I make the analogy between fuel and blood. Fuel being the blood of our economies, and the Middle East being the heart that pumps the blood into the global veins (pipelines) all over the world. I don’t think that the unrest will stop tomorrow. Its great to see them realize their freedom, but what does this mean to us? The rest of the world that is penny pinching to fill our tanks to get to work. How do we afford the increased price of food and goods?

The long-term solution is to reduce our reliance on oil. Billions of dollars are being invested into Alternative Fuels as we speak, and much like the ‘space race’ scientific revolution of the 60′s that got a man on the moon–alternative fuels may just be our world’s next Buzz Armstrong moment.

But what can we non-scientists do to keep the blood flowing in our lives and economies? I for one am strategizing new ways to reduce my personal/familial carbon footprint. I am moving into a home in the downtown core that is logistically closer to everything, in a neighbourhood that all amenities are just walking distance away. This was not planned this way, it was just an added bonus. I am hoping that we as a family will avoid as much as possible getting into the car. I am also seriously considering taking my employer up on their offer to make me a ‘mobile employee’. This would seriously cut down the time I would need to be in a car.

For the first time in my life I actually feel that I need to make lifestyle changes in order to reduce my reliance on oil energy, to do my part in the next revolution. IBM has already embraced the virtual model of work, and I work everyday with a great team of people scattered all over the world, and have proven to myself over the last 2.5 years, that it really does in fact work–and NO–I do not need to see people face-to-face to be able to develop meaningful relationship with them.

But I think we need more corporations other than IBM to get on the virtual workplace bandwagon. I still hear of people’s complaints of commute times as cities become more crowded, and I think to myself–that is SO ‘YESTERDAY’!!! Obviously certain occupations just don’t have a choice. But the rest of us really should advocate for this with our current employers.

I also do think that there is no better time to look at the power of collaboration technologies. If Facebook is a social revolution in how people interact and socialize with eachother, then its pertinent let that revolution into our offices, and bring down the brick and mortar boundaries to our businesses.

A big shift I know…but I’m sure the kick we get at the pumps will force us to move into this direction a lot sooner than we think.

I do feel that in order for market researchers to be truly successful in leveraging the power of social media, they must take a new perspective on how they interview their respondents. Even the very name ‘respondents’ has to be replaced with the name ‘participants’.  Market researchers need to design their research surveys in a way that will allow for a two-way flow of information.

Have you ever wondered why people will spend hours filling out Facebook surveys to find out what celebrity they are most like? You see it all the time on Facebook updates, where people will declare on their wall that they are like CLOONEY or Jennifer LOPEZ!! What if we were able to ask some real questions in there, that will give participants an idea of where they stand against the rest of the population? Wouldn’t that be a great use of their time and our effort?

For example, a survey that asks a number of questions to CIO’s about their attitudes and investment philosophies, and ranks them against other CIO’s in terms of various criteria (i.e Innovation). The next step, the rankings will be instantaneous, so that they can get the results right away. Wouldn’t you think that you will have better response rates if the surveys were more immediate and interactive, and most importantly– mutually informative?

Would love to get people’s thoughts on how they were able to successfully do B2B research, specifically within the IT industry using social media tools. I think this is the way of the future!

What I find very interesting is the concept of a game being an interface for enterprise applications. How much more fun would work be if entering in data, and doing simple allocations within a CRM/ERP system would be as fun as a game?

Though I don’t think the current workforce will eat this up, its the next generation of workers, the millennial, or the x-box/PS3 generation,  that will cherish this, and may in fact even make them more productive than we can ever be. I say this is a bit early, but great concept to re-think the way we build enterprise applications.

This announcement was interesting to me because it can be an indicator of a movement of Facebook into 3D. This wasn’t the first time I’ve heard that notion before, and in fact, I would think that there is no other ‘better’ entity to bring Virtual Worlds to the masses than the Social Networking giant–Facebook. Imagine being able to provide an avatar to existing FB users with a few clicks, and then they will be able to find themselves in a 3D manifestation of Facebook. Collaborating and socializing in 3D?

Coincidentally–or not, Second Life also announced the beta of their browser-based version of their Second Life viewer earlier this week as well, which supports my hunch that the direction of 3D virtual worlds may be the browser itself. I think if this were to happen, we would see a massive pick up in usage, and VW use, would not stay a niche activity for long. However the browser is still not going to be able to provide the same graphical capabilities as the client, so it will take time to get there. But once it does, because as technology always does, we will see some serious pick-up in the industry.

I think they should of picked a better name for such a game-changing device. Kinect is way too demure. It should be something like the ‘Xbox Catharsis’!

I definitely think Kinect has a long way to go– there are still many limitations.  And the space requirements for  a 2-player game might prove to be a challenge for those in the match-box flats of NYC and Tokyo, not to mention that some things may actually be easier and more efficient using a controller. There will also be a learning curve for gamers and game developers alike as they try to factor in the concept of motion capture into their game development paradigms.

But I’m still very impressed that Microsoft put motion capture technology into our living room first–something that was privy only to the most well-funded movie studios (i.e Avatar). What we will see next is going to be a very exciting evolution in not only consumer gaming, but into the very way we interact with eachother.

Look forward to the ride!

BTW: For those of you wondering why I do not blog more about the actual field I am in (i.e Business Analytics), its mainly because I don’t want any conflict of interest with my employer (IBM). By blogging about my hobby interests, it keeps it clean.

The first WITBC post I am going to write about is Law Enforcement. Having been educated in Criminology in University, and conducting graduate study in this field, I always have a keen interest in how Law Enforcement agencies can leverage technology (my new field).

Policing is one of those fields, where an officer gets better and better at what they do with experience. The more domestic violence calls the officer makes, the better they are at understanding the risks, and the methods of handling the crisis situation better. Officers make mistakes and they learn from them . It may have botched a situation the first time, but they will be guaranteed not to make the mistake again.

In order to transfer knowledge Police forces have new recruits (rookies) ride with more experienced veterans, and learn by example. This will always be the ideal method of training cops. But it takes time for the officer to become tenured and have a knowledge base of experiences to draw from before they are competent on their own.

Enter Virtual Worlds.

What if we can create a virtual world that emulates the very city the officer patrols?  The same landmarks, the same characters that are present in the city. What if we take actual cases from the incidents that happened in the city and use that as material to run real-life simulations in-game, so that new officers can spend time playing, and receive scores for attaining new levels of experience. This virtual world application would allow senior officers to monitor the progress of  the playing officers, and see how they work with their teammates, how they follow procedure, and most importantly how they develop their craft to become competent and effective peace officers in crisis situations.

Much like the MMO’s games such as Eve and World of Warcraft,  this virtual world application would have new scenarios introduced so that officers get more exposure to situations that they may face in the field, and have them make their ‘rookie’ mistakes in-game, instead of on duty.

I came across a nice video on Youtube that describes how a police force uses Second Life to recreate an actual methlab–to give officer’s training on how to identify them. This is a great example of what I am talking about.

I would not advocate it being a game played only in basic training and then stopped when they reach their policing assignments. This should be an online, ongoing game that they play throughout their careers, and scenarios will be presented to them as they progress in their careers that will advance their knowledge and ‘experience’ in the policing field.  Based on their performance in the game/simulation, senior officers can get insight into the various abilities of their officers and see who will be most apt for various types of work (i.e undercover vs. community policing assignments) based on the tested aptitudes in-game.

I am sure its starting to happen out there–and I will be promptly pointed to where it is happening as soon as I publish this from my readers (which is the whole point of this exercise anyways).

But wouldn’t this be cool?

Would love your thoughts.

I have just read the introduction and i am already quite excited to get through this book to see how they propose and support their view that work as we know it has to change to more game-like formats–especially in the information worker industry.

I have compiled some of my favourite quotes from this chapter to summarize their thesis:

Their assertion is that games are already ubiquitous around the world, and is a very prominent way of life especially in the younger generations who will eventually make up the bulk of our workforce as more and more baby boomers retire.

“Complex online games are played by millions of people worldwide. The youngest of the players constitute a new generation that will demand different attractions and technology when they join the workforce”

Reeves/Leighton Read point out that there are two key trends that contribute to emergence of gaming strategies at work. The first being an organizational cultural shift in companies today towards a more collaborative, distributed and democratized management structure and systems.

“The future of work is about engaging workers more than commanding them. This is certainly true in tough economic times, when innovation and collaboration are jeopardized by employees who are fearful of disappointed.”

“Well designed game environments can define work via loose hierarchies, where self-organizing behaviour by player-workers is productive. Work can be democratized, allowing people to choose the tasks they take on and have influence on how and when the work is completed. Work can have a more compelling purpose, allowing people to be continuously reminded how their efforts contribute to something worthwhile and larger than themselves.”

The second overwhelming trend is the advancement and rapid adoption of gaming technology to provide more immersive and engaged experiences to the players. The pure realism and efficiency of these gaming/collaboration platforms are really making them more social and more meaningful for the players involved.

“New multi-player games represent a high level of compelling interactivity with great prospects for continued refinement. Game play has light-speed pacing, constant feedback, transparent levels and reputations, compelling narratives and interesting methods for self-representation in the action. And all play depends substantially on team cooperation.”

“Games are seriously fun and they offer a template for re-engineering the entire human/computer interface”

What i thought was Reeves/ Leighton Read’s most interesting assertion was that gaming at work will provide an ideal alignment of individual and organizational goals. By engaging the workers in a  more meaningful way…they assert that companies are able to produce higher productivity and satisfied workers in both repetitive and complex jobs.

“Information work of all kinds–ranging from repetitive jobs in call centers to difficult collaboration in distributed groups–could benefit from technology that transforms work into compelling and entertainment play”

“By embedding easy work into story lines and quests that are part of an extended multilevel game, workers will be more engaged, leading to increased productivity and enthusiasm for the job.”

They go on again to assert that it’s the young people who are entering the workforce that will be best leveraged by these gaming strategies. This point resonates with me especially on an anecdotal level. As i observe from my own family members  and friends in the high school stage of their lives, i notice a preoccupation with their gaming prowess.  These “kids” challenge each other to very complex collaborative tasks in these games, cooperating with friends and gamers from around the world to achieve their goals. The “remote working” concept that is often a thorn in many of my colleague’s side, is an instinctual blink for them. They have internalized it as a normal way of operating. These ‘kids’ are not brain-dead social outcasts either. They are great students at school for the most part, very technically savvy and possess great innovation and ambition not only in their real-life, but in their gaming life as well.

This is the new workforce.

Businesses needs to motivate and engage workers who have very different expectations about communication based on extensive, new and often intense media experiences”

“The best young people entering the workforce will be engaged by experiences that allow their serious interactions to parallel playful ones.”

“Some people do play too much and to their disadvantage but on average many players are physically healthier, work harder, make better grades, earn higher salaries and are more socially connected than those who play less or not at all”

Reeves/Leighton Read’s assertion that if gaming strategies are brought into the workplace successfully–it’s a win-win for everyone:

“If successful, this would be an astonishing alignment of personal motivations and business value. Work would be hopelessly confused with play, with the result a possible win-win for the players and for the businesses that sponsored them.”

It was a great and optimistic chapter supporting the wonders of gaming at work. I am interested to see how they support this moving forward in the course of the book, and i will share with you my thoughts and summaries on my blogs. Comments and opinions are most welcomed and encouraged.

I had predicted how the motion capture technology used in Avatar will eventually lead the way to become a consumer based capturing system that we all can use to enhance our expressive abilities in virtual worlds, and as a result enrich the experience and the attractiveness of virtual worlds as a medium for the masses to engage in.

Lot of the benefits of face-to-face meetings are lost on conference calls today. The non-verbal cues that make up over 80% of our communications to the outside world are so important for our social interaction. If this can be translated in a meaningful way to the virtual worlds–i believe we will have a winner. One of the many forces (in addition to the high travel costs and security) that will increase adoption and most importantly extend the immersion of people in virtual world environments.

I have many skeptical readers who scoff at my assertions, but i guess time will only tell.

I am sad to hear that the performances of Zoe Saldana and James Worthington were not recognized by the Oscar committee. If anything, these actors need to be recognized for their ability to render such great performances under the unfamiliar environments of the motion capture CGI sets. Their souls were portrayed on those alien characters—which i believe takes a hell of a lot more talent than portraying it on your own body.

Hopefully the next ‘People’s Choice’ film awards will be more rewarding to these exceptional performances by exceptional actors.

“The market for technology companies that develop virtual shows is about $100 million, estimates Sharat Sharan, CEO of the company ON24 that developed about 300 virtual shows in 2009 compared with 50 in 2008. “It’s going to get easier and easier. People are used to living virtually,” he says.”

In fact what I found most interesting was the positioning of these virtual conferences as extensions of today’s web/video conferencing along with chat and audio conferencing technologies. I’ve always felt that virtual events are really just an extension/amalgamation of enterprise conferencing and collaboration solutions. Granted that virtual worlds have its heritage in the gaming space, I feel that many virtual world companies do themselves an injustice by associating  themselves with the consumer gaming market tacitly dismissing themselves from the corporate psyche.

One criticism brought out in the article is that ‘virtual events’ will never replace real events-because of the lack of interaction and casual networking that real-life events afford. This is a valid argument. But I don’t think anyone is advocating to get rid of real-life events all together. I think events that lend themselves to networking (i.e customer conferences) still need to be part of a company’s marketing portfolio. However i feel that ‘virtual events’ will serve a specific purpose in an enterprise especially for:

1. Internal Product Development Conferences
2. Sales Trainings
3. Partner Conferences
4. Prospect/Lead Generation information sessions (virtual fairs)

These conference tend to be cost centers rather than lead generators (with the exception of #4), but are still very important to the business.

Another way to circumvent the lack of networking is by using a platform such as Second Life, that actually has an ‘Avatar’ that the attendee has to move around. This facilitates the real life experience of roaming around at an event, and will allow for the ‘accidental bump-ins’ that people really value in real events.

I will be discussing the value of virtual events in further posts..but wanted to recommend a read of this article as a backdrop to further commentary.