Business Communicators of Second Life®

You Had To Be There...Missing Image

The real thing is available for sale.

According to creator, Aram Bartholl:

"Missing Image is a piece of clothing that transfers a graphic error from the virtual
world of Second Life into the physical sphere in the form of a long-sleeve shirt." 

Seen in Flickr Pool: Second Life - Best of the Best.

March 17, 2008

Virtual/RealWorld Custom Manufacturing Project: Double Happiness Jeans

It took me some digging to put all the pieces together, but this is just too fascinating not to have made the effort. 

Without a doubt Second Life is helping companies innovate products and processes - even though 2007 mainstream media was seemingly all about SL marketing efforts.  Often such innovation is being done inside organizations that are quietly tapping the collaborative, cost-saving virtuality of it all.    But Double Happiness Jeans is a public and shining example of the innovation potential of Second Life.  This is product innovation, design innovation, process innovation, business model innovation - and perhaps much more lying just below the surface.

Double Happiness Jeans are real world custom-made jeans that are "manufactured" virtually – and then delivered to your local Kinkos or Double Happiness Jeans express store location. The jeans are the product of the  Invisible Threads, project that explores telematic manufacturing through Second Life. 

The project is virtually replicating a RL assembly-line manufacturing facility, with ten manufacturing stations each correlating to a specification of the custom jean order.  The physical “just in time” inventory system allows customers to place an order for one of several styles of jeans with a live factory representative at a terminal.   The process then enters Second Life. 

Customers can watch their jeans being created in real time in the virtual factory via projection screens.  At the end of the manufacturing process the jeans are output on Tyvek material to a large-format printer in physical space.  With simple assembly the jeans are ready to wear. The manufacturing process takes about 20 minutes. 

Double Happiness Jeans is employing an “indentured servitude” model for its SL workers.  Workers will be given land (and Lindens) in exchange for their factory service over three months’ time, emphasizing the relationship of the exchange of real world dollars for virtual assets. 

From the Invisible Threads web page:

"At the start of each workday, workers will need to clock-in. The worker will then be assigned to a specific department and workstation and given a specialized task to perform. Just as in a real life factory, workers will be monitored by a department supervisor and be held accountable for their speed and efficiency and any production errors. The erratic flow of supply and demand and extenuating circumstances such as equipment failures and irrational dispositions may result in docked pay, layoffs and overtime."

Project collaborators and Double Happiness Jeans co-owners, Dr. Stephanie Rothenberg and Jeffrey Crouse of Eyebeam also hope to shed light on the politics of outsourced labor and the role of “play” in cultural production, according to Adam Elenbass over at Reality Sandwich.

The project will have a special debut at the Sundance Film Festival in the New Frontier Theater on Main Street in Park City, Utah January 17 – 27.  On-site sales staff in Park City will help you customize your jeans, or you may order your jeans on the web site through February 2008.

Double Happiness is currently hiring and training SL factory workers.  Check out their promotional video.

Eyebeam is supporting the project on their Second Life Island, and the profits from the project will be used to maintain the project and pay factory workers.

Double Happiness Jeans is located in SL here: secondlife://Eyebeam%20Island/204/43/27.

Questions come to mind: 

How might this disrupt the clothing manufacturing industry?

How might this open up unseen revenue opportunities for Kinkos?

What new businesses might develop to “receive” in the physical world that which was “manufactured” in virtual space?

Might this potentially impact equipment manufacturers in the future?

Edward Castronova’s book Exodus into the Virtual World dicusses the possible impacts on the economy when segments of the population are spending time and energy producing in virtual economies rather than real ones.  How might such virtual telematic workers impact economies, labor, laws, society?

Are you at least considering how practical virtuality might impact your business?

Is SL really just some cartoon interface?

December 31, 2007

Second Life Market Research Panel Licensed to P&G

The Social Research Foundation has officially launched the First Opinions Panel in Second Life. First Opinions is a consumer research panel formed in Second Life to provide Fortune 500 companies with resident insight and feedback on new products, services and policies.  The panel is owned by SRF, but it is being exclusively licensed to and managed by MarketTools, a joint venture of P&G and General Mills.

MarketTools is a leading online consumer research service used by nearly all Fortune 500 companies and many leading universities such as Harvard, Columbia and John Hopkins.  They manage over 60 online communities for Microsoft, and have over 2 million people on real life panels who have access to the ears of industry leaders.

First Opinions is looking for resident panelists who will be willing to provide RL gender, age, income, geographic location, education, and interests as well as information specific to SL, such as land or business ownership and length of residency.  Residents will be invited to participate in specific panels based on the information they provide.  There is both a U.S. First Opinions panel and an international one.

SRF believes they are addressing a key issue.  Says Andy Mallon (Andy Evans in SL) in a recent chat, “How will consumer research in a 'virtual' environment offer advantages over web-based or other current methods? The key advantage is researchers will be able to view, measure and to some extent influence the peer interaction for decision making that is not possible through web-based surveys. So there is a social dynamic here. One of our goals is to put together an advisory  board who can help us study this.”

SRF plans to hold various special events to introduce residents to First Opinions Panel and they have developed a HUD (heads up display) to facilitate in-world registration for the panel.  Their launch event was held January 12th.

First Opinions is not the only market research company in Second Life. For example,  Market Truths and Reperes both established Second Life offices several months ago.  Market Truths recently released a study focused on the retail fashion industry in SL.

Market research in Second Life is a bit of a complicated landscape to navigate. There are some rather vocal groups who are against commercial research in SL, and these include not only the SL public, but educators and researchers, as well.  The success of these companies is dependant on how well they address three central issues related to their work in SL:  cross-cultural (SL/RL) learning and internal training; privacy protection; and standards of best practices.  More to come on how these can be accomplished.  Stay tuned.

To get more information on First Opinions Panel, join the in world group: The First Opinions Panel, IM Andy Evans or visit their web site.

January 22, 2007

Sears Comes to Second Life via IBM

IBM brings a prototype Sears store, called Sears Virtual Home to Second Life.  The concept is to showcase some basic features of what might be possible in using virtual worlds to transform consumer experiences.

Mark Wallace at 3PointD has a great early post on the project.

January 8, 2007

Wall Street Journal Reports on Fashion in Second Life

Raz Schionning, American Apparel's director of Web services, tells the WSJ that they have sold 4,000 virtual items since opening their Second Life store in late June 2006.  But, that is actually subtext to the fact that WSJ Marketplace (free) is featuring Second Life’s fashion scene in the first place.  Pretty legitimizing.

The story’s essence however, is the growing competitive fashion scene in Second Life – and the importance of Second Life media to driving sales.  Designers gain attention using advertising, websites and blogs – and Second Life style magazines are a key PR tool, as well.  The story cites the Second Man and Fashionista blogs which are now part of Second Style magazine as key media.  (If you haven’t yet checked out Second Style – wow seriously beautiful – you forget you are looking at virtual fashion.)   The Second Life newspapers such as The Herald and the Metaverse Messenger also frequently feature style-related stories, as does the excellent SLATENight Magazine.

Of course “word-of-wearing” is also just as important in-world as in RL.

But what should perk up the ears/eyes of anyone paying attention is the age of the “consumers” quoted in the story, the amount per month in real dollars they spend per month on virtual fashion and the buying motivations that peak through. 

Be sure to take a browse through the WSJ’s fashion slide show that accompanies the story.

Photo credit:  Dow Jones & Company Wall Street Journal Online