Finally, A Practical Use for Second Life
When you think of virtual worlds, the first one that probably pops into your head is Second Life, but in reality, there are a number of different virtual worlds out there. There are worlds for socializing, worlds for gaming, even worlds for e-learning. But one thing that most virtual worlds have in common is that they are places for play, not practicality. (Yes, even the e-learning worlds are designed with elements of "fun" in mind). Outside of some reports that virtual worlds will replace web conferencing in the enterprise, we haven't seen a lot of innovation in this space which would make businesses sit up and take notice. However, that may be about to change thanks to new software that lets you perform data visualization and manipulation techniques within the virtual world environment.
About Glasshouse
The software, Glasshouse by Green Phosphor, lets you take data from either a spreadsheet or database query and place a 3D representation of it into a virtual world environment where it can then be explored interactively. Users are inserted into the virtual world as an avatar which can then manipulate the visualization of the data by drilling down into it, re-sorting it, or even just spinning it around to see it from all angles.
The benefits to working with data in this way don't really need to be touted too much - many businesses already perform data visualization, often using expensive software and powerful computers to do so. What makes what Green Phosphor does so interesting is not that they've come up with a way to visualize data - it's that they've come up with a way to leverage the platforms of virtual worlds to do so.
How it Works: CICP (Think HTTP for Virtual Worlds)
Some of the company's solutions involve using a proprietary virtual world, "Glasshouse," for data visualization, but for Second Life, Sun's Wonderland, and other virtual world users, they've developed adapters that project graphs from Glasshouse into whichever virtual world you're using. The only requirement is that the virtual world be CICP-enabled.
CICP, or Content Injection and Control Protocol, was developed in-house by Green Phosphor CEO Ben Linquist and released to the public domain. The standard, cross-platform protocol essentially serves as HTTP for virtual worlds where it works as a communication mechanism that the Glasshouse gateway can use to generate temporary artifacts in the worlds. Already it has been added to Sun Wonderland and released under the GPL license there. It has also been implemented in Second Life with the help of a Java servlet and released under a BSD license. The company is currently working to add it to other virtual worlds, too.
Data Viz for Anyone: From Spreadsheets to Biotech
Depending on company size, there are three different levels of service available. First, a spreadsheet world lets you upload Excel spreadsheets that can then be visualized in a web interface. Next, there's a workgroup appliance that delivers data visualization and virtual conferencing needs to small or medium-sized businesses. And finally, enterprise solutions designed especially for virtual markets like bio-technology have also been developed as more customized solutions.
As Linquist explains in this YouTube video, the technology is even advanced enough to produce a virtual laboratory where researchers can perform model-based drug development.
If you have Java installed, you can test their web-based virtual world demo by clicking here (launches Java window). For more information about their solutions, visit GreenPhosphor.com.
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Wow, way coo! (btw, SL can be used practically for many things. my little brother earns money off of it, for example, and he's 12)
Posted by: Mohomed Abdullahi
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March 19, 2009 11:06 AM
There are other uses, e.g., testing if two molecules will bind to each other: http://usefulchem.blogspot.com/2007/06/molecule-docking-in-second-life.html
Posted by: Bora Zivkovic
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March 19, 2009 11:13 AM
@Bora: very interesting! thanks for sharing
Posted by: Sarah Perez
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March 19, 2009 11:15 AM
I think they really need to focus on making these worlds far more attractive... They are so ugly and depressing, who wants to sit around for long periods of time to see a pie chart? I got work to get done!
The lack of interactivity is also a downside... I noticed in Second Life I could hit the slot machines... neat. I ran around naked for a bit and somehow my low quality pixelated body offended everyone. I could buy a haircut. I think ActiveWorlds was going in the right direction until it became a pay service.
It's still a cool to do data imports but I think these worlds need to address other problems before they become a go to spot. I'm still waiting on Johnny Mnemonic or Snowcrash... till then, it all seems bland in comparison.
An advantage to this kind of environment for data visualization is that multiple people can "meet me at the model" and share the immersive experience. For another example of this that Leon Atkinson did two years ago, see "S&P500 Visualized in Second Life".
I have used Second Life to teach and used it to play around with. I have to say I will be happy when the day comes when this crap goes away. The stuff I tried to teach in it was mired with technical glitches and people obsessed with getting their pink spiky hair right. The whole damn thing was just distracting and pointless. There are so many other effective elearning solutions out there.
It's pretty simple, really.
To make a good 3D world, you need a dedicated skilled staff of professionals. It's just not easy to do it well. These people are mostly working on AAA titles for high-end game studios, and those titles cost $50 million or more to make.
With all due respect, smaller cheaper efforts are mostly bad. This is partly due to the smaller amounts of money that are invested in them, and partly due to the lack of high class talent associated with the projects.
Second Life, with its crappy engine, being largely anarchic and undirected, and used primarily for no-nothing journalism exercises and silly cybersex play, is naturally never going to have high quality environments, avatars, or animations.
Various attempts at "serious games" virtual world implementation for corporate meetings and the like will be dull stodgy, and generally inferior, not because they are chaotic, but because of some combination of lack of design talent and inferior tech.
I never like second life since you have the prerequisite of a huge download. Only what you need, when you need it from the web is how these things need to work. I just got a Unity3D license today since they just released it for windows and I must say that this technology is a game changer. See some examples of how this works from the recent ones I just posted on my blog at http://worldlearningtree.com/blog I have been thinking of ways to use this to better visualize many things in 3D like mindmaps, flowcharts, etc. I applaud this company for their efforts but there are simpler ways to visualize data that should not require systems like second life.
First, this is a great report on the evolving of the 3D internet to provide appropriate information and it shows it is getting quicker, better and easier.
Second, and I'm sorry that this may sound as a rant, but I read many of the comments about a 3D experience and continue to come away from many of them with a perspective that people have just not learned that technology usage in our culture rarely goes the right way early on in the life of the technology. There are a myriad of examples that show we just don't get it right the first time - visit my blog to read about my example of TV and Telephone technology that, at the outset, was completely backwards in terms of usage of their respective transmission medium.
(http://www.stevengroves.com/2009/02/10/the-evolution-of-social-media-are-we-doing-it-right/)
The Second Life platform is just that, a platform for providing a 3d solution to participants in the environment. it's not automatic, it's not always what you wish and, like any community, there are things we learn on how to interact with others.
Sorry for the rant, but I get really irritated with those people who expect a Rolls Royce experience from a Hyundai investment of time and effort. (no offense meant Hyundai)
We see a lot of new worlds coming online now which is a good thing. The Metaverse needs time to develop and so does the technology that goes with it. It's difficult to establish a virtual world out of nothing and indeed large capital funding goes along with it. The amount of hours which go into development are enormous, still I applaud and welcome new worlds like http://www.virtualworld.sl or http://www.osgrid.org as they offer something new to people. The new worlds do need time and have to sort out their bugs but they get better each and every day.
@Steven - The technology is anything but new. These virtual worlds have been around for at least 10 years at this point. If I can see a beautiful landscape in "Game X" - Why not in one of these virtual worlds? Certainly a game such as WOW has a much better appearance and holds even more people. In fact, even the interaction is more enjoyable (to some).
There is a whole community doing data visualization in SL, most of the tools freely available, see for example Chemistry Visualization in Second Life
There are also medical aspects of Second Life. Here are a few examples: http://scienceroll.com/category/second-life/
Neat. I remember doing the same thing with the energy consumption excel document for Dr. Dobs Life 2.0 using Chisel, which also bridged web services into Second Life.
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Virtual reality, way way back when, even prior to Gibson's imaginings, was something we could merely dream about in a book or Hollywood movie - let alone truly experience, most of us - and even just as a mockup was a mind-blowing concept. It's because it is a metaphor for reality, and real at the same time.
Kudos to Sarah Perez on this summary of our work at Green Phosphor - this is one of the best writeups I have seen.
Ben
Ben Lindquist, CEO, Green Phoshphor LLC
ps - nintendo virtual boy ROCKED. a friend of mine played that for so long that when he looked up finally, everything was red for MINUTES
Very insightful. You focused on the visualization aspects but virtual worlds can also be quite effective for affordable telepresence where remote team can web seminar with a back channel. I just got back from an IBM conference on this which you can read about at http://ploneglenn.blogspot.com/2009/04/ibm-virtual-worlds-conference.html
They talked up http://opensimulator.org a lot.
You mention e-learning and integration. This wasn't in the conference, but do take a look at http://www.sloodle.org which is an integration between http://moodle.org/ (a CMS for educators) and http://secondlife.com/
Wow that is crazy. What is the point of conferencing now that you have virtual worlds as meeting rooms?
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