Second Meeting?

Can you imagine a time when you might save the cost of plane tickets, travel time, and a real life, in-person experience, to attend a meeting entirely on your computer? As a software veteran who assisted with the creation of virtual tradeshows in the mid-1990's, I can assure you that thoughts of any viable virtual reality for association conferences have been far from my mind in recent years. However, as Moore's Law predicts (and Kurzweil's accelerating change concepts further embellish), technology only continues to get better, faster, and cheaper. Maybe a virtual meeting in the near future isn't so far-fetched.

Most people have heard of the game "Second Life" by now. It is a simulated, digital world accessible through your computer, where it's not unusual to see characters (also called avatars) created by people, reflecting anything from a whimsical, cartoonish portrayal of themselves, to a vision of what they perhaps wish they looked like (and, in most of those cases, I doubt few actually do). During the odd time or two when I've been curious enough to try the game, I was shocked at the complexity of behavior I saw online.

However, to my surpirse, I've heard of many recent examples of these virtual worlds being used for far more than play. In fact, the U.S. Federal Government has used Second Life to train soldiers on how to operate a bomb disposal robot. That certainly holds more credibility than witnessing Second Life being used as an artificial dating site or an outlet for repressed behavior. I guess things are advancing.

In recent market research I have conducted with associations and the leaders who run their meetings and educational programs, statistics of interest in the virtualization of meetings are growing (46% of leaders believe their attendees "would rather have increased options to attend meetings and conferences virtually..."), but still not overwhelmingly. And when it comes to networking, leaders clearly state that technology will never replace in-person dialogue (only 17% of leaders "believe their attendees would rather network with technology than in real life"). So there is a dichotomy in response: the desire to attend virtually exists, but the primary benefit of in-person networking remains a physical world reality. What jumps out as intriguing to me is that based on what I have observed, Second Life is probably more beneficial for virtual interaction ("networking") than anything else I've seen it used for!

One of the facts about any shift in using technology to replace a former physical activity is that education, awareness, and proof are needed, before the support and the desire to transition to something new becomes evident. The proof remains to be seen. Simply by exploring a few of the virtual tradeshow experiences that are out there right now leads me to believe that effective virtual interaction is indeed getting closer.

http://www.goexhibit.com/demo/
http://vshow.on24.com/vshow/on24

As we consider remote content access options at OASIS in the future, it's helpful to keep an eye on this type of development and its uptake in the market. Cool stuff, indeed.