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March 04, 2008
Intimacy with Virtual Environments
I got the question "Why would I want to be in Second Life with Cisco" again today...I understand the puzzled query and did my best to address accordingly :-)
Here is a rough recap of the conversation....
Puzzled Person: Why Second Life...?
Dannette: Because it is a fluid environment for having very intimate (but not proprietary) conversations and developing deeper relationships.
Puzzled Person: Deep avatar relationships...you must be kidding.
Dannette: Hmmm, no not so much.
Puzzled Person: Seriously!
Dannette: I know sorry, my bad, couldn't resist. Seriously though, think of it this way...in say a Netpro discussion forum you can take part in Cisco to you, you to Cisco and peer to peer interactions but not in real time. In say a Cisco TechTalk webcast you can take part in Cisco to you and you to Cisco interactions real time but no peer to peer interactions are possible. In a virtual environment you can take part in Cisco to you, you to Cisco, and peer to peer interactions and all in real time. So figure out what you are looking to glean and how quickly, then choose your accordingly. Cisco utilizes many communication vehicles, such as the three mentioned here, and will continue doing so as we recognize that people learn and communicate in very different ways. We aren't making anyone drink one flavor of kool aid, you can take your pick ;-)
All kidding aside this is really a question that is best answered by the end users goal...meaning if you want a quick, touch-free communication then Second Life (and virtual environments as a whole more than likely) are not for you. However, if you aren't satisfied with the level of interaction and immersion you get from more traditional communication vehicles then networked virtual environments may be right up your alley.
I guess my thinking is what have you got to loose? A bit of your time yes and some hard drive space for the application. Of course, if you don't like the experience you can always 'uninstall'...
So if you haven't to date, I encourage you to come out next week and test the water. We will hold our monthly TechChat on Learning 2.0 at the Cisco High Bandwidth stage, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cisco%20Systems%204/65/35/22/.
Hope to see you out for either a first visit or as a repeat attendee.
Posted by Dannette Veale on March 4, 2008 05:13 PM
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