Tateru's Mixed Reality Directory

Tateru Nino's weekly look at recent real world incursions into Second Life

Major companies and organizations keep bringing official sites and branded locations into Second Life. Each week, we check out ten of these sites and summarize them so that you can figure out which is worth your time and attention.

Autodesk, Bantam-Dell Books, the Exploratorium, Fox Atomic, Magnatune, Movietickets.com, Nissan, Sky News, Sony, Wired Magazine; are these compelling experiences, or wastes of prims? One of these ten sites started out as decidedly yawn-worthy, but has carefully extended, refined, and renovated becoming quite the attraction. Join us after the fold for our bite-sized overviews, and find out who really took the effort to lift their game and accommodate you.

 

Company: Autodesk Category: Product Information Location(s): Autodesk Island Activities: Interactive Kiosks Marketing and Promotional Demo Builds Demo Videos Non-Interactive Kiosks Activity level: Regularly staffed (Mon & Fri 10am SLT, Wed 3pm SLT)  Occasional updates Regular events  Low traffic Rating: If you don't know Autodesk, but you want to, it's worth one visit. If you want to interact with the staff or the events interest you, this could become a regular.

Notes: Useful introduction for someone not familiar with the family of products. Does not seem in depth enough for people already familiar with the products, even if they are new to SL. Gives the merest taste of what is possible. Worth a visit once to see the builds and the videos; may be worth visiting multiple times for events held at the stage if you are architecturally-minded. Attractive, uncomplicated, low-lag build.

Company: Bantam Dell Books Category: Weblinked Store Location(s): Location on Sheep Island Activities: Interactive Kiosks Non-Interactive Kiosks Marketing and Promotional Static Environment Audio on Demand Web links Activity level: Rarely staffed Occasionally updated Regular events  Low traffic Rating: Nice for book lovers or frequent customers of Bantam Dell; Better during events, though the place can pack out quickly on those occasions.

Notes: A comfortably familiar replica store with scripted books on display. Books link to the website for purchase or excerpt and streamed audio readings are available.

Company: Exploratorium Category: Museum/Gallery Location(s): Located in Midnight City Activities: Static Environment Interactive Kiosks Non-Interactive Kiosks Some Freebies Optical Illusions and Strange Science Exhibits Activity level: Rarely staffed Rare events Frequently updated Low traffic Rating: Fun. Better with a friend, check back for updates.
Notes: 'Splo, the SL adjunct to the RL Exploratorium museum in San Francisco, features a large collection of playful, curious, and often quite silly exhibits related to science, art, and human perception. Fans of optical illusions and strange science will find 'Splo quite enjoyable. 'Splo is fun to visit by yourself, but even better with a friend.

Company: Fox Atomic Category: Promotional Displays Artistic Resource Location(s): Fox Atomic Island Activities: Static environment Interactive environment Scheduled streaming video Limited freebies Web links Marketing and promotional Movie sets and machinima tools Activity level: Unstaffed  Rarely/never updated Negligible Traffic Rating: An interesting visit for fans of Fox Atomic's movies and a useful resource for budding machinimists and photographers.

Notes: Fox Atomic Island is dedicated to machinima and several theatrical movies produced by Fox Atomic, a subsidiary/affiliate(?) of Twentieth Century Fox. The island features a number of recreations of movie sets, as well as tools and customizable "sound stages" for use by SL machinimists. Judging by the dates for the "upcoming" machinima classes, though, it seems that the content hasn't been updated in over 6 months now.

Company: Magnatune Category: Music Store/Lounge Location(s): Location on Kula 1 Activities: Non-Interactive Kiosks Marketing and Promotional Static Environment Freebies Assorted audio streams Activity level: Unstaffed Unaltered Negligible traffic. Rating: Not a bad place to come and listen to music and talk with friends. It's not going to drag you back over and over.
Notes: Covered in New World Notes. Magnatune offers free music streams for land parcels in a variety of genres. You can sit in one of the listening areas, alone or with friends and listen to complete tracks and albums, or do the same on the web and purchase the music you like.

Company: Movietickets.com Category: Replica Cineplex  Promotional displays Location(s): Movietickets Island Activities: Interactive Kiosks Non-Interactive Kiosks Static Environment Freebies  Marketing and Promotional Activity level: Unstaffed Unaltered Negligible traffic Rating: Visit occasionally, if you're a movie buff. More fun with friends, as is so often the case.
Notes: Covered in New World Notes. Movietickets.com is a replica cineplex that shows trailers for current and upcoming films. Movies posters are linked to the website to allow you to buy posters or tickets and get screening and session information. As this relies almost completely on streaming video, there is nothing here for residents who use Linux.

Company: Nissan Category: Theme Park / Racing Promotional Activities Location(s): Nissan Altima Nissan Skytrack Nissan Roadway Nissan Sentra   Activities: Marketing and Promotional Non-interactive Kiosks Static Environment Scheduled Video Freebies (Vehicles, Gadgets) Games / Racing Sandbox Area Activity level: Unstaffed Occasionally updated. Medium traffic (2,000-3,000/week) Rating: Definitely worth checking out for the many top-notch freebies, and if cars and racing are your thing, and you're not snobby about it, this is going to ring the bell. Highly recommended. Gold star.

Notes: Covered in New World Notes in a previous incarnation. Nissan has furnished 4 sims with freebies, games, and activities promoting two of their RL car models. There are plenty of free, high-quality vehicles and gadgets to be had, and many of the gadgets are modifiable for peeking and poking by budding content creators. The cars suffer from the same technical issues that plague all vehicles in SL, but are otherwise quite good. The racing games can be fun or frustrating - depending on whether your computer (and the sim) can handle them. This site has the potential to be one of the most popular sites in SL, if only it had at least occasional staff, and regular events.

Company: Sky News Category: Replica TV Studio Location(s): Sky News Island Activities: Live Videos Limited Freebies Marketing and Promotional Activity level: Unstaffed Unaltered Negligible traffic Rating: Unless you need scenery that looks like a television studio, I can't recommend it.
Notes: A detailed replica of what we presume to be the Sky News studios somewhere in the world - or perhaps an idealized representation of them. There's no video here that you can't pick up off their website, and less than that, if you have Linux.

Company: Sony BMG Category: Promotional Location(s): Media Island Activities: Audio/Video on demand. Static Environment Freebies Web Links Marketing and Promotional Activity level: Unstaffed Unaltered Negligible traffic Rating: Not really worth the visit unless you're very keen on a Sony BMG artist, which brings it up to 'visit once'.
Notes: A detailed and imaginative build - unfortunately, apparently of a dystopian corporate monolith, mostly featuring drab concrete. Nothing here really holds the attention, let alone invites you back - in fact it feels quite unwelcoming. This isn't about you, this is about the brand.

Company: Wired Magazine Category: Event Space? Location(s): Site at Millions Of Us Activities: Audio Stream Static Environment Activity level: Unstaffed Unaltered Negligible traffic Rating: Don't bother.

Notes: Frankly, completely disappointing. The build is attractive and colorful, with offices and cubicles, and a small stage build onto and into a giant motherboard, and.. that's it. The most interactive item is the foyer door. It reminds me of a resident's home, only less interesting. There are a scattering of posters of magazine covers, but they don't even link to the website. This looks like a space primarily intended to impress invited guests and press - like it might be used for something, but everyone's gone for a long lunch. It feels like a 3D banner ad - that you can't click on.

Tateru Nino is an SL consultant and widely-read blogger. E-mail her at Tateru.Nino@gmail.com, and visit her personal blog, Dwell On It.

Comments

[Troy McLuhan]

The Exploratorium's "Splo" got started in Midnight City sim, but now has an entire associated sim, named SploLand. It's just East of the International Spaceflight Museum.