As I was attempting to explain what Second life was to some of my family this weekend, I stated to concieve of it in a much different way than I did at the outset. A certain logic that I followed lead me to believe that SL or some very similar browser technology could be the advent of a new internet, one that expands the current internet into a whole other dimension, literally...Please bear with me while I try to describe what I am thinking....
Think of the internet as the 2D manifestation that we all view today. We each sit as individuals and access information and entertainment via that two dimentional window. Several people can being standing outside the same window but we are (for the most part) unaware of one another (some websites allow you to see who else if viewing the page). When we interact with this 2D world we are typically given another 2D representation of what we seek (as if we are window shopping in a mall wearing blinders (not able to see the other shoppers) and as we enter a store, we dont get to touch the product itself but simple a picture or description of it.
Enter VRML. Now 2D environments can be manifested in three dimentions! Now you can go to some websites and "enter" the domain in three dimensions. Second life has upped the ante by allowing people once they enter the domain, to actually create content in that domain. So what we have now is a different picture...
Now the people who are standing outside the 2D window can take a 3D form representative of what image they would like to project and enter through the 2D window and immerse themselves in a 3D world in which they can see and interact with others who are looking at the same stuff, but now they can interact with the stuff itself, and even create new stuff!
Think of the homepage. Many of us by now have created a homepage of one kind or another. Even if it is just a Myspace page. Now, What if some company like myspace entered second life and allowed each person to set up a "home"(page?) in second life for free? What if the 3D environment was the default environment of choice for "browsing" the internet? Whould second life become the new interenet? The new portal through which we travel to gain access to the information we desire on "cyberspace?"
Imagine if we could walk around second life and go to the mall. Then we see a "Blizzard" store (the software comapny not the icecream!). Now we "walk" into the blizzard store and as we cross through the front door our "browser" changes automatically to the "blizzard" browser that allows us to view the content they way they want us to see it. So we walk in and see a portal into "World of warcraft", we decide we want to go in so we walk through that door. As we do our browser recognizes what we are doing and where we are and instantly changes over our avatar to the World of Warcraft character "avatar" we have chosen. Now we are playing WOW by simply walking into the new space. When we are done we simple walk out of WOW and back into the SL environment. Imagine the potential across all kinds of applications?!
As we walk into clothing stores maybe an avatar made up real life dimensions and looks can be accessed and we can try on clothes and see if we like how it looks, then when we are done, walk out and our avatar changes back automatically?
Am I crazy?
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