Virtual Worlds

Technology Map Contents

September 2007

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Technology Map Detailed Contents

Importance of the Technology

The Technology in Brief

• A Brief Virtual-Worlds History
• Definition: Virtual Worlds
• Selected Social Virtual Worlds
  • Second Life
  • Active Worlds
  • There
  • PlayStation Home
• Selected MMOGS
  • World of Warcraft
  • Runescape
  • EverQuest/EverQuest II
  • Final Fantasy XI
• Virtual-Worlds Platforms
• MMOG Engines and Tools
• Software Components
  • Distributed Architectures
  • Programming Languages and Standards
  • 3-D Graphics
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Speech Interfaces
• User Devices
• Infrastructure

Commercial Development Parameters

• Demand Factors
• General Constraints
• Synergistic Technologies
• Competing Technologies
• Required Resources
• Regulatory Factors

Areas to Monitor

• Conditions That Are Likely in All Future Scenarios
  • Growth of Virtual World Economies
  • Regulation of Virtual Worlds
  • Generation Y
  • High-Performance Networks and Devices
  • Applications for Nongamers
  • Secure Virtual Worlds
  • Virtual-Worlds Provider Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Interfaces to Enterprise Applications
  • Avatar Realism
  • Scalable Second Life
• Conditions That Vary Greatly Across Scenarios
  • Improved Usability
  • Open-Source Virtual Worlds
  • Open-Standards Virtual Worlds
  • User-Created Content
  • Multiplatform Virtual Worlds
• Wild Cards: Unlikely Events That Would Dramatically Transform Markets
  • 3-D Web
  • Augmented and Virtual-Reality VWs
  • Major Sociological Change

Implications of Commercialization

• A: The Google-Run World
• B: Virtual-Worlds Balkanization
• C: Mobile and Always-On Virtual Worlds
• D: The 3-D Web
• Further Consequences of Change

Opportunities

• Applications
  • Games
  • Social and Creative Virtual Worlds
  • Commerce
  • Marketing and Advertising
  • Product Development
  • Collaborative Work
  • Training and Education
  • Military and Security Training and Planning
  • Public Communication
• Business Models
  • Consumer Subscriptions
  • Enterprise Sales
  • Advertising-Supported Virtual Worlds
  • eBay Business Model
  • Bundled-Service Business Model

Players

Updates

Viewpoints Features

Abbreviations