Virtual Conference Centre
Ener Hax is undertaking another build for our new endeavor in OpenSim-based virtual worlds. Over on the Level 2 Venue grid, Ener is working on four projects simultaneously. The latest one is the Energy Hotel and Convention Centre.
The build is starting off with pure simplicity – all prims in the flickr snapshot below are simply cylinders having their centres at the exact same point. This is one of Ener’s tricks to ensure perfect alignment and this principle forms the base of a very sound building practice.
Once the hotel has an appealing aesthetic shape, then twisting and shearing may be added to create visual interest.
The hotel and conference centre will act as “living” examples of how virtual meetings and events can offered as supplemental venues to real events. We do not make the assumption that virtual worlds are a replacement for real meetings, as Linden Lab has with their IBM white paper and television coverage last summer. That assumption is as valid as assuming that teleconferencing, such as WebEx, can replace face-to-face meetings.
There will always be value in people meeting, shaking hands, and networking in the real world. Adding an option of virtual meeting and event space makes good business sense for venues, and companies, that hold real meetings.
The telephone did not replace the need for face-to-face meetings and neither will virtual worlds. However, the savvy meeting planner recognizes the place that virtual venues hold, just like phones and Twitter boards currently do at events.
see our flickr collection for Level 2 Venue, an endeavor from iliveisl (i live in simulator lands)
The Meeting Hive in Reaction Grid
Inspired by a wild beehive, this meeting facility sits over an inactive volcanic caldera. This is two hours into the build and, once completed, it will have smaller areas for informal break-out sessions.
IBM and Cisco found that many good ideas come from people mingling before and after virtual world meetings. This facility is built with that in mind with a “cafe” spot at the top and smaller “hives” for groups of 2 to 6 along the top of the caldera.
This is built on our new grid and, as you can see, it looks just like Second Life. That is because it uses the same viewer and OpenSim for the grid. The advantage in using Reaction Grid over Second Life is cost and politics. The cost is a fraction of Second Life (and I can speak to that well, since I own 12 sims in Second Life). The politics is more subjective.
Reaction Grid is put together specifically for business and educational use. This grid is our own private grid and we are able to hypergrid to other grids. There are many OpenSim grids out there including IBM.
Microsoft just pulled out of Second Life 2 weeks ago to come over to Reaction Grid and it is easy to see why. If you don’t need to buy clothes or go dancing at a club and your purpose is to use virtual worlds to supplement your meetings, then it may be worth investigating.
We (iliveisl – i live in simulator lands) are just getting our feet wet and will be offering packages for Reaction Grid tailored to eLearning and meeting use.
See the flickr set of this Reaction Grid build by Ener Hax for Level 2 Venue (website is early in development).
