Second Life Trial

Background

BT Tradespace will be running a trial inside Second Life to assess the feasibility of allowing existing and new Tradespace Members to promote and sell their products and services in a virtual environment.

What is Second Life?

Second Life (SL) is an online virtual world created by Linden Research Inc and launched in 2003. Although it is not the only virtual environment currently available on the internet, it is the largest with over 10 million individual user accounts created world wide and at least 1 million active users.

To access Second Life, a user downloads a small application to their computer which lets them view the virtual environment in three dimensions. Human avatars are used in SL to represent each 'resident' (SL member) which can be customised to create a unique individual identity. Residents can interact with each other in a variety of ways and can communicate using text and speech.

Second Life also has its own currency called Linden Dollars which can be exchanged for real-world money. Virtual land can be purchased by residents to build shops, homes and businesses while virtual goods such as clothes, cars and other objects can be traded.

It is also possible to buy real world products and services inside the virtual environment of Second Life in a similar way to purchasing from a website. One of the advantages being that you could have access to a virtual assistant to offer advice and support.

While on first glance SL has the appearance of a computer game, it is in fact an advanced social network where most of what you see is generated by its residents. It's an ever-expanding world that is attracting more real world consumers and businesses every day.

BT Tradespace in Second Life

BT Tradespace has its own 'Island' in Second Life which will play host to real world and virtual businesses.

There are four key areas of the Tradespace Island: Artist Exhibition, Country Show, Technology exhibition and the Souk area. BT Tradespace members will have the opportunity to set up their virtual business presence in one of these areas depending on their business type. Other areas on the BT Tradespace Island will include the reception area where visitors will be greeted by members of the TS team. This is also where visitors will be offered a 'tour' of the island and will be able to get more information about BT Tradespace in SL.

Trial details

Businesses:

The Tradespace Island can accommodate up to 8 businesses in each of the four areas. We are looking to identify at least 16 real world businesses to take part in the trial and a further 16 virtual business that currently produce and sell Second Life goods.

Each business will be assigned to one of the four areas depending on their business type. The BT Tradespace SL development team will work with each business to create their virtual presence.

Businesses taking part in the trial will be required to provide company branding, logos etc, media such as images, videos etc. and any product information they wish to promote. Each business should have at least one person available in SL during the week of their trial to attend to visitors.

Visitors in SL will also be able to get in touch with businesses via click2call and click2SMS. Calls and texts will be delivered to businesses in the real world.

The trial will be run over a period of four weeks. Each week one area will be open for business.

I.E:

• Week 1 - Souk Area
• Week 2 - Art Gallery
• Week 3 - Country Fair
• Week 4 - IT Area

Note: The order and area names are subject to change.

Visitors:

During the trial BT Tradespace will invite visitors to explore the island. Information promoting the trial will be placed on the BT Tradespace website as well as other BT-owned sites. The trial activity may also be promoted externally both on and offline.

Visitors that land on the Tradespace Island for the first time will be automatically greeted and pointed in the direction of the area currently open for businesses. 'Shuttles' will be available to offer visitors a tour of the island.

Help, support and guidance will be provided by avatars controlled by members of the Tradespace Team who will be available for the duration of the trial.

Free virtual items such as branded clothes, accessories, skins, hair etc. will be offered to visitors that provide feedback and comments.

Timescales

The trial is expected to run some time between March and April 2008. The trial will last for a total of four weeks and will be conducted from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm each day. Further details of timescales will be supplied nearer the time.

Costs

There will be no cost to businesses or visitors taking part in the trial. Businesses will be responsible for managing and fulfilling any leads generated by the trial.

Trial outcome

All activity during the trial will be recorded. Video, images, audio and all communications from the Tradespace Island will be available to the BT Tradespace team to review after completion of the trial. This may also be used for internal presentations, promotional material and communication purposes.

Feedback will also be collected from visitors to the Tradespace Island and may also be used for research and promotional purposes.

If you are interested in taking part in the trial, please drop us an email with the subject line: Second Life Trial.

Visit our Second Life Tradespace for photos and video of our Island

Chat with others about Second Life at the SL Community