Top IT companies embracing virtual reality

A key benefit of virtual meet-ups is they erase geographical and financial boundaries that may limit attendance at real-world conferences.

"If anything, one of the worlds that is going to get profoundly affected [by new media] is the world of trade shows and conferences," says Tony Hynes, a senior vice president at Bite. "You go to those for peer-to-peer validation and how-to sessions. A lot of that you can do now in a more sophisticated and meaningful way by using blogs and chat rooms and things like Second Life."

Irving Wladawsky-Berger sees the potential for more Second Life-type events, especially given all the time business people spend in meetings. "If all of a sudden, we have the ability to have far more productive meetings because there are these technologies that facilitate people collaborating with each other, bringing resources, that could have a huge impact on productivity," says Wladawsky-Berger, who is vice president of technical strategy and innovation at IBM.

In addition to the social aspect, IT companies also are discovering a new way to deliver services. IBM, for instance, is working with China's Palace Museum to create a virtual recreation of the Forbidden City and associated sites in Beijing. For the Wimbledon tournament, IBM built a tennis court on Second Life where visitors could follow the path of the ball in the virtual court -- and buy merchandise such as Wimbledon towels.

But is there an enterprise angle? Wladawsky-Berger suggests ERP applications, for example, might benefit from a virtual world makeover.

Most business users find ERP applications frustrating because they take too long to implement and they're too rigid, Wladawsky-Berger says. What if instead a resource-planning application grew out of a model like SimCity, the online strategy game that lets players manipulate terrains and build cities complete with infrastructure and public services? "You could imagine richer and richer versions that essentially now become business design and business simulation tools," Wladawsky-Berger says.

Most IBM customers aren't clamoring for a place in Second Life, as the notion is still new and the business benefits are still emerging. But neither are they ignoring the possibilities.

"No one is going to say this is bull. They all hear about massively multiplayer online games, there are more and more articles about things like Second Life," Wladawsky-Berger says. "They know better than to dismiss technologies that millions are using."