo R I E S
Start of video features “freeze screen” that
encourages users to initiate video play.
oTHER oPTIoNS ACCESSIBLE VIA PLAyER MENU
E-mail to a Access Direct Add to Blogger or Access Embed Code to
Friend Link to Player Typepad Blog Post Player to Any Site
Source: Brightcove
NEw KId oN ThE BLoCK: VIdEo
There is a new kid on the block, video, IT. Employees will bring video into the extends to the enterprise as well, where
that IT needs to befriend. Traditionally, enterprise without CIO consent. For video will become more popular for
little if any video has been allowed on example, an engineer might use a home such activities as training, marketing
corporate networks because it slows laptop with a built-in camera to take and internal messaging. Hewlett-
the network down and consumes so footage for a project and post that video Packard has a YouTube-like site, HP
much storage. However, with video on an internal blog. Uncut, where employees post self-
becoming a prevalent and preferred made videos about best practices and
mode of communication on the Internet, Enterprises need alignment between IT experiences at HP — so you can see
IT’s unfriendly attitude must change. and new media like video, just as IT had and learn from the engineers them-
to ready itself for IM and the browser. selves.3 Video is becoming a first class
Just like instant messaging (IM) and Although video had many false starts citizen, and IT needs to help this new
browsers, video is poised to infiltrate with video e-mail, the ascent of YouTube citizen feel at home and prosper.
the enterprise and do an end-run around signals that video is here to stay. This
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9. L E A D IN G E D G E Fo RU M DIGITAL DISRUPTIoNS
Similarly, independent musicians can be heard and gain a Making It Mine
following without a studio at sites like strayform.com. Aspiring In addition to creating original content from scratch, proviewers
producers and actors can release short-form Web videos that are manipulating and modifying once-untouchable content.
attract big audiences; one low-budget mini-series, “We Need Content is being served up more like raw data to alter for one’s
Girlfriends,” which was released on its own Web site, promoted personal consumption.
on MySpace, and later released on MySpace and youTube, has
been picked up by CBS to develop as a pilot TV series.4 For instance, proviewers can create their own TV experience.
Microsoft’s Mediaroom, an Internet TV platform that telcos
The notion of citizen journalism and “microjournalism” is can sell, works with TNT and Showtime to let proviewers
alive and well in an age of youTube, Twitter, digital cameras, choose which TV camera angle they want when viewing sports.
camera phones and blogs. Minute-by-minute details that would This is a major departure from having the network decide,
not make the 6 o’clock news are now on full view in video, though the network is still in charge of much of the action,
pictures, text or a mix; for better or worse, no one’s actions like which angles are available to choose from. This idea puts
are private. For instance, the nitty gritty of a political campaign forth the notion of informed media, where a program such
can be captured for all to see, from pushing and shoving 5
as a sports telecast can be enhanced by statistics, online
to controversial remarks by political candidates.6 Though this chatting with friends, stopping the action, and controlling
type of reporting might seem superficial, it can spread like replays. Microsoft had a chance to put its viewer control on
kudzu and have real impact. (See “Microblogging Makes Its full display during the 2008 olympics in Beijing, when MSN,
Mark” in Social Power.) in an exclusive partnership with NBC, provided over 3,000 hours
of live on-demand coverage of the games.
Blogging in the enterprise, a form of citizen journalism, uncorks
information and ideas as employees are given a voice to Proviewers can also create their own TV and radio channels.
communicate their views and expertise directly, and customers Joost, Move Networks and others deliver TV over the Internet
and strategic partners can comment back (or create their own so proviewers can slice-and-dice programs to create their own
blogs). Blogging encourages a reciprocal exchange of ideas, channels, like a music playlist. BlogTalkRadio lets you broadcast
fosters innovation through these frank conversations, builds your own radio station. (See Social Power.)
loyalty and interest in the enterprise, and chronicles corporate
history in a lasting, searchable fashion. Boeing and General Motors Another area where proviewers are being given a voice, literally,
are two major corporations that have leveraged blogging is in televised political debates. In the U.S. presidential debates
to build customer ties and even influence product direction. in 2007 sponsored by CNN and youTube, CNN took questions
“Businesses can be bloggers too; this is not just a tool for the people submitted via youTube and made them the basis of the
media,” says Anil Dash, vice president of Six Apart, vendor of two-hour televised debates. This was a new form of questioning:
blogging software Moveable Type, TypePad and Vox. “It’s still by the general public, in their own words, with their emotions
early stage for enterprise blogs, but they will become important and faces on full display for the candidates. These were not
business tools.” prepared questions read by a professional moderator but per-
sonal questions coming from ordinary citizens, uncontrolled by
Then there is the cell phone novelist, who does an end-run the TV broadcaster or the candidates.
around traditional publishing houses and authors by banging
out short, clipped novels on a cell phone and publishing them With this new format the public becomes part of the national
on a Web site. In many cases cell phone novels, popular in political dialogue, inserting itself directly into the discussion.
Japan, are by first-time authors. These new authors are creating Internet technologies and new media improve the ability to
a new genre — stories that are created a few lines at a time, reach out to constituents and hear first hand what people are
often thin on plot and character development but appealing saying. Democracy does scale.
to a younger audience raised on cell phones, the Internet
and comic books. In 2007, five of the 10 best-selling novels Indeed, all the presidential candidates were pumping the
in Japan were originally cell phone novels, which were later Internet and social network sites like never before (most of these
published as books. 7
sites didn’t even exist in the last election). This is giving rise
to a new grass roots voice and an audience the candidates
7

10. DIGITAL DISRUPTIoNS LEA DI NG EDGE FoRU M
delivering low-budget films to a college audience wrapped in
Internet technologies and new media a social experience. young adults are invited to meet online
before, during and after a showing, to send comments to
improve the ability to reach out to
friends and producers about what they like or don’t like about
constituents and hear first hand what a particular film.8 This highly targeted audience “will help to
create, influence and ‘blowtorch’ content made just for them.”9
people are saying. democracy does scale.
This is a completely new movie-going experience.
Sites like LastFM are changing the radio listening experience.
cannot ignore. It is safe to say the arrival of youTube, MySpace, Listeners on LastFM can build their own radio station, connect
Facebook and other video and social network sites is changing with others also listening to their station, and create commu-
the face and voice of politics. The fun has just begun. nities around an artist. These activities are impossible to do on
a traditional radio station. LastFM turns the radio industry on
Redefining the Experience its head, from a top-down broadcast model to a bottom-up
New media is about not only making it mine but also extending community model.
and redefining the experience.
In the movie world, proviewers are gaining a bit of control over
the most sacred of untouchable media, the movie. Technology one of the most powerful aspects
by ClearPlay lets you filter out objectionable content while
of new media is that it is a social
playing a DVD without altering the actual content. So, you
could turn an R-rated movie into a PG13 version for your kids. experience — the audience shares
This is a powerful new capability that studios oppose, as it
its opinion of a work readily and can
changes the finished product that is viewed. However, this
attitude fails to recognize that one-size-fits-all will no longer easily invite others to view or listen.
do. Home is where people can express their personal values,
and the more flexible the movie industry is in addressing a
variety of values, the higher the viewership. In fact, studios
could increase their revenues by offering different versions on LastFM people come together united by similar tastes
themselves (rather than consumers or third parties doing it); in music. The individual chooses what to listen to and uses
this business decision requires a significant change in mind that to connect to other fans as well as discover similar music
set and artistic values. based on what the community has recommended. When an
artist adds a new title, listeners can find it via similar music,
Another sign of extending media content to others is the giving artists a new channel for having their work discovered.
ability to add subtitles to a work. Technology from DotSUB LastFM is like a portal into music and artists that provides
lets anyone add subtitles to movies and video clips in any a shared experience built on opinion, context and relation-
language, making the content more shareable globally. This is ships. Social power redefines the media experience. (See
another area of opportunity for the studios, which typically offer Social Power.)
a few translations for a few movies but not many translations
for all movies.
I DEMAND oN-DEMAND
As for redefining the experience, one of the most powerful Having media on my terms includes not only content but also
aspects of new media is that it is a social experience — the distribution. Having a better on-demand distribution model is
audience shares its opinion of a work readily and can easily imperative because proviewers decide not only what to watch
invite others to view or listen. Microsoft’s shared TV experience or listen to but when and where. TiVo and Sling were pioneers
lets proviewers in different locations chat online while watching in opening up TV access so that proviewers had more control.
the same show. Blowtorch Entertainment, a new company, is Today there are many signs of media distribution opening up
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11. L E A D IN G E D G E Fo RU M DIGITAL DISRUPTIoNS
PICTurE ThIs: FINdINg IT
As more content is rendered in video, video content. Pluggd Inc. (now Delve through better analysis of CCTV footage.
audio and photographs, search tech- Networks) and Digitalsmiths are two of IntelliVid’s intelligent video analysis
niques originally designed for text need to many companies working on contextual software uses object-based searching
keep pace. New technologies are making ad placement using advanced video to enable store personnel to “camera
it easier to search images and sounds to and audio search techniques. Pluggd’s surf” to track a suspect or an object in
find what you need, match ads to content, search technology, SeeHere and real time. The software also enables the
and even cut down on shoplifting. HearHere, enables people to quickly user to assemble critical video evidence
find the content they want within a in minutes to manage an investigation
For years, digital cameras have given video or audio clip using a special and share critical information — video
pictures time stamps, making it possible concept-search technique. Its contextual clips, still images and case notes all
to search by date; in the future it may ad placement technology is based on integrated in a single electronic file —
be possible to search by who is in matching ads to consumer searches, with store personnel and law enforce-
the picture, where they are, and even including specific keyword searches. ment. The act of shoplifting becomes
their expression, as advances in facial Digitalsmith’s technology, VideoSense, more transparent, and thus preventable.
detection, geo tagging and expression digitizes video content so it is easily (See Information Transparency.) That is
detection become commercialized.10 searchable “inside” and matches that the beauty of better search and analysis:
You’ll be able to find Aunt Sally or search content to context-appropriate ads. understanding processes and leveraging
for someone who is smiling or crying. the data at hand.
In the world of closed circuit television,
On the Internet, advertisers long for technology from IntelliVid is helping
an automatic way to match ads to store owners cut down on shoplifting
over open networks like the Internet and alternative networks Getting Out of the Box
like cellular, reaching broader audiences. Netflix, who moved DVD rentals from the store to our mail-
boxes and then our computers, has now pledged to deliver
Further, as distribution opens up, it is happening at near zero that content directly to our TV screens. Netflix is bringing
cost to the distributor. you don’t have to press DVDs or CDs, some 6,000 movies and TV shows, available to paying sub-
or have TV or radio broadcast infrastructure. Instead, as the scribers of its Web site, to the living room TV via the Internet.
Brightcove-DuPont example showed, everyone can play. The The company’s first partnership is with LG Electronics, which
new media vision is that TV, movies and radio be available plans to add the Netflix service to a new line of HDTVs with
for anytime, anywhere consumption and interaction. wireless connections to the Internet.11 Netflix’s goal is to be seen as
a movie channel that can be accessed from numerous devices.12
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Another player in the movie rental shakeup is VUDU, whose
VUDU Box makes over 6,000 movies accessible on the TV screen TV and video content is getting out
via the Internet. VUDU’s appliance does not require a computer
of its original box.
or cable or satellite TV — just a broadband Internet connection.
VUDU’s system stores the movies and TV shows you rent or
buy in your own personal digital library. (See Figure 3.)
by players like Amazon and Apple (iTunes) that are making
The writing has long been on the wall for traditional video movies available for download to computers and iPods, and
rental companies to digitize distribution, spurred further Sony, a movie maker itself, that is making movies and videos
downloadable to the Sony Playstation 3
Figure 3 RENT MoVIES DIRECTLy FRoM yoUR TV SCREEN USING game console.
VUDU AND THE INTERNET
Also in the video content shuffle is
youTube, who is bringing its Internet
video content to TV via a partnership
with TiVo.13 Viewers will be able to
access youTube content through their
TiVos; content will be streamed (rather
than downloaded) via broadband con-
nection.14 TiVo users will also be able
to subscribe to Internet video feeds
using RSS, expanding the role of
RSS from text to video and providing
flexibility for accessing Internet video.
The youTube-TiVo partnership is the
Source: CSC result of youTube opening its platform
to outside developers.
If Netflix, VUDU and youTube are about
Figure 4 TVU NETWoRKS BRINGS LIVE TV oVER THE INTERNET getting movies and other video content
FRoM ARoUND THE WoRLD, VIA ITS WEB SITE oR THE to TV, others are focused on getting
DoWNLoADABLE TVUPLAyER (SHoWN HERE) TV content to the Internet. Either way,
TV and video content is getting out of
its original box.
TVU networks lets you get foreign TV
stations and other video content live
over the Internet. From TVU’s Web site,
people in Pakistan were able to watch
CNNi when that station was banned
there. Soccer fans around the world can
watch the latest soccer on Indonesia’s
StarTV channel, and immigrants in the
United States can watch Taiwan TV, TV5
Telugu from India, or Arca from Brazil.
Source: TVU networks
(See Figure 4.)
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The platform uses peer-to-peer real-time packet replication broadcasters, and can broadcast up to HDTV quality. Called
so that, in contrast to traditional streaming, as the number of “the ultimate in multicast TV,” TVU provides global distribution
viewers grows the transmission does not degrade, and there of TV programming at low cost.
is no need to account for additional traffic or boost infrastruc-
ture. TVU has sustained over 150,000 simultaneous viewers on Many others are working to get TV to the Internet. Joost and
a single Internet connection. TVU manages the overall network Move Networks use peer-to-peer technology but with different
performance, with broadcasters controlling the rights, coverage, strategies. Joost, from the founders of Skype, stores content
and schedule for their content. on its central servers and releases it (once) into the peer-to-
peer network, where it is shared among users. Move delivers
“To broadcasters, we are another transmission medium,” explains video as a standard Web object that is cached in small bits
Paul Shen, CEo of TVU. “The broadcaster determines what to for easier transmission. Both offer broadcast quality program-
broadcast and whether or not to charge viewers.” TVU shares ming ranging from programs like “The Gadget Show,” a British
profit with the broadcaster from revenue generated from adver- television series, to segments from well-known U.S. shows like
tising on the TVU platform. “CSI: Ny,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and CNN. Both aim to make it
easier and more cost-effective than traditional broadcasting
As of May 2008, TVU had 4.5 million unique viewers per month for organizations to get their video to a large audience.
who watched over 11 million hours of programming monthly;
roughly 300 TV channels are broadcast daily. TVU is bundled Hulu is a joint venture between NBC and News Corp. to provide
into Hewlett-Packard’s Pavilion laptops and expects to have prime time shows from NBC, Fox and other TV networks on
a global viewer base of 40 million by the end of 2008. TVU the Internet. Here is Hollywood taking the bull by the horns to
has content from over 200 countries, including amateur self- control online distribution of its content. The site is intended
NEw MEdIA ChANgEs ThE FACE oF AdVErTIsINg
New media is changing the face of online Connecting the Dots that you are probably in a certain income
advertising, for as content takes on The more relevant the ad, the more it bracket, and that it is almost Valentine’s
new forms, such as mobile and video, is perceived as content and welcomed Day. Through Placecast, advertisers
so does advertising. Online advertising by the consumer. Targeting online ads can recommend a shop near the hotel
is a nascent area, but one thing is sure: through location and context is growing. for purchasing a gift and send that ad,
advertising will continue to grow and Placecast combines location informa- called a PlaceAd, to your mobile phone
evolve online, where the audience is and tion with contextual information to “put or laptop. Placecast gives anonymous
the metrics are better. There is much audience in place,” as its slogan says. location information context that can
experimentation and creativity taking If you are at a hotel in Manhattan, be converted into a revenue stream.
place as companies seek to optimize Placecast’s software can let advertisers It connects the dots to help advertisers
advertising in a world of new media. know that you are attending a conference, target their audience.
Continued on the following page >
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14. DIGITAL DISRUPTIoNS LEA DI NG EDGE FoRU M
NEw MEdIA ChANgEs ThE FACE oF AdVErTIsINg (continued)
Mobile ads, another form of targeting, Mobile is testing cell phone advertising mobile ads on an opt-in basis will no
are ads sent to you on a mobile device, in a partnership with the social network doubt be required. Still, location-based
customized to your location. If you are service Loopt, which lets families and mobile ads put advertisers a huge step
walking down the street past a depart- friends keep track of each other on their closer to the customer purchase.
ment store, you might get an ad on cell phones.15 Members of Loopt who
your cell phone that jackets are on sale. have GPS-equipped cell phones and online ads go video
Advertisers are salivating at this form have chosen to participate might receive Like content on the Web, advertisements
of advertising because they get much an ad for a nearby restaurant or movie are evolving from text to images (banners)
closer to the customer and the point theater. There are privacy issues, of to video. Video ads take on a new look
of sale than if using mass advertising course, as people may find this form of and feel as they are incorporated into
outlets like TV and newspapers. CBS advertising highly intrusive, so offering video content in different ways:
• viral ads, which are appended to video
BUy THE JACKET yoUR FAVoRITE TV CHARACTER IS content that is e-mailed around
WEARING WHILE yoU WATCH THE SHoW
• geo-targeted overlays, which are
additions to video ads that reflect
your location (for example, what stores
are nearby in your state)
• interactive overlays, which let you
click to a Web site or video for more
information
• branded video players, which frame
the content on your screen with an
advertiser’s logo
YuMe is one company offering these
kinds of ad services;16 its ad platform
will also power NBC Direct, the first site
to offer free downloads of prime time
TV shows.
Source: ICE Innovative Technologies Continued on the following page >
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NEw MEdIA ChANgEs ThE FACE oF AdVErTIsINg (continued)
As downloadable video content increases clicking and shopping is a major distrac- spots and breaks, if any. Internet content
— whether TV shows, short clips or movies, tion from watching the show, it’s sure is flexible and interactive, and advertising
and whether to laptops, cell phones or to satisfy impulse buying — and the must follow suit.
other mobile devices — dynamic video product company is selling direct to the
ads can be part of the downloaded consumer at retail, not wholesale, prices. Key questions are: Who is in charge of
content. On the belief that most people The ICE technology works on standard IPTV channel programming, and thus
would rather have ad-supported content TV (cable, satellite) and IPTV, and will be advertising? Will there be a bidding
than pay for content, advertisers are available for TV content on the Web. system for ad time, or will advertising
gearing up for this and for being able follow an entirely different business
to track these offline views for their ad Further, producers can change the model? How do we get IPTV, the Web
metrics. Poddadies helps advertisers do products in the show based on its and television to accept and display
that and has a system to change ads on sponsors. Technology from i3media, each other’s ads when proprietary,
the desktop once the video file has been a consortium of media companies in incompatible video players and formats
downloaded. Adobe also has a system
17
Spain, lets you manipulate individual make integration — and therefore an
to change ads in its new Media Player.18 objects in a video frame. For instance, effective overall ad strategy — difficult?
you could change a bottle of wine Stay tuned as industry, audience and
shop the show from a Monte Rosso Vineyard label technology work out these and other
There may be ads aplenty, but there still to a Seven Springs Vineyard label if online ad issues.
lurks the age-old question: How effective that grower is sponsoring the show.19
is the ad? Especially in a world of time The proviewer can click on the wine
shifting and ad skipping? If advertisers bottle to obtain more information and
fear their ads are being ignored, they can purchase it.
try an ad-less approach. New technology
lets people “shop the show” and buy new ad age
products they see on a TV program right Though online advertising is in its
from their TV screen. If you like the shoes infancy, it is clear that advertisers are
the actress is wearing, using technology moving from a scattershot approach
from ICE Innovative Technologies, you to, ultimately, 1-to-1 marketing and
can buy them instantly with a few clicks buying direct from the ad itself (no
of your TV remote. The ICE technology more Web page redirects). The traditional
provides a standard format for listing (TV) ad network, with neatly delineated
products, presented as a menu next to spots and breaks, has given way to a
the show, that you navigate through to new ad network supporting Internet
make a purchase. While it’s not clear if content that features wildly irregular
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to be used for marketing purposes and revenue generation, cellular networks. The producers argued that the digital arena
making money from ads on the site and in the videos. Before is not mature enough to make a compensation decision. In
Hulu, NBC had removed its shows from iTunes in a pricing dispute February 2008 a three-year deal was struck giving writers a
with Apple; if Hulu, which launched in october 2007, succeeds, percentage of the gross from digital distribution, though this
it will give networks more leverage in negotiating distribution could be mostly “symbolic” if revenue from digital distribution
deals with Apple and others.20 is relatively low.21
VeohTV comes at Internet TV from a different angle, serving as The growing pains of new media are being felt by content
a video browser that captures, stores and sorts free online video creators and producers alike as media industries continue to
content. VeohTV has been described as TiVo for the Internet, calibrate against an increasingly digital future.
with a similar DVR-style interface that lets you find video you
want and watch it when you want (save video streams as
downloads to watch later if desired). VeohTV integrates video
sources across the Internet, so you can watch full-length on-demand is a powerful model
episodes from CBS, NBC, youTube, MySpace, Google, yahoo
and thousands of other sources. As you use VeohTV, it learns
that is pressuring old thinking about
what you like and makes video recommendations to you. ownership and rights to change.
Challenging Old Thinking
The new media vision for on-demand content will be in the
making for some time. on-demand is a powerful model that
LoSE To WIN
is pressuring old thinking about ownership and rights to change.
Digital distribution was a major factor in the 2007-2008 Writers Enterprises need to recognize that new media shifts power to
Guild of America strike. The 12,000 writers from film, TV and proviewers. The business models that will flourish are those
radio, who went on strike for three months and forced many that invite participation and give individuals more control.
shows off the air, wanted stronger compensation for their works ownership is not the way to win. openness, customization
in digital, Internet and other non-traditional formats, whether and personalization are the way of the future.
DVD, streamed to a Web site, downloaded, or transmitted over
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living in a neW reality
We will blend physical and virtual reality, improving both.
According to philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), people Virtual worlds and blended-reality worlds are powerful but
can never know reality directly. We are, by design, one layer not yet fully understood. However, virtual worlds and virtual
removed from reality, with our brains synthesizing external reality will play an increasingly significant role in our personal
stimuli — sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches — and and professional lives. How this story plays out is still unknown,
creating a coherent experience. In other words, we experience but with more people populating virtual worlds and experiencing
the world through a layer of perception. Today’s virtual worlds virtual reality in everyday situations, progress is being made as
magnify this layering we do, pre-digesting data (stimuli) and the story unfolds.
feeding it to us as a new layer of perception that helps us
understand the world in new ways. We can detect and analyze In this chapter we explore virtual worlds and other expressions
more, and ultimately make better decisions, because virtual of virtual reality including simulations, augmented worlds and
worlds present data on our terms: visual, life-like, interactive telepresence. The new reality is that we live in a blended reality
and 3D. This is far more compelling and comprehensible than that combines physical reality and virtual reality, improving
if data was rendered simply as text. If a picture is worth 1,000 both. To probe this, we examine how virtual reality is taking on
words, a virtual world is worth 1,000 pictures and more. properties of the physical word, and how the physical world is
being enhanced with virtual reality.
Put another way, virtual worlds offer the promise of “all media,
all the time,” says Jan C.J. Jones, co-executive producer of
Forest Rose Productions, LLC.
The new reality is that we live in
Virtual worlds, with their origins in online games, are not
a blended reality that combines
new. However, what’s different today is that virtual worlds are
making their way into the mainstream, being applied to business physical reality and virtual reality,
and personal uses that go far beyond games. We are seeing
improving both.
real markets for virtual worlds, new levels of sophistication in
virtual worlds, and more real-world data being incorporated
that delivers new experiences or addresses previously unsolvable
problems.
VIRTUAL REALITIES INCoRPoRATE
PHySICAL REALITIES
As virtual worlds approach commercialization — some estimate
there will be over 50 million participants in virtual worlds by Second Life, the poster child of virtual worlds, mimics the real
201122 — they leverage their “game DNA.” Many virtual world world in that people (avatars) meet in Second Life, interact, acquire
environments resemble and operate similar to a game, involving land, build houses and use currency (Linden dollars). Although
rich visualization — 3D settings, avatars, objects — and collabo- it started as a social site, Second Life is fast being adopted for
ration. This helps lay the groundwork for mass participation in business use as organizations explore its potential, particularly
virtual worlds, where the notion of a game per se may be subtle what can be done in a virtual world that was never before pos-
or nonexistent, but people familiar with games will know right sible. For example, experience the weather as a weather balloon
away how to participate. as your avatar flies over a weather map. The world becomes a
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science fiction playground where we are now in the simulation. in the future. Engineers could put a CAD model of a part on
What if we were a tile on the space shuttle? Through virtual worlds Explorer Island, make changes jointly, and save the new model
we can experience the rarely possible and the impossible. on Explorer Island. The engineers could see the model in the
context of the larger system it fits in. For example, they could
see where the controls of a spacecraft would be and open up a
control panel to see where the part ultimately belongs.
Through virtual worlds we can
experience the rarely possible Elsewhere, Second Life is being used to simulate disaster
preparedness and response activities by the Idaho Bioterrorism
and the impossible.
Awareness and Preparedness Program. What’s different about
this versus other virtual reality simulations is the ability to
construct objects and environments with others, build collabora-
At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the impossible tive networks on the fly, and provide context for the exercises,
includes providing a real-time experience of the Phoenix space- complete with buildings, hospitals, helicopters and people.
craft landing on Mars. For the Phoenix landing on May 25, 2008, Coordination activities can be simulated, involving people,
JPL streamed realtime video from NASA TV to Explorer Island, material, facilities, movement and routes. If you need to attend
its property in Second Life, and had a replica of the spacecraft a meeting or view a presentation, you do so in the context of
in Second Life. (See Figure 5.) People watched the landing the environment and with others, increasing your awareness
in Second Life while engineers watched at JPL, the California of peer activities.
Institute of Technology and the University of Arizona. “one
person on Explorer Island cried because they were so happy Another Second Life project, by the University of Denver, incor-
to be part of a NASA event,” said Tom Soderstrom, IT chief porates real weather data from the U.S. National oceanic and
technology officer at JPL. Virtual worlds remove obstacles Atmospheric Administration (NoAA) into a large map of the
to participation — you can now experience a Mars landing United States, where students can learn about weather in
first hand — and give JPL a personal connection to the public a wholly new way: by flying their avatars through weather
it never had before. patterns as they unfold across the country.23 organizations
can also leverage learning by hosting a conference in a virtual
As JPL experiments with Explorer Island for public outreach, con- world, as MIT did during its Emerging Technologies Conference
ferences, training and collaboration, it has its eye on engineering in September 2007. MIT broadcast a portion of the conference
live to Second Life, where it was watched
by over 120 people on a virtual screen.24
MIT used software from Veodia to deliver
TV-quality streaming video to Second Life.
In a virtual world, people can navigate
a conference or other live event through
a 3D experience that enables them to
interact with others via avatars. This is
very different from watching a video of
the event after-the-fact and alone (or
attending the event in person). Figure 6
shows a virtual trade show hosted by
the Everything Channel, where attendees
could participate and interact in four
Figure 5 The Phoenix spacecraft landed on Mars in Second Life, coinciding with the actual different venues.
landing on May 25, 2008. Several members of Second Life sat on the lander after it touched
down. (That’s a second lander in the background, hovering.) The Second Life audience watched
the lander go through its entry, descent and landing maneuvers in real time, seeing video In addition to being a testing ground for
from Mission Control, information directly from the Mission Controller’s blog, and pictures as learning and training, Second Life is being
they came in. Source: NASA
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Figure 6 Welcome to this virtual trade show. Each building in the middleground represents an area of interest (from left): conference center,
exhibits, media center and the CopaCabana. By visiting each area, you can hear presentations and gather conference materials (documents)
in your virtual briefcase. When you need a break, hang out at the CopaCabana, where you can chat with attendees. The trade show environment
was created using InXpo, an open source toolkit for building collaborative 3D virtual worlds. Source: Everything Channel
used for other real-world activities such as recruiting, orienta- to be started by dragging and dropping files onto the walls, which
tion, marketing, co-designing products with customers, test- can then be collaboratively viewed and updated. Qwaq Forums
ing floor layouts and designing dream kitchens. 25
Reuters has runs a version of openoffice.org and the Mozilla Firefox browser
reporters in Second Life reporting on Second Life to the real and allows desktop sharing, meaning easy viewing and editing
world, and reporting on the real world to Second Life. Also of Microsoft office documents and other formats such as PDFs.
seizing on the interplay between virtual and real for news, the Being able to edit documents in real time, working together, is
British police used Second Life in the highly-publicized case of a core feature.
Madeleine McCann to help search for the missing four-year-old
by posting virtual pictures of her.26 (This virtual-real detective Users can drag and drop documents from their local desktops
work was taken to a whole new level on a TV show; see “Blended- to the applications running on the room walls, and vice versa,
Reality Entertainment” later in this chapter.) and can review files in 2D and 3D, all while discussing topics
using built-in text and voice chat. By linking rooms, users can
To expand virtual worlds for business use, Second Life’s creator, move between them, like going from one meeting to another.
Linden Lab, is working with IBM to create open standards for Importantly, the rooms persist, so the current state of a project
virtual worlds that help advance the vision of a 3D Internet for remains intact. This allows users to adopt different working
commerce. This work includes having protocols and standards styles; for example, they can leave work for each other to review
for such things as universal avatars that can traverse different or meet interactively to review together.
virtual worlds (instead of having to create a separate avatar for
each world), and interoperable worlds that can be linked and CSC developed a proof-of-concept with Qwaq Forums, focusing
traversed as easily as moving from one Web page to another.27 on solution selling (how to sell and what to sell), that was tested
with 80 CSCers representing a variety of roles within the sales and
Whereas Second Life is an open platform inviting anyone’s partic- business development community. Qwaq Forums was chosen for its
ipation, another virtual environment, Qwaq Forums, is designed security, minimal hardware requirements, and business orientation.
specifically for secure business collaboration. With Qwaq Forums, overall reaction was positive, with 90 percent agreeing that Qwaq
users can quickly create a virtual room — team room, conference Forums is a viable technology for learning and business purposes.
room, media room — from a template and customize it for meet-
ings or projects. Each room comes with smart walls, allowing “We are opening the door to a new way for teams to collabo-
applications — document editor, spreadsheet, whiteboard, etc. — rate and learn virtually by providing a highly contextual
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Virtual worlds are an important way to
engage the new generation entering
the workforce and help global, matrixed
teams ramp up quickly to increase
their productivity.
environment,” says Holly Huntley, CSC’s global chief learning
officer who sponsored the project. “Virtual worlds are an
important way to engage the new generation entering the
Figure 7 A Qwaq Forums virtual auditorium is used to present a
workforce and help global, matrixed teams ramp up quickly
surgical procedure. Left display: Miramar by Intel Corp. Right display:
to increase their productivity.” Video feed by Clarity Creative Group LLC. Cleft patient model by
BioDigital Systems LLC in collaboration with NyU Medical Center.
CSC is exploring roll-out options for Qwaq Forums as a new Virtual auditorium design by E-spaces, n.v. Source: Qwaq
platform for learning to support key communities and other
enterprise development programs. Qwaq Forums is not an
“either/or” but an addition to e-mail, phone, wikis, IM and tele- IBM Labs has created a 3D Data Center using openSim, an
presence, providing hands-on collaboration (e.g., jointly editing open source virtual worlds platform. IBM provides the 3D Data
documents) that the others, with the exception of wikis, do Center application as part of its virtual worlds services. “It’s a
not. Qwaq Forum’s presence (feeling like you are in the same practical entree into virtual worlds, especially if the company is
place with someone) is stronger than IM but not as strong as IT oriented,” says Michael osias, architect of the 3D Data Center.
telepresence; it can be delivered through simplistic avatars that “There’s a real shock value when people first see it because
connote a “get the job done” environment, meaning you don’t it’s such a compelling use of virtual worlds technology.”
need to spend a lot of time on your avatar’s appearance.
A neat feature of Qwaq Forums is its distance-sensitive voice
capability. Users don head sets and speak through them as
if their avatar is talking; a person can sound near or far away
depending on where his avatar is in relation to yours. (Second
Life does this also, but conference calls do not.)
Intel is partnering with Qwaq to integrate Intel’s Miramar 3D
information space technology with Qwaq’s technology. The result
will be a new desktop visualization edition of Qwaq Forums that
integrates 2D desktop applications and shared 3D information
work spaces for large numbers of users across the enterprise.
According to Intel chief technology officer Justin Rattner,
“Intel envisions using the desktop visualization edition of
Qwaq Forums to dramatically enhance the productivity of our
Figure 8 Manage real data centers using IBM Labs’ virtual 3D
global distributed workforce.”28 (See Figure 7.)
Data Center. Use your avatar to roam server rooms in different
cities, check equipment and distribute workloads. you can also run
If the enterprise is looking for a focused application for getting simulations of space, power and cooling planning as well as disaster
started in virtual worlds, a virtual data center might be the way recovery scenarios. Source: IBM
to go.
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Through sophisticated visualization, the 3D Data Center simplifies creativity among Shell employees. The islands have a learning
complex processes and data, including hardware data, monitor- center, laboratory, ideation area, 3D project mapping arena and
ing data and financial data. By rendering computer equipment other business facilities. Unfrozenmind designed and developed
in 3D and combining it with monitoring information like the the islands as part of its BrandNewPlanet 2.0 collaborative
temperature of a CPU rack, the 3D Data Center presents a offering, working with concepts jointly developed by Shell’s
hybrid visualization that is easy to understand. (See Figure 8.) GameChanger group.
For example, you can identify hot spots (represented by a Tapping Location, Movement and Expression
flame) and take action: move virtual machines to other machines Virtual realities about places are improving with an influx of
that have available capacity, move machines to a cooler spot, real-world data. Google Earth gives a 3D rendering of the planet
or even move workloads to another geographic site. All this can that can be manipulated, mashed up and drilled into as the user
be done without being physically present. IBM’s Dallas Global searches for driving directions, restaurants, shops, parks, tourist
Solutions Center was the first production user of the 3D sites and geographic features of a particular place. EveryScape,
Data Center; the Swiss firm
Implenia, which manages Figure 9 V I RTUAL Wo RLD PLAT Fo RMS — A SAMPLE
commercial real estate, is
also an early user. Both are
P LATFo RM TA R GET USE HoSTED By oP EN SoU RCE
running their data centers
more efficiently as a result.
S ECo ND LIFE Entertainment/Multipurpose Vendor No
Collaboration in the 3D Data o P ENS IM (BE TA ) Entertainment/Multipurpose Self yes
Center is done via avatars
Wo NDERLAND Enterprise/Multipurpose Vendor/Self yes
and instant messaging; IBM (BE TA)
intends to add voice in the
future. QWAQ Fo RU M S Enterprise/Collaboration Vendor/Self No
P RoToS P H E RE Enterprise/Training Vendor/Self No
Longer term, IBM is target-
ing enterprise architecture M U LTIVE RS E Multipurpose Development Platform Self yes
for virtual worlds; that is,
3DVIA Multipurpose Development Platform Self No
build an enterprise architec-
VIRTo o LS
ture (e.g., operating system,
middleware) in a 3D environ- CRo QUET Multipurpose Development Platform Self yes
(BE TA)
ment and hook it to a real
system. TH E RE Entertainment Vendor No
IBM started the 3D Data TW INITy (BETA ) Entertainment Vendor No
Source: CSC
Center in Second Life and
switched to openSim for
security and control purposes (i.e., for use behind the firewall). which believes being there is more important than getting
Many enterprises dabble in Second Life and then progress to there, provides virtual streetscapes that give a photorealistic
a platform that addresses their specific needs. A sample of view of a city at ground level, including monuments, stores and
virtual world platforms is shown in Figure 9. buildings you can walk into. (See Figure 10.)
other companies, like energy giant Shell, are focusing on col- The city of Barcelona, working with Barcelona Media, has
laboration to drive innovation across the organization. Shell’s incorporated city data — waterworks, electrical data, tele-
GameChanger innovation group teamed with Unfrozenmind communications wiring and building data — into an accurate,
to create an archipelago of 3D virtual islands in Second Life large-scale, virtual city that you traverse by moving your arm in
to stimulate internal and external collaboration, learning and front of a large projected display of the 3D city, your avatar zipping
19