Leave the real world behind in Second Life

Jeff Smith, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 17, 2007 at midnight

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The online world of Second Life isn't only a fancy chat room or a place to make friends. It's also a thriving business community where alter egos can share ideas, get job training, and buy and sell products and services.

Attorney Dave Elchoness recently dispensed advice to an American woman in a dispute with her business partner in Europe.

Nothing unusual there. That's what lawyers do.

But the woman didn't make an appointment at Elchoness' Boulder office. She sought help after walking into his law firm at Second Life, a virtual, three-dimensional world on the Internet.

Elchoness admits some people look at him as if he has two heads when he says he has a virtual law firm. And, no, the two-month-old enterprise hasn't led to new clients - yet.

But he's one of many who are convinced that Second Life can be a powerful way to share ideas. He's been meeting with educators in the real world to discuss how companies with employees across the globe can use the virtual world for team building and project collaboration.

"My interest is how Second Life can be used for bringing people together," Elchoness said.

More companies and universities are thinking in a similar vein. Among Second Life residents with a Colorado connection are the University of Denver, Level 3 Communications, Colorado Tech University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Second Life, for the uninitiated, was created by Linden Lab, a private company, in 2003. The virtual world now has more than 9.4 million registered residents but only about 600,000 active users, according to Time magazine.

People can join for free, but it costs money to buy property, furniture and certain other services and products. Linden dollars are used as currency.

About $1 million a day was being spent in Second Life recently.

Residents create their own identity, or avatar, designing their shape, hair color and clothing. They also create their own environment by buying property and constructing buildings. They can walk, fly, conduct business, play music, go to bars and interact with others through instant messaging and voice - just about anything one can do in real life.

Companies are using Second Life for job training, interviewing, role playing and to try to sell products and services.

Colorado Tech University launched its site in June with a bonfire and 24 hours of live music. Its site features a boardwalk where student projects are displayed.

But it's unclear to what extent commerce and education will be successfully conducted in Second Life. The graphics are primitive compared with the latest video games, and the experience can be slow and clunky.

Like other Internet endeavors, including gaming, there are questions about whether people should be spending so much of their time in the virtual rather than the real world, and there are other potentially thorny issues, such as virtual sex and crime.

This reporter, dubbed Rocky Wingtips and with a more youthful appearance than in real life, spent most of his time running into buildings on the orientation island and then watching his system crash when trying to "teleport" to another site.

Conclusion: A new or powerful computer system is helpful.

Colorado connections

• Three examples of how Colorado companies and a university are using Second Life:

Elchoness Law Firm LLC

The Boulder-based law firm's Second Life presence is in the professional business park called Silicon Island, owned by an East Coast media marketing firm. Dave Elchoness said he took over the office for $20 a month in rent. The island's owner helped him put his logo up.

"I got a very nice avatar (a young woman from Calgary) to help me furnish the office for about $20," Elchoness said. "I like to be able to sit with people. If you don't want to do that, you don't have to spend anything."

So far, he's had no paying clients.

Elchoness, like many residents, has gone for a more favorable appearance as an avatar than in real life. "If the avatar isn't 5 inches taller than you are (in real life) and 20 pounds lighter, then you're better off than I am."

University of Denver

Students will be taught nuclear physics and astronomy experiments starting in January on Second Life.

DU has replicated Olin Hall and the Mount Evans Meyer-Womble Observatory, and is setting up various nuclear experiments. Its property is on an archipelago called SciLands. Residents can "teleport" to DU's "The Science School" and view educational exhibits.

Research associate Jeff Corbin and DU professors Robert Amme and Zeev Shayer believe Second Life will be a groundbreaking, revolutionary way to teach.

DU recently received a $200,000 federal grant from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and will use part of the money to set up experiments on Second Life. The NRC is attracted to the idea because students can handle hazardous wastes in the virtual world without the safety precautions and monitoring needed in the real world.

It took weeks for hired designers to build the observatory and school buildings. An island costs $1,000 to buy and $150 a month to maintain, Corbin said.

Corbin even built a stage for National Public Radio to do its Science Friday show from DU's island, with avatars in attendance. Science Friday did its first show from the site last month.

Corbin jokes there are more references on Google to his Second Life avatar Zazen Manbi than to himself. He also has to use a spare avatar when getting anything done on DU's site.

"There's an addictive quality that I suffered in the beginning," he said. "Now I take long breaks. And when I'm setting up experiments (for the students next year), I come in as somebody else or I get bombarded with conversations."

Level 3 Communications

Level 3 Communications has an island on Second Life to showcase its products and services.

"It's kind of experimentation at the moment, trying to figure out what to do with this technology, how best to exploit it," said Mark Taylor, vice president of strategy for the content markets group.

The island first floated in the sky while Level 3 was working on it, so residents couldn't find it. The Broomfield-based communications carrier also bought some ocean around it so other residents couldn't settle too close by.

Taylor said the most striking thing about Level 3's presence might be video clips, such as how Level 3's network was built. Visiting residents can sit and watch the presentations.

"It's almost weird being able to watch real video in a 3D virtual reality."

Level 3 hasn't developed its site to the extent that some companies have, but Taylor said the company has talked about things like conducting quarterly results conferences on Second Life. He said the site has helped serve as a "connection point" between interested parties and Level 3 but hasn't necessarily created new business.

Level 3 views the technology as very important, he said. Taylor noted the popularity of social networking sites like MySpace.

"Over time, that 3D environment is the way the Web is going in the future. The graphics will improve as well. It's still fairly crude compared to the state-of-the-art gaming console."

Level 3 also counts Linden Lab as a customer, providing high-speed Internet access and fiber-optic capacity connecting Second Life's data centers in San Francisco and Dallas.

smithje@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5155

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