Faith + Reason = Truth

Second Life is a virtual 3d world that lets players (and companies) create "avatars", on-screen representations of themselves in graphic form, as well as virtual "islands".  Real companies are investing actual money in building their Second Life presences, with total revenue to the site coming in at roughly a million dollars per day.  People and companies spend virtual money, which is exchanged for real money and vice versa.  With a registered "population" of over 3.1 million users in January 2007, the site has grown from just 124k users in January 2006, adding 900k in just the past month (these figures are from the the company's official blog).

Why does this matter?  Companies such as IBM, Dell, and Cisco are spending money creating virtual 3d environments, or islands, in Second Life, hoping to reach people and affect them in the virtual world with hopes of influencing their purchasing decisions in the real world.  Hey, if they'll spend millions on a funny 30-second commercial that people passively watch (maybe) during a football game, why wouldn't they spend large sums of money on building completely interactive experiences that people voluntarily visit and play with (Dell has an island, for instance, that allows avatars to fly through the insides of a pc).  Investor's Business Daily also had a front page mention of Second Life in yesterday's edition, along with a large spread complete with screen shots and interviews with some of the companies investing in their Second Life presences (I read it in my paper subscription and tried my hardest but couldn't find an online version of yesterday's story on today's www.investors.com website, but you're welcome to give it a go if you have a subscription to them).  Pay attention if you're not already, because whether this ends up being the company and environment that brings virtual reality to the mainstream or not, it IS coming and you WILL be participating.