Sep 5th, 2008 |
IBM Lotus just announced a new Research project it calls “Sametime 3-D,” which will add a “virtual world” atmosphere to Sametime–either through integration with said worlds (such as OpenSim), or through Sametime itself (the new app will let people use Sametime as a virtual environment, complete with avatars and 3-D objects).
I like what IBM Research does–usually it’s pretty cool stuff that may or may not end up in a product–but I’m still not convinced of the business value of 3-D virtual worlds. While it makes sense to me to let people use Sametime from any web-based location (including, but not limited to, virtual ones), turning Sametime into a “virtual world” just feels like a non starter.
The beauty of Sametime and other enterprise collaboration applications is that they simplify life for end users; having to create an avatar and then sloooowly move around a 3-D environment “just ’cause” doesn’t seem to me to simplify anything.
I’m with you — this seems like a non starter. The only possible business value I see from this over other collaboration technologies, is that you might be able to woo a few Gen-Yers that are impressed by this sort of thing.
“See, we’re not a stodgy old company… we’re hip!”