Second life

Principle

Second Life is not a Video game because it there has no goal, searches, or mission, put aside the meeting between residents via their misadventure.

The users can modify their appearance as much as they wish it and to create objects, clothing, buildings, sculptures, vehicles of all kinds, plants, animals, gadgets, etc the misadventure (the “player”) does not have a mission to fill, it is free of going where good seems to him, and to do there what it wants as much as it observes the access terms and of use of Second Life . It is possible to download on the site of the images, the sounds and animations to the format BVH, which can then be divided with the other users who will be able to make use of it. The players preserve the rights of Intellectual property on what they create, rights which are controlled by the application of a system of permissions. The creator of an object can prohibit to the other players the copy of this object, his transmission with another player, or his modification (but a remainder object always either copiable, or transmissible).

Each element of Second Life belongs to one of the three categories: object, ground or misadventure.

the misadventure is the virtual representation of a user, of form humanoïde which can be modified in the face and proportions, equipped freely, and animated using files of basic animation integrated into Second Life or created in an external tool (for example Avimator or To pose) then téléversées on the system.
the objects are the programmable elements which each user can create. They are manufactured starting from basic geometrical forms called primitives, or prims (sphere, cylinder, cubic, prism, torus, pyramid, cone) which can be recut various ways and assemblies.
the ground is the browsable surface of Second Life; it is divided into three large continents and a myriad of independent islands filling the ocean around these continents. Each plot of land can contain a maximum number of prims proportional to its surface.

The saving in Second Life rests on the local currency, the dollar Linden (L$): each subscriber paying of Second Life receives each week from it, which enables them to acquire objects, movable and real goods, as well as services near the other users. The users can also buy Linden dollars or sell some on LindeX, the site of exchange of Linden Lab, or on the similar sites of third parties. The facilities offered by this economy interns made it possible all kinds of activities to be created inside the world of Second Life . The commercial activities most current are the shops of clothing, discotheques, casinos, places of virtual prostitution, video games, real and structures, roleplays, etc Of the noncommercial activities develop to with it also, in particular in the fields of the political debate, the international solidarity, artistic exposures, etc

This “second life” is lived in a very different way according to the people testing itself there: social meetings and interactions for the ones, development of a role with whole share in a specific community for others, or continuation of various phantasms, design and use of communications tools and teaching, artistic creation, socio-economic research and marketing, and even therapy against certain phobias or psychoses. In a general way, the absence of objective to be reached or history to be followed made that this world returns only what one brings there oneself.

Each user can become member of one or more group (S) of users with a common aim, as to live their second life in a particular way (there exist several groups of elves, vampires and Jedis in the play), to keep up to date with the local topicality, to manage a commune of grounds, to organize philosophical or political debates, to take part in plays, festivals, concerts or contest, to remain in liaison with compatriots (groups French-speaking, Italian, Japanese, Korean, etc), and more still.

Limits of simulation

As in the real life, whatever his age, a participant can make virtual criminal actions (flights, crimes, to make love in public, to marry with several women, to explode buildings and to even make indecent assaults). If he is minor, he can play in a casino, consult documents pornographic or buy alcohol, but he risks in spite of very that the FBI, the tax department (IRS) or even the real police force continue it for these offenses or these crimes committed in the virtual world. Businesses of flights and manners in particular were announced in 2006 and 2007 whose press was made the echo.

Influence on the company

Towards end of the year 2006, software called CopyBot, based on project of Retro-engineering libsecondlife , developed with authorization of LindenLab, has made possible to exceed certain measurements anti-copy implemented in Second Life, which caused strong reactions on behalf of users on which the real incomes depend partly or entirely on commercial industry in Second Life.

November 18th, 2006, the site was victim of an attack on its database customer with an aim of concealing the passwords of the players.

At the beginning of 2007, of the parties of candidates to the French presidential election of 2007, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Nicolas Sarkozy, Ségolène Royal and Francois Bayrou opened virtual offices of countryside there.

The Sweden has an official embassy there since May 30th, 2007. This embassy makes it possible to obtain various information, in particular cultural, but also in connection with the formalities of obtaining a visa in “the true” life (for example). However, this embassy does not have any political office.

The Maldives also established their embassy in Second Life, and this, one week before the Sweden.

The news agencies Reuters and Belga, in particular, also opened an office.

Several elements can be used for the traceability of the misadventures: the groups to which they belong and their favorite places. The conversations can be found on a wiki such as that of Rootcamp , an organization activist on Second Life which makes a report of the minutes of conversations between the misadventures.

Marks on Second Life

The model of Second Life arouses the growing interest of the economic actors. If the companies invest this new space more and more, it is because it constitutes a formidable laboratory for their products and a single opportunity to create a relation between a new type and their customers. Second Life constitutes a still virgin playing field which makes it possible the marks to initiate an alternative marketing. The first mark present on Second Life was “American Apparel”, followed then by many others. The resident represented by his misadventure is a consumer like another, even truer than natural since it would express any imaginary sound. The resident is a space at strong potential of experimentation for the marks insofar as the users can take part on line in the creative process. The marks can test for a modest sum of new concepts or products.

Marketing in Second Life

Second Life attracts more and more investors thanks to multiple opportunities which it offers, that it is in the commercial field, Community or social.

Thanks to the multiple possibilities suggested in this universe, this métavers is regarded today as a real tool for test of marketing. The co-education of the Net surfers as well as freedom of expression within this community support the creation of studies near the consumers. Indeed, this panel of misadventures allows to answer the problems marks wishing to be established or to develop them (S) offers (S) on Second Life in the first time, then in the real life. It makes it possible to evaluate the innovations while being based on studies of marketing going from the individual qualitative talks to the produced tests, while passing by quantitative surveys.

An institute of studies marketing of the name of “Reference mark” was established besides there to study the phenomenon. And some large companies were not long in being interested in it:

IBM creates stores in which the company on sale puts computers that the Net surfers can on their premises order, pay via Second Life and receive them, in the true life;
Toyota tests a new car model: Scion xB;
American Apparel opens a shop in order to test the popularity of its products;
the Fox projects first ahead the film X-Men 3.
Orange proposes a calendar of events turned towards the innovation (pedagogy, debates, live research, concerts…) and a support offers to the development of projects in Second Life;
L'Oreal Paris organizes a procession Miss L'Oreal Glamor (20 candidates retained out of 250 international candidatures) (the ceremony took place on March 31st, 2007);
the Groupe Galleries Lafayette deployed there a kind of video game coupled to a play contest for the launching of its mark Lafayette Beauté saving with the residents a voyage in Maldives, new products and Linden dollars. On its island, the mark also organizes courses of change of image for misadventure and proposes the tutoriaux ones of creation of misadventures. (Of the 01/09 at the 9/30/2007)
Jean-Paul Gaultier organized there the launching of its new perfume the Flowers of the Male ;
Lacoste organized a contest of mannequinat, decreeing with the 6 winners the sum of L$ 1.000.000 to divide itself;
Choc operated the passage of the magazine in weekly magazine;
the Savings bank installed a space in particular proposing there a distribution of virtual tee-shirts to the colors of the countryside which the company carries out in direction of the young people. Let us note also the presence of a box with ideas which calls upon the imagination and the creativity of the inhabitants of Second Life to consolidate the presence of the Savings bank on this interface. This bank consequently becomes occasion there the first virtual French advertiser.
Research International started in 2007 to test with certain famous brands of the qualitative studies of marketing exclusively carried out near misadventures.
COFIDIS carried out its press conference in Second Life at the time of the advertisement of the 9 courreurs of the Tour de France, an island dedicated to the cycle races has permi the behavior of many races between misadventures of various nationalities (Colombian, Spanish, Italian, Danish, Belgian, French, English, American…).
Cortal Consors created a virtual agency on the island of BNP Paribas where videos of management companies of wallet are projected.

The trade on Second Life supposes the installation of new strategies of virtual Marketing. Indeed, to convince the purchasers of this virtual world is quite as difficult as in the traditional stores. To control this new channel of sale, of new trades appear. The companies are thus brought to put many questions: how to launch and promote effectively a mark within Second Life ? How to attract people in his store? etc A big number of traditional rules of marketing are obviously transposable but an important work of adaptation remains to be realized. Virtual marketing is only at its beginnings.

Second Life encourages the communication and the creativity, which made the success of this world. Economically speaking, it is also a different world, because contrary to the “true” world where there are few objects sold in great quantity, Second Life offers many objects in minor amount which generate neither production costs, nor storage costs. In other words, a world of the “Long drag”.

However, according to an article of the Register , it seems that the figures of customers and simultaneous visitors in a place of Second Life are weak and that it is thus necessary to relativize the economic interest of the investments in this universe.

The looking for a job in Second Life

Alstom, Areva, Capgemini, L'Oreal and Unilog joined in June 2007 at the time of a forum of recruitment on Second Life, an event new in France and baptized Neo-JobMeeting , which recorded 1.500 inscriptions of candidates wishing to live the experiment of a virtual maintenance of recruiting. This event, the first of this width in France, was carried out by a French company, TMPNEO, an agency of communication specialized in human resources. The order was placed to the supplier Art Systema who studied all to be able to receive more than 70 misadventures into simultaneous on each island. This event indeed required 4 islands, 21 buildings, 407 work hours, 2 waiters of 100Mb/s of video and audio streaming. Light ultra textures and light scripts aiming at optimizing returned this demonstration were used in order to make it possible many misadventures to circulate without problem: an optimization pushed to the extreme.
Accenture, the international company of councils, approached the potential candidates for a recruitment occurring, him, in the true life;
REED MIDEM made its call for candidate in Second Life for Mobile Internet TV Awards: 280 projects of 180 companies representing 38 countries. The Mipcom island will cover the real event in Cannes from October 8th to October 12th.
GAX Technologies will organize on November 28th, 2007 of 8 with 21:00 the first Living room of virtual recruitment in Luxembourg on the island " Luxembourg Business". The event entitled Working Worlds will gather more than 25 finance companies and of recruitment of the Great Area in Second Life.

Publicity in Second Life

Linden Lab does not have a special program of publicity and marketing; each one is thus free to make its own publicity.

Means of internal diffusion:

its own buildings;
organized events;
display panels, of which Webia the first network of posting structured of Second Life;
by paying 30L$ per week, one can register a name in “search”. One can put key words connected to his product to facilitate his access;
a bond towards its store in the products which one sells;
by the profile;
some specialized agencies in publicity and marketing in Second Life can undertake with the publicity campaign and an establishment turn-key.

Means of external diffusion:

by the tv news;
AvaStar (the electronic magazine of Second Life );
blogs;
the wiki
by the profile;
real media;
sites treating of Second Life .

Education

Second Life recently was essential like one of the virtual platforms most important for the schools and universities, of which Harvard, the University of New York and Stanford. He proposes a single and flexible environment for the teachers interested in:

remote teaching
simulation
the study of the new media
the formation corporate

He also proposes the possibility of carrying out any simulation of experimental teaching in a sure environment. Each individual can put his knowledge in practice, test new ideas and learn at it from his errors. The capacity to prepare for an experiment similar to the real-world by using the system has an unlimited potential.
Les student and the teachers can work there together since anywhere in the world. While being used like a supplement with the traditional courses given in class, the environment also places at the disposal them tools to enrich its CV. Several academic universities and institutions use it already.

Second Life proposes an accessible atmosphere for the speakers wishing to present a work on line while selling more than 100 islands with educational ends (reduction with the key), according to an article of the NewYork Times . This article quotes Rebecca Nesson, teaching in Harvard which uses its studies of right to bring to a specific glance on Second Life of second part of the year 2006: “Normally, it does not matter the quality of the course by correspondence, an inevitable distance will always remain between the speaker and his pupils”, before adding: “Second Life succeeded in passing in addition to this problem - more time ago spent between the parties during and except period of course”.

Joe Sanchez, a researcher at the university of Austin, with the Texas, described Second Life like “a process allowing efficiently to facilitate the training of the various imposed matters. Once the students control the technical difficulties of the interface Second Life, they express their preference as for the training known as social and their recreation as for the fact of interacting with other misadventures while learning. ”

Software

Second Life functions with Windows XP and Vista. It also functions with Linux (a version alpha) and Mac OS. The play is developed and published by Linden Lab, and is distributed free on the site of the company.

He proposes functions of Instant messaging, discussion, Groupware, and the objects which are created there can be programmed to interact with the players, to change aspect, to be driven and communicate with outside through the free protocols XML-RPC, HTTP and smtp.

January 8th, 2007, the software customers were released under the license LPG.

Scripts

They are associated with objects and are written in Linden Scripting Language (LSL), a language of script created for Second Life.

Controversies

A certain number of dilemmas appeared around this virtual world:

the Linden money can be converted into real money. That involves cases of natural enrichment.
It is proven that certain users practice the prostitution to earn Linden money.
association Familles of France threatened to continue the manufacturers of them.
the Jesuits declared that they had the intention of évangéliser Second Life.
Of the American agencies fears that Second Life is used like a camp of drive by terrorist groups like Al-Qaida.

See too

Definition of a MMORPG
Supplement with the newspaper Le Monde N° 19239 of the Saturday, December 2, 2006: Le Monde 2 , N° 146, pages 24 to 31.
numerical Identité
strong Authentification
Métavers
Virtual reality
the Second World

External bonds

Official site.

References

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