Second Life is a 3D version of the Internet. At least that is how I have come to describe it to those who ask. You start saying things such as “it’s like an online game, but it is not a game” and you have resigned yourself to an hour of blank stares from reasonably intelligent people. So I tell them it is what the Internet is going to be. I hope that I am right about Second Life being it, but weather or not SL survives intact the tremendous growth spurt that is starting, they have forever changed what is possible. There is no going back!
The 3D virtual world is upon us, and we should embrace it or be pushed aside. Now to be clear, I am not saying that the 2D web is going anywhere. Radio did not die when TV arrived, it simple maximized upon things that it did best. And in the same fashion, text and images and video are vital forms of 2D communication that will only be enhanced by their new 3D home, while the 2D framework will still play to its best abilities.
You might ask how am I sure were all going 3D, or say that you don’t think that you will ever make the jump. And first I would say, that’s what my grandmother said about the Internet for the past decade. But this year she did all of her Christmas shopping on Amazon. Then I would tell you that I know it is coming for two reasons. 1) The technology is finally here. Bandwidth, graphics processing, general computing power, massive parallel network competency, it is all here like a perfect storm. 2) 3D tickles the human brain in ways that 2D never will. A recent study in SL showed that people controlled their avatars, in reference to things such as standing distances and other interpersonal communication measures, in a similar fashion to real life. They acted unconsciously in some ways as if their avatar was actually their real body. Think on that one for a minute.
