Virtual Reality: The Playground Is Now Serious Business

Virtual reality has come a long way since its beginning in the early 1980s. Back then people entered purpose-built rooms or donned special glasses or headwear to experience computer-generated environments. These systems were used as simulators to allow engineers to test the design of things like automobile interiors and train military personnel in the operation of equipment like weapon systems. Now virtual reality has taken the name “virtual world” and they exist online. Today, virtual worlds allow people to assume computer-generated identities called avatars. These avatars move about in the virtual world and interact with the avatars of people who might sit across the hall, down the street, or on the other side of the world. This is the critical aspect of today’s virtual world technology, online virtual worlds allow people to communicate and connect with anyone anywhere.

There are several public virtual worlds where people can meet and play. These worlds are as fantastical as their creators make them and the avatars people adopt can look like anything; a monster or knight, a fairy or a princess. The public virtual worlds are tremendous expressions of creativity and are attracting hundreds of thousands of people to try them out. The popularity of virtual worlds has gotten so great that many companies have taken notice and started experimenting to see how they could be used to help them sell their products and services. Advertising, marketing, and product placement have all found their way into virtual worlds - a sure sign that something has entered the mainstream of popular culture.

Another sign that virtual worlds have “arrived” is their use as plot devices on television. In just the span of a few months several network crime-dramas have used virtual worlds as key story elements. This has shifted virtual worlds from the attention of the computer-savvy and placed it right in the eye of main-street America. Now millions of people are at least aware of the technology and what it’s capable of doing.

If this was all that was happening in the area of virtual worlds you might rightly think that it sounds like an interesting technology that you should track to see how it develops. But that’s not the whole story. Large corporations have taken a strong interest in virtual worlds and are discovering how they can leverage them not just for advertising and marketing but to improve the communication and productivity of their employees.

One of the first thing companies do is use virtual worlds to conduct meetings with employees spread around the country. Conference calls are the standard way of holding meetings with remote employees but it’s extremely easy for the people at the other end of the phone to lose focus. There is a disconnect that happens during this type of communication that allows people to feel like it’s OK to do other things and possibly move on. Companies like IBM have built buildings in the public virtual worlds where employees can meet in various rooms and spaces to discuss projects, plan campaigns, and share information just like they’d do in a conference call. The difference is that they see each other’s avatars and know that a real person is out there speaking with them. People relate to the meeting and the other participants like they do in real face-to-face meetings. They become more invested in the proceedings and feel like they’re connected to the other participants.

In addition to meetings, companies use these virtual environments for training and learning. Some of the training has been simple translations of traditional classroom courses carried out in a simulated class room. Other more sophisticated training takes the form of simulations which allow multiple learners to role-play with each other or with computer controlled avatars called “bots” to practice job skills and perform critical tasks.

While public virtual worlds have worked well as a low-cost way for companies to hold meetings and conduct training sessions, the main hindrance to wide-scale adoption has been the fact that these virtual worlds are public. This means that anyone can enter the world and do practically anything they want. As such they don’t afford companies the level of security and privacy they are used to having with their own computer systems and communications services. To address this issue several companies are beginning to offer private virtual worlds that can be customized to suit the particular needs and unique requirements of an organization.

ProtonMedia™ is one such company. For the past several years ProtonMedia has developed its virtual world ProtoSphere™ with companies in mind. Unlike public virtual worlds, ProtoSphere is a completely private, business-friendly environment that offers all the tools needed to conduct business and collaborate on projects. Companies set the rules of behavior and extend their culture into the world so you won’t find avatars with purple hair, fishnet stockings, and angel wings in ProtoSphere; instead you’ll see professionally dressed avatars holding meetings, attending live training classes, and networking with colleagues in a virtual corporate environment.

Private virtual worlds such as ProtoSphere provide companies with complete control over the security and operation of their environment. If a company wants to host the virtual world within their firewall and other network security systems they have that option. If they’d rather have ProtonMedia host and manage the world, that option is also available. “Control is the key feature” according to Ron Burns, president of ProtonMedia. “By allowing the companies to define the operational rules, the IT departments become much more comfortable with the technology” and this is critical to having any company consider using virtual worlds for almost any reason, be it training, or meetings, or ProtoSphere’s unique niche, workforce collaboration that combines virtual worlds and Web 2.0 technologies.

Karl Kapp, the author of Games, Gadgets and Gizmos and a professor at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg Pennsylvania says, "I think the future of business communication revolves around the use of 3D virtual worlds, avatars, and the idea of connecting people to one another. This type of mass collaboration will change the way learning is defined and delivered. ProtoSphere fits this trend by connecting people with one another in a virtual world and allowing them to go someplace they could not have visited otherwise." His sentiment is shared by Jay Cross, author of Informal Learning, who has stated “Workers learn more in the coffee room than in the classroom. They discover how to do their jobs through informal learning: talking, observing others, trial and error, and simply working with people in the know.” Studies show that using virtual worlds in business offers employees key advantages, such as instant communication, real-time coaching, connectivity to colleagues and mentors, and the ability to practice and master new skills in a safe, simulated environment.

The key to success in this emerging market will lie in providing companies and organizations with the tools to get work done. Virtual worlds by themselves provide a means for geographically distributed people to meet, share ideas and information, and collaborate on projects. Enterprise virtual worlds enable companies to create secure spaces where their employees can work together and share documents just like they do in their “real” physical spaces. Rooms in these virtual worlds can be locked to prevent unauthorized access and the documents people collaborate on can be shared between two people or entire teams. Blogs, wikis, and other Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be implemented to create a workplace environment that is frictionless and a joy to work in.

Today virtual worlds such as ProtoSphere are being used by organizations to train new hires in a virtual corporate campus. This training covers everything from basic orientation to departmental and job specific duties. Some companies are using the technology to train customers in the use of their products and reducing their post sales support expenses. Other uses are as a recruitment and screening tool for hiring newly graduated MBAs and major education institutions are using virtual worlds to recruit and orient students and also conduct classes in-world.

At the enterprise level, virtual worlds allow people to communicate and work and learn in a more human way than traditional systems. Avatars and virtual environments help to overcome organizational barriers and departmental silos. The improved communication and increased flow of ideas helps companies become more effective and nimble in an increasingly competitive world. Companies find that the technology of virtual worlds combined with Web 2.0 tools help their internal communication style evolve from a serial or hierarchical model to a more organic neural pattern of communication. Connections between people are made as they’re needed based on skills sets, knowledge of markets or industries, etc. The system by its nature and design encourages people to find the information or help they need to move the company forward. In effect the company becomes “self-aware” because the entire organization shares the sum total of its knowledge and experiences.

We are at a turning point in the workplace that will change our world similar to the changes experienced during the industrial revolution and the dawning of the information age. Computer technology is becoming powerful enough that we will finally be able to make computers operate the way we do and not the other way around. To borrow from an old Apple ad campaign, virtual worlds will enable computing “for the rest of us” and allow every company to find the power in its people.

About ProtonMedia

ProtonMedia’s effective communication solutions are designed to educate and engage a client’s audience. Its flagship product, ProtoSphere, is the first 3D virtual world to offer new and innovative ways to communicate, work and learn through simulations, social networking and informal learning. ProtonMedia also specializes in custom courseware development, simulation-based training, instructional design, curriculum development, and consulting services. Companies who use ProtonMedia’s solutions can lower training costs, improve sales performance, strengthen customer relationships, and collaborate more effectively. Established in 1998, ProtonMedia is based in suburban Philadelphia and has clients in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, financial services, and technology.

For more information, please visit www.ProtonMedia.com where you can download the demo version of ProtoSphere. To schedule a virtual tour, please contact Erika Liodice at Erika.liodice@protonmedia.com.