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IBM Active Worlds

L.N. Revathy

Even until a decade ago, the idea of holding business meetings or conducting training programmes, or even celebrating the New Year or Diwali in the virtual universe remained in the realm of imagination. But that idea has since taken off with tech giant IBM using the online virtual world to do business and have fun as well.

“It’s a new way to collaborate, a fun-filled exciting experience, albeit in a virtual environment. In an immersive world like this, one can enjoy playing a role one would ordinarily not have tried in the real world for various reasons,” says Simon Thomas, CRM Leader, IBM India.

The company recently hosted a three-day “meeting of minds” in Active Worlds, a virtual universe platform, for nearly 100 employees at its global delivery centres located in over 30 countries. Employees across these locations collaborated to address business challenges and build a culture focused on client success. The goal was to encourage networking and relationship building between employees who otherwise might never have found each other, and build a community beyond borders.

Asked how Second Life, the 3D online virtual world, is used to interact and collaborate with clients (via conferencing etc) or improve customer relations, Simon said, “People use their avatars to immerse themselves in the meeting. Despite being scattered around the globe, they can come together in a way that is more like an in-person meeting. Creating a collaborative culture across a diverse and global workforce is the best way to achieve common goals.”

Experts throughout IBM have been following the developments of virtual worlds and working at the frontiers of such technologies that have coalesced around virtual worlds. The company operates a large complex in Second Life where its growing ranks of virtual-world innovators work with clients, collaborate with the public and investigate how virtual worlds would enable IBM to operate more productively.

“We believe that these rich, immersive, social environments will have a huge impact on the Web and a global impact on business and government. 3D virtual world holds promise to solve real-life problems in business and society,” says Simon.

IBM has been experimenting and extending virtual worlds in three key areas — virtual commerce, newer collaborations, and education and experimentations on the possibilities of virtual worlds. The virtual IBM Business Centre is the key for such experimentation. IBM Research has also been exploring the 3D modelling of energy-efficient data centres in virtual worlds. It is in the process of identifying business value and future industry opportunities associated with the 3D Internet transformation. The company is currently working with customers across verticals to build and explore the business use of virtual worlds. “We also work to develop new trusted identity management tools, create technologies that integrate existing business operations with the virtual communities,” Simon says.

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