While attaining my bachelor’s degree, I often took some of my classes online. In fact, if there was an online class available to me I signed up for it. The online classes I took consisted of reading the text book, completing assignments and using a discussion board to communicate with fellow classmates. However, what was missing was actual face to face interaction with the teacher and other students.

I recently discovered an article that showcased a university that has created a virtual classroom within Second Life. Below is a screen shot of the classroom that was developed by San Jose State University. These virtual classrooms are being created so that students taking online courses can still get what’s missing from not physically being at school.

This got me thinking, would I want to take an online course if I still had to attend class in a virtual world? I actually like the idea. I would still be able to do the work from home and it would make that particular course more personal since I could see my teacher and fellow students (as represented by their virtual selves) similar as I would in a normal class setting.

Although I think a class meeting in a virtual world has some benefits, one point in the article that I don’t necessarily agree with is the idea that having class in a virtual setting would help students overcome real world problems, such as public speaking. Perhaps virtual courses might help with other real world problems, but nothing compares to being physically able to speak in front of a live classroom.

What’s in the future for virtual online courses? Will research discover that this type of learning is more beneficial than the standard online courses? It could be that adding this virtual element will improve the online course experience and create that sense of being part of a class.

Online worlds have attracted big business. Marketing and advertising inside virtual worlds has taken on new and innovative strategies, as more and more companies are establishing an interactive presence “in world.”  The Engauge Digital Behavioral Research Department loves to conduct research in a range of worlds - so I thought it would be a fun idea to explore Webkinz.

If you aren’t already familiar, Webkinz is an online world created by Ganz for kids ages 5-13. Webkinz has an estimated 530,733 in world visitors everyday. In terms of US visitors, Webkinz has seen tremendous traffic and growth in comparison to other virtual worlds.

Ask any child you know if they have heard of Webkinz and you will most likely get an earful about their specific Webkinz avatar: born from a real-life stuffed animal that translates into a digital avatar with its own personality and hobbies. The avatars – whose stuffed counterparts are purchased in stores by parents – have the ability to chat, make friends, get jobs, build homes, and play games with others, all in the comfort of a supervised and secure environment that caters to parental concerns.  And of course the in-store purchasing power is not limited to only stuffed animals – parents and their children can dress their stuffed avatars in clothes or give them Ganz brand lip balm, and all have digital codes to convert the real life products into interactive versions for their pet. Webkinz and Webkinz related products are well sought after gifts for children.

So in researching this whole Webkinz world as opportunity space for our clients, I naturally have my own avatar – a friendly, opportunistic, sunglass wearing chicken.  He’s got his own place, complete with a bed, couch and a couple of cacti and it turns out that he apparently really wants a toy cell phone.  He’s got several friends and even has a job where he earns his Kinzcash (Webkinz currency) to buy things like smoking hot sunglasses or furniture for his room.

It appears that with so many visitors to this online world, that Webkinz and the Webkinz generation will be the future of other online worlds. It will be interesting to see how the world grows and evolves as the “Webkinz generation” grows into adults. Will this generation transform the way we look at virtual worlds in the future?

At 11:30pm on Monday April 29, 2008 I was standing in line at Best Buy in Buckhead with about a hundred other die-hard Grand Theft Auto (GTA) fans awaiting the latest release of the game - GTA IV.

Being a Gen Y kid I have grown up with a video game in one hand and a computer in the other hand. So what’s the appeal of this game that makes me (and millions of other people) wait in front of a store for hours just to get it? Interactive game play.

The world that has been created by the Rockstar team is simply unbelievable. The amount of experiences that a user can have in this gaming world is amazing. For example, you can stand on a street corner and watch traffic, weather, people, and animals all interact with each other and with you all in a virtual world type of environment. The size of the city is mind boggling. In fact, there is such detail that you can roam most of the city and not run into the same character twice, which in the gaming world is very rare.

Truly the biggest appeal for me is the multiplayer component to this game - you and a group of friends can play in a match up to 16 players at one time! People can go to restaurants, clubs, bowling, pool halls, the beach … you name it, you can do it. The way the console makers and video game developers have teamed up to create a completely unique online experience may very well have changed the way we game forever. Fifteen years ago if you wanted to play with a friend you needed to be in front of a television together. Now, you just pop on Xbox Live or the PS3 Network and boom connected to millions of people.

To sum it all up this is a truely unique gaming experience with unlimited possibilities and it simply makes me very excited about the future of gaming and online interactivity.  But, it isn’t just me who thinks so. GTA IV is the first game in nearly a decade to receive a 10 out of 10 review from IGN. Impressive to say the least. Check out the full review.  

Honestly, I could ramble about how great this game is for hours, but I’ll let you find out for yourself. See you online and happy gaming!

On Thursday February 28th, Cybergrrl Oh interviewed Del Ross, VP Distribution Marketing (Americas) at Intercontinental Hotels Group, regarding Crowne Plaza’s presence in Second Life – Place To Meet Island. Now anyone that’s read the Spun blog knows that we’ve created this space and continue to be super excited about it.

Of course, with Second Life, rarely does all go smoothly. And this event was no exception, with images not appearing to the host having lag problems – it was indeed a typical Second Life event. But it worked out well because it not only highlighted the challenges that companies can expect to face but also how well the functionality of the island works.

The interview included tough questions regarding the strategy decisions for creating Place to Meet Island, how it’s currently being staffed, what marketing tactics were used, ROI that has been realized and what the future holds for Crowne Plaza’s Second Life presence.

All in all, this is a great interview to check out.

Here in the Behavioral Research Department, we always have the opportunity to uncover unique and interesting discoveries. So, when we were tasked with planning a surprise Second Life engagement party for Spunlogic Account Manager Nalini Humphrey, we thought we had a pretty good idea of what we were in for. Unique and interesting definitely weren’t lacking, especially with Batman, flying watermelons and….Well, take a look for yourself … click on the video below. =)

Last night’s Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association’s (AiMA) event - “How Virtual Worlds are Impacting Interactive Marketing” - featured an exceptional group of speakers and really fascinating content.

The event’s panel was moderated by Del Ross, VP of Distribution Marketing (Americas) for InterContinental Hotels Group – and one of our very favorite-ist clients! The panelists included:

• Christopher Klaus / Founder and CEO for Kaneva
• Mike Donnelly / Director Worldwide Interactive Marketing for Coca-Cola
• Rhonda Lowry / Vice President, Emerging Technologies for TBS
• Paul Greenberg / Director of Consumer Marketing for The Weather Channel

This event was special not just because Del wore his best jacket-tie combo, but because it was actually simulcast in-world. So people attended the real-life event and others logged into Crowne Plaza’s The Place to Meet island in Second Life to see it broadcast.

Check out a quick video of how this looked from Second Life:

Attendees were treated to great insight from leading brands who have done more than just dabble in virtual worlds. A few interesting take aways:

Coca-Cola has been active in virtual worlds for five years, taking a very deliberate approach to how they engaged in this medium. They wanted to allow their fans the freedom to enjoy the brand while at the same time providing some structure around doing so. For example, one of their projects was a contest - allowing users to submit ideas that would satiate their fan’s thirst for “an experience” (a play on words). The result was creative - and very brand adherent - ideas.

The Weather Channel is one of the most popular island’s in Second Life. They took a gaming slant in their space. This has led to a tremendous amount of sports-related activities on their island, such as mountain biking and surfing. Residents have even taken it upon themselves to hold surf contests!

Turner has also been involved in virtual worlds for quite some time. Their CNN brand allows Second Life users to be in-world reporters (a version of the real life iReporter). Another one of Rhonda’s more interesting case studies was about tapping into an existing Myst Uru fan base of hundreds of people in Second Life as a way of promoting their own Myst Uru world outside of Second Life.

Finally, Kaneva’s Christopher Klaus provided his perspective on what he believes will shape virtual worlds in the future. His belief is that many people will look to virtual worlds as a social outlet, which is why Kaneva is built to support this kind of culture. His stance is that while many of the worlds that are more fantasy-based will always have a core fan-base, others would be wise to create an environment that fosters social networking.

The Behavioral Research Department is happy to announce the creation of our very own Virtual Worlds Research Team! The team, headed by DrRead Voom, consists of several avatars created by Spunlogic researchers and interns. Due to increasing popularity of utilizing online virtual worlds as marketing tools, the team was formed to help uncover many unique possibilities waiting for businesses in virtual worlds. The team has specific interest in how psychological principles can be leveraged to enhance in-world customer service as well as the overall experience.

So far, our researchers have conducted in-world interviews and surveys for our clients and for our own scientific pursuits. Using our understanding of human behavior in real and virtual world scenarios, the team has been able to identify the most effective testing locations, procedures and avatar qualities for several research studies.

While much of our research happens in virtual worlds, some happens in the real world too. Recently, we developed an online survey to assess the perceptions of infidelity in online and virtual world environments. News articles surrounding a real life divorce prompted by a Second Life relationship led researchers to question human assessments of fidelity with respect to technology. Findings from that study suggested that there is a relationship between social perceptions of infidelity and the mode of technology used to mediate communication. When communication is mediated by technologies like virtual worlds, people are far more tolerant of unfaithful behavior.

So, next time you decide to escape reality in favor of some virtual fun in Second Life, be on the lookout for our team! We’re often easy to spot as we sometimes wear our lab coats—as seen in the pictures below. And stay tuned to our blog because you just never know what the virtual worlds team might stumble upon next…

Recently, I’ve seen a great deal of positive press about the virtual world Kaneva.

Second Life has been the big player in the space, stealing much of the spotlight from other worlds. But, as we’ve shared in previous blog posts, it’s certainly not the only virtual world out there. With millions and millions of people creating virtual lives, this space will only grow and reshape as the market defines itself.

So, this Forbes article (”Rocking the Virtual World”) says:

Among the producers of virtual worlds Atlanta’s Kaneva may be on its way to becoming the most “disruptive,” according to Strategy & Innovation, a Cambridge, Mass. newsletter founded by Harvard Business School’s Clayton Christensen.

That’s quite a statement. But, why Kaneva? Certainly Second Life has the greater mind share. Well, the article goes on with a quote from founder Christopher Klaus:

“Second Life currently has huge mind share, but they are after a different market,” says Klaus. “We want people who have never played videogames before.”

This is significant. Kaneva, unlike Second Life (and other worlds), encourages users to replicate themselves in-world, as opposed to creating a fantasy version of themselves. Kaneva wants to be the MySpace or Facebook of virtual worlds - a place to openly share your life and your interests with your friends. In fact, Kaneva has often been compared to the social network MySpace, not a frequent comparison for Second Life.

In the end, I’m left thinking: Perhaps we need to do away with the comparisons. The audience for Second Life and Kaneva are clearly different. There’s no reason at this point to say that it’s one or the other…just as there’s not just one social network, rather many that bring together groups of people with varying interests.

My “home” inside Kaneva - a little sad right now, but give me time …

In Behavioral Research, we do a lot of interviews - and virtual worlds are no exception.

“In-world” interviews are an amazing way to uncover avatar needs, preferences, and expectations in virtual worlds. In the last few months, we’ve used this method to produce some really intriguing findings.

Take a quick look at what an in-world interview looks like:

Behavioral Research gets to work on some pretty exciting projects. Here’s a sneak peak of our in-world User Experience testing.

1. We study how users search for islands …

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2. We test what users think they can do…

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3. We test user expectations…

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We’ve discovered some amazing things. Marketing in world is not just about design. It’s about optimization with your target audience in mind.