Virtual worlds 2.0 – time for a Second Life upgrade?

I previously shared some thoughts about what the future might hold for Second Life (‘Second Life in need of fresh blood’), which sparked off an ongoing debate with another member of thebluedoor team (I promise not to divulge names, Jenifer!). Her concern is that Second Life is still extremely popular and has a long and useful time ahead of it. I don’t disagree, but I do believe that it is moving into the more mainstream phase of its existence.

Out of our discussions came the agreement that some developments from within Second Life are amazing and have a lot to offer the world at large, not just the more ‘techie’ amongst us. A prime example of this is the Virtual Guide Dog, helping visually impaired Second Life users to navigate the global community by reading signs and using text to speech technology.

In light of this, I was delighted to hear that two UK start-up virtual worlds, ‘Real Life’ and ‘Near Global’, have received financial backing from the CEO of one of the largest technology venture capitalists, Ariadne Capital.

My excitement is not because they provide competition to Second Life, but because they have a specific purpose.

Real Life and Near Global are regarded as ‘virtual worlds 2.0’ as they have a particular focus, with a real world application. Both of them are currently in development stage, but here is an overview of what they will be offering when they go live:

Real Life aims to train users for particular careers through job simulations. The main target audience will be school and college leavers, providing them with a virtual world in which they can try out potential careers as well as connect with recruiters.

Near Global builds 3D replicas of cities (‘Near London’ is scheduled to be built ready to visit later this year). Its aim is to sell real estate to brands, offering visitors an online environment for shopping through to education.

Both have a clear focus and the capacity for online training and knowledge share is phenomenal.

These virtual worlds 2.0 may not be a Second Life upgrade as such, but they certainly offer a much more focused approach and will definitely be worth a visit!