Virtual world conferences
I’ve been woefully silent on my blog of late. No excuses but there has been a lot going on! I am about to head to the USA where I will be attending the Virtual World Expo in Los Angeles. Directly afterward I’m crossing the continent to Florida for the Second Life Community Convention.
The Expo in LA is very exciting for us. We will have the chance to mingle with a lot of entertainment companies who are wondering about the opportunity in virtual worlds. With a year and a half worth of experience in creating content inside Second Life, we’ve got a lot of knowledge as well as data that has been collected from our viewership that is thankfully on a very steady upward curve.
SLCN.TV will be hosting a party on the Wednesday evening where we look forward to entertaining some of the conference delegates as well as several of our show producers and talent who we work with every week on SLCN.
This event is supported by our friends at Monogram Virtua who we are also working with to develop a pilot for a weekly entertainment show.
After LA I fly to Tampa, Florida, where the SLCC will be held. I am running a mini-track on film and television in Second Life. The first panel will be moderated by Draxtor Despres and feature, amongst others, our friends at Illclan who have produced high profile machinima such as The Grid Review and the CSI New York Second Life content.
The second panel includes virtual world reporter Cybergrrl Oh, Mattia Crespi from ISN Virtual Worlds and Robustus Hax from Metaverse Broadcasting.
Thanks go out to my dear friend Johnny Austin from Joysco Studios who prepared this fantastic design to promote the mini-track and to Dancing Ink Productions who are another of our supporters for this event.
TV coverage of SLCN
A few weeks ago freelance journalist Sonia Lear produced this news story on virtual television production. It aired on News Hour Asia Pacific. Paisley Beebe, the host of our weekly evening talk show Tonight Live, was also included in the story and following her blog post about the feature I have had many compliments from virtual world colleagues.
Somewhere in the not too distant future
On SLCN.TV we have a quiz show called The Second Question. One segment features a notable quote each week. Today it featured Ray Kurzweil:
I’m an inventor. I became interested in long-term trends because an invention has to make sense in the world in which it is finished, not the world in which it is started.
After recently discussing technological singularity theory with a friend, and then seeing this quote, it prompted me to watch the TED Talk by Kurzweil.
He talks about exponential growth and the rate of change of technology and science, of which Moore’s law is only one example. It made me think of the Highlander when Christopher Lambert talks about the quickening.
Kurzweil predicts that by 2010 images will be written directly to our retina, providing full immersion virtual reality and augmented reality where we will be interacting with virtual personalities and be able to experience the world as someone else does (that made me think of Strange Days and the devices that record someone’s experiences).
What kind of world will this be like and how will people want to make their own media and share it?
One of the best things about being part of the evolution of SLCN is to work with our CEO, Gary Wisniewski, who is a truly visionary person.
He puts a lot of thought into the future of how virtual worlds will be used - leap-frogging the technical and social limitations that exist today.
Some days we muse about how people will do cooking shows in the future, or leave virtual video instructions for family members.
One thing that we are counting on is the capacity for virtual worlds to make it easier for people to do these things.
The tools and processes we are developing at SLCN.TV are all aimed at providing a layer of services that removes obstacles for people to create media using their virtual, rather than real, lives.
Although to many this may seem abstract today - in fact most people we meet who see that we are making television in virtual worlds think we are a little strange - we are building an enterprise that is meant for the world somewhere in the not too distant future, rather than the one we are in today.
Skating on frozen moments in time
Today I was watching a wonderful presentation by Mark Pesce, a futurist and thinker who I greatly admire and I am lucky to know quite well.
His presentation titled “Those Whacky Kids” talks about the phenomenon of co-presence (a term that emerged out of research in Japan by Mimi Ito that analyzes mobile phone behaviour) where teenagers keep a close circle of friends continually informed of their activities during the day using text messages.
Mark rightly noted that we are inherently social animals. The proliferation of social network tools online demonstrates how new technology that satisfies core human desires can really succeed.
From my experience in virtual worlds, recognition and influence are other social drivers that are important in online spaces.
There are many Second Life residents who spend a considerable amount of hours every day on creating events and activities inworld that attract participation and interest.
The successful ones provide regular and consistent events, create blogs and forums for their members to interact, have applied creative thinking to utilizing the virtual space and attract motivated teams who help them achieve their goals.
As a result they have been able to attract a high number of group members who are loyal and committed.
Events in virtual worlds can range from fashion parades, sports event, music performances, awards nights and so on.
At SLCN we believe that these events are worth capturing and sharing.
The events we broadcast and archive are usually ones with a demonstrated established or potential audience, who are interested in not only the live event, but also watching replays or downloading the video footage if they could not attend in person.
The final show that is created from the event is packaged into a clip that is replayed on our channels inworld, posted on our website and made into video podcasts.
Since we began in March 2007, SLCN has assembled over 750 hours of broadcast quality content. Through our collaboration with inworld producers we have built the largest single repository of content filmed inside of virtual worlds.
These archives provide entertainment to a growing audience of inworld viewers who enjoy seeing the many and varied activities happening inside this new and exciting place called Second Life.
All of it is thanks to the hundreds of people who like to socialize and entertain for their own pleasure and entertainment.
This reminds me of a quote I heard sometime ago, “Myspace is where you go to make plans, while virtual worlds are where you go and do it!”
Real vs Virtual Cost Comparison
Now we have blogs everyone is a journalist and with You Tube everyone is their own TV network - right? Well, not quite, however, you get my point. The barriers to entry are considerably lower than they used to be and people are able to express themselves and reach an audience relatively easily.
For those who aspire to something more than homemade video quality and a larger audience than their friends and family, the world of video production is still veiled with complexity that makes it beyond the reach of most talent.
Sure, you can get some filmmaking buddies together and make a pilot for a cooking show, or maybe you’ll even produce it long enough to succeed like the Rocketboom crew or Lonely Girl15. My hunch is that they are the exception rather than the rule.
Television studios and professional video producers are still the main purveyors of taste when it comes to watching content on the telly from either over-the-air broadcasts or as high definition downloads.
At SLCN.TV we see virtual worlds helping to bridge that gap and enable a whole new bunch of creative people produce compelling content in a low cost and accessible way.
Take for example one of our most popular shows, hosted by popular Second Life jazz vocalist Paisley Beebe.
The show has been running for a year now and has a strong following of people who show up for the live broadcast as well as those tuning in for replays and downloading the show as a video podcast.
The real life Leonie Smith, the woman behind the inimitable Ms Beebe, has worked for many years in theatre, the arts and community radio.
She knows the hard work needed to create professional productions and relishes the environment of Second Life for it’s many benefits.
For a start, a virtual world provides a veneer that would otherwise cost a considerable amount.
Studio hire, lighting, cameras, make-up and wardrobe add up to a hefty price in Sydney, Australia, where Smith resides.
The table here provides a very rough cost comparison.
Right now the environment of virtual worlds like Second Life are a little clunky as a tool for animation production (it will be interesting to see how the public responds to the HBO airing of the Molotov Alva virtual documentary), however, as it improves so will the ability for the video outputs to be highly compelling and draw large mainstream audiences.
Once virtual worlds start to enable people with great ideas to connect to a large audience we are going to see the bar lowered and a larger collection of watchable and interesting content available to the punters in their living rooms.
Now we just need a video search and filter tool that will do for online video content what Google search did for the internet 10 years ago. Any volunteers?
Social production & user generated animation
Collaboration between geographically dispersed people, who have no formal commercial relationship, has resulted in some significant bodies of work - take Wikipedia, Flickr and Delicious as examples.
I recently watched the TED Talk by Yochai Benkler, where he argues the disruptive power of social production represents the next evolution beyond past industrial models.
So what motivates the individuals who commit hours upon hours to activities with no financial reward?
Observing the participation of people inside of Second Life I have been heartened by the level of unpaid work contributing to the greater good of the society there.
Similarities can be drawn between these activities and the volunteerism that exists at your local tennis club, environmental group or public radio station. Having been a contributer to these kind of organisations I know that involvement is not entirely altruistic. Other rewards exist, such as social engagement, sense of belonging and personal development.
On the whole though, it is the gratification that you can contribute according to your skills, time availability and dedication that compensates the individual, rather than a pay packet at the end of the week.
With user generated content, such as the millions of video clips added to You Tube, there are other rewards, such as ego, exposure and recognition.
The edge competency companies, who enable individuals by creating this platform of expression, have to tread a fine line between their own interests and that of the “user” to whom they owe their success.
When there is a hint of advertising placed in and around the content freely contributed by the “users” then the question of revenue share and intellectual property quickly arises.
The companies that get it right either offer a utility that is seen as high value by the participants (Google) or they offer a revenue share to the content owners (Blip.tv).
At SLCN.TV we do both. Residents love the fact we come along and film their activities without burdening them with the technical complexity of filming, vision mixing, streaming, encoding and archiving. We also have a 50/50 revenue share with the show producers we work with.
While most shows require the efforts of many, many people in the broader group who are working hours and hours for the equivalent of a few cups of coffee it is all relative. The cost of “living” inside the virtual world is very low and most people are happy to break even by earning enough to spend enough to exist comfortably.
So the equation is on the whole harmonious; how long this situation remains is anyone’s guess.
When (not if) the big media interests arrive will they be able to operate in the same way as they do in the real world and will people generously contribute their time in order to make the shareholders and executives earn even more millions than they do now? My guess is NO.
Unless these old companies can learn to adapt to the social production ethos and learn how to harness the sea of potential for creativity and exchange then they’ll be like fish out of water instead of being sharks in a small pond.
Analysis Paralysis??
Just like in the supermarkets packed full of 100 varieties of everything, the infinite sea of content online has most consumers bewildered and simply not willing to commit the hours needed for selection and filtering necessary to watch great stories and entertainment.
Viewing the Apple TV in the optimal conditions of unlimited download quota, a high definition plasma or LCD screen and enough prowess to get the whole thing set up and working, is a window into the future world of passive digital media consumption.
It is on-demand video at it’s most elegant, with the stunning Apple interface easily navigated using either the Apple remote or the TV screen. The content appears quickly even once you’ve made a selection to view and the content is streamed.
So while online video content seems to be the golden cup overflowing with potential, its reach will always be marginal unless it becomes accessible within 3 clicks using a remote on the couch.
Passive media consumption is an unlikely human behaviour to disappear.
Although web applications, e-commerce and social media tools are suited to the keyboard and computer, film, television and radio content is best consumed away from the screen - where you are less likely to want to click and check your email mid-story!
Virtual worlds may very well present the first ideal environment for passive media consumption. After all, in a virtual world you can casually wander around, following what catches your eye, rather than the search / click / select / back / reload actions that the web requires.
The web is not a good environment for a) Casual browsing b) Personal interaction c) Sampling.
In a virtual environment I am able to quickly scan shopping malls, then visit and look closer in the stores that caught my eye. I can try something on my avatar to see how it looks and I can instant message or talk using voice over IP to the seller or other shoppers.
In a virtual environment it is easy for people to passively absorb media, advertising and promotional content.
Many SLCN.TV fans have told us they watch our channels while they are working in their Second Life homes, offices and fantasy spaces. They are multi-tasking like we do in real life.
Our television sets inworld have 8 channels for people to choose from, that are all running 24/7. With 15 shows recorded every week there is a continual refreshing of content that is rotating in addition to special repeats of broadcasts from our archive of over 600 hours of content.
Despite the shows being available as podcasts and streaming on-demand from our website, the majority of our traffic is from people viewing it inside of Second Life.
They are electing to consume content passively while they are in an innately interactive space but one that accommodates the multiple activities, from live chatting, building and rearranging to simply hanging out in a nice pad with a view of the TV playing in the corner.
The holy grail is where the passive prompts a call to action that results in the sale of goods.
To this end, SLCN.TV has developed a system that attaches metadata to content.
We are proud to be partnering with i3DNow to launch an interactive advertising system that offers virtual goods, teleports or website links to viewers who are watching content tagged with advertising metadata.
The fact that these custom scripted screens give measurable results to a campaign is attractive to advertisers keen to not only assess ROI but also learn about behaviours in what is an entirely new frontier for marketing and ecommerce.
Suddenly there’s a product that is virtually jumping off the shelf.