Virtual Worlds and the Transformation of Business

Virtual Worlds, immersive and collaborative environments on the Internet, also referred to as Web 3D, are likely to transform the global business environment. Developed out of online games, social networking, and Web services, Virtual Worlds benefit from several technologies that enhance their usefulness, including massively scaled games, avatars, cloud/on-demand/grid computing, on-demand storage, and next-generation networks.

The convergence of these technologies in a new Virtual World "ecosystem" will change the way businesses operate. By creating immersive environment platforms accessible through mobile and other handheld devices, Virtual Worlds bring powerful computing, data analysis, and decision-making tools to employees of firms of any size.

Virtual Worlds not only elicit customer-generated information and ideas, they enhance collaboration within and between businesses. These platforms facilitate a wide range of business activities and opportunities, such as training and education, product and service development, marketing and strategy creation, and finance exchange, that can be executed in new, interactive environments. By enriching and deepening collaboration within and between firms, Virtual Worlds can transform U.S. businesses in the modern era. This vision "now plausible with current and ever-evolving technology" sees the modern corporation operating and receiving knowledge and inputs from suppliers, employees, and customers in wholly new ways. It also provides for the emergence of highly specialized very small firms that can combine to create innovative products when opportunities for these exist. This offers a vision of a modern guild-like part of the economy.

Robert B. Cohen

Cohen Communications Group

Full Report: http://www.athenaalliance.org/apapers/VirtualWorldsandtheTransformationofBusiness.htm