As-Yet Unnamed Virtual 3D Business Collaboration System
Note: This is not a business plan, but rather a Functional Specification of the proposed system. The business plan will be forthcoming once the "func spec" is happy and thriving.
First Disclaimer: This site is almost entirely devoid of images - sorry if it is lame and dry, but I'm focusing on the content right now, so purty pictures will have to wait. Never you worry, they will come! Brand is King!
Second Disclaimer: If you see a link with an UnderLine - don't bother clicking it as it's a non-existent page. Only real (non underlined) links like VoIP and PersonalDesktopManagement are pages that take you anywhere!
Third (and final) Disclaimer: Don't double-click on this page. Just click once - this system I'm using has an annoying trait that tries to EDIT a page when you double-click anywhere. I'll sort this out eventually.
Table of Contents
Executive Overview
Technology is making the world a smaller place. People and businesses are interacting “virtually” on a daily basis with little concern about physical separation. Technology such as videoconferencing and Internet collaboration tools such as
Microsoft Netmeeting∞,
Live Meeting∞,
WebEx∞and
Lotus Sametime∞ have been enabling people to interact, share documents and share programs accross a longer distance, with less effort. But there has always been one disclaimer on such interactions: “you can never really replace being there”.
What if there was a way, technologically, to actually
be there? The gaming industry has been steadily evolving this ability for the past 15+ years. “Head to head” combat, the most realistic thing next to actual combat, is becoming more and more lifelike. The US Army has even built it's own
3D interactive game∞which it uses for training purposes. The interactions possible on the virtual battlefield have been taking entertainment places the world has never seen before. This industry’s technology has been bringing the physicality of
being there closer to reality with its avatar-based interactive 3D engines. The business world, seeing this type of innovation as purely entertainment-centric, has thus far payed no attention to this genre, nor to it's potential to revolutionize business networking.
Our
Virtual 3D Business System brings these worlds together through a powerful 3D interactive engine. We are introducing, with the use of this engine, a paradigm-shift to the way human network interaction in business can be done by turning multi-site businesses into virtual single-site businesses. By “virtualizing” the workplace, almost all barriers to business-process definition and interaction are eliminated. Any way that can be imagined to turn a logical process into a
virtually physical process can be built and shared in real-time.
3D interaction is not entirely new, but its application to business has not yet been fully realized. This is primarily due to a limitation of most static 3D worlds, which prevent the flexibility necessary to maintain an agile virtual workplace. As well, previously there has been no engine that could add relevant business information into a 3D world to make it anything more than a glorified chat-room! We aim to change this. We will create a world which is designed around a business and it's data, giving body to business information that is already familiar. We can describe any program, data, document or electronic process in a
virtually physical way that immediately implies purpose and method.
If one can dream it, one can build it. Considering this requires a great deal of “outside the box” thinking to truly grasp it's power. Computer files can become physical files, to be shared and handed off between any location or employee with as much ease as walking across a (virtual) room. Workgroups can have meetings in (virtual) person anytime they wish, without having to travel across the country or world, or may not require them at all, as they will all be living under the same
virtual roof. Distributed sales organizations can be housed (virtually) together, regardless of location. At any time one wishes, collaboration can be done around one virtual application interface, between any application, and any employee, anywhere!
System Overview:
The easiest way to package a description of this system is as follows: Take a traditional
groupware∞/messaging system,
document management system∞,
web collaboration∞ system,
Voice over IP∞ communication system, and
workflow∞ system, and create them virtually in an 3D-interactive Massively-Multiplayer-Online (MMO) game-inspired engine.
The web site
Wikipedia∞ describes the intent for "collaborative workspace" the best:
Collaborative Workspace∞
To Directly (and Shamefully∞) Quote Wikipedia∞: A collaborative workspace or shared workspace is an inter-connected environment in which all the participants in dispersed locations can access and interact with each other just as inside a single entity. The environment is generally supported by electronic communications and application software which enable participants to overcome space and time differentials, enhance productivity and reduce costs. These are typically enabled by a shared mental model, common information, and a shared understanding by all of the participants regardless of physical location.
Our system is proposed to integrate, replace or extend existing collaborative technology via the
Massively Multiuser Online (MMO) 3D engine. This concept introduces persistent avatar-based virtual landscape which allows people to interact with information assets as if they were physical objects. This creates unique opportunities to create truly collaborative applications in a way that metaphorically describes it's purpose and usage with less training required!
The Power of 3D
Networking Systems Interface Intuitiveness
User Interface (UI) is a critical component of any application system. In today's often over-engineered systems world, navigation through menus and button lists is daunting for many people, and complex for all. That is why so much effort is put into UI in modern programming in attempts to help "lead the user along" an intended workflow, with a minimum of learning curve. Great effort has been put into this with most individual applications, or application systems, and many do a good job creating an intuitive workspace. Most won't argue that the modern PC desktop is pretty intuitive, and so are most applications. However there is a rift between the desktop and most of our application and network resources that is often difficult for many people to learn. Networked systems become a "patchwork quilt" of individually designed applications, but with no concise presentation between them. Company Intranets try to bridge this gap by presenting this information in a web interface, with much success. Often, however, these intranets become so complex, that they become a large part of the learning curve themselves.
With 3D virtualization, these limitations can be significantly reduced for many areas of network collaboration systems through use of spatial metaphor. People have a natural sense of spatial visualization. We can take advantage of this by organizing our applications in such a way that visually and spatially represent their purpose. The spatial landscape is set by creating a
massively multiuser "virtual office" in which all users/employees can live and work, and in which all network resources are represented interactively. An actual 3D file cabinet can represent a file repository. A bulletin board can be an actual bulletin board on the wall. Announcements can be made on billboards or virtual plasma screens. A task list can be on a whiteboard in a dedicated work room. Workrooms can be organized in a virtual office, with each room labeled as to the project it's data represents. All of these objects and spaces can be physically (virtually) arranged in such a way to take advantage of this natural spatial talent of the human mind. Instead of having to learn to navigate a web site, or how to use pulldown menus and application wizards, users can learn how their virtual office is laid out, and where the file cabinets are, or where the trash can is. An intranet, as many people think of it, could be entirely represented as a building, park, or any physical space a company wishes to represent it's content. An intranet's journey could begin at the "front door", with automated tour guides, search assistants, and an information desk, complete with "retail signage" to help the user find his or her way.
3D Avatar User Interaction
If you can begin to picture the world we can build, it should become readily apparent that, with a properly designed world, such an information resource could be described in such a way that is not only easy to learn, navigate, and use to locate information, but is also fun and compelling for the user. Part of this fun is created through the most critical element of this world : avatar-based user interaction. For years, multiplayer online worlds (mostly games) have referred to a users' online representation as an
avatar. This avatar is typically a little 3D person which describes the character being played. In our world this would be no different. A 3D avatar-based collaboration system provides us numerous opportunities to enhance a user's ability to interact with other system users.
Many network systems support up to thousands of simultaneous users. But these users never see or hear each other, and are often viewing the same pages, or looking for the same information on the same resource, without ever knowing the other is there. We consider this a lost opportunity. Similarly to how we take advantage of the natural human talent for spatial awareness, we will take advantage of the natural human talent for physical recognition. Since it becomes possible for us to manifest a web resource as a physical space, it then also becomes possible for us to place each user browsing that space into that space
together. Imagine you are in your company's intranet looking for that new HR form. In our world, you would see other people in the same room, looking for the same thing, and one of those people would likely be able to help you locate that form, or possibly even give you a copy they have already gotten for themselves! Or better yet, the HR staff knows it has launched new forms, so an employee from HR stays around the room to answer questions about the new content.
Global Persistent Collaboration Space
Never before has such interaction been possible in a corporate information system. But simply being able to access such a world is not enough. The key to allowing all this to happen is
persistence. The fact that these spaces exist as 24x7 persistent worlds which the user can "live" is the key to making these collaborative spaces truly useful to business. Things stay where you put them, and spaces become as familiar as your own office. Most importantly, for companies with multiple office locations,
all employees live under the same virtual roof. There are no barriers in this world to creating truly virtual workgroups. Interaction will become effortless, and integration of non-local employees can be more complete, all the way down to conversations at the virtual water-cooler!
This interaction will allow a company to redefine the way it allocates human resources for projects. The "virtuality" of the system allows a limitless persistent representation of project collaboration, and can be structured in any way a company sees fit to manage it's projects, and define
themes for project management. Maybe we will set up an office for each active company project, and have employees move around them as necessary... or maybe we have more static workgroups that each have their own a "project room". Our ability to define a project management structure is limited only by our imagination.
Integrated Collaboration Technology
All these people living and working in this virtual space would be worthless without embedded collaboration technology. Using the same tricks of intuitive presentation, we will be sure to embed simpler access to collaboration technology. We do not aim to revolutionize existing application sharing,
VoIP, or document management systems, but rather to bring them all together in such a way that they are more accessible. Much of the problem of most modern collaboration systems can be found in obstacles the average user has making them work, such as coordinating login ID's, conference bridge numbers, and scheduling availability. Our system will allow a simpler on-demand access to this technology without the overhead of such setup. Coordination can be as simple as asking another person to "meet me at the kiosk", and with proper configuration, few additional steps are required.
Integrated
VoIP should ensure that voice conferencing is easier, lessening the need for internal traditional PBX switching. Indeed, likely this system will include as much PBX switching technology as makes sense. We envision that anyone in this world can easily talk to anyone else in this world without the need to look up their phone number! Simply talk into the microphone and those near you can hear you. Consider this on a global scale, and this becomes a powerful tool.
The Ultimate Vision - World Extensibility
We wish to achieve the ultimate vision of 3D collaborative technology. We wish to not only allow an organization to work better with it's own, but to extend the power of this interaction to business partners, vendors, clients, and, most agressively, the consumer. We can, with a properly built, lightweight framework for delivering the primary interactive logic, extend our world into other worlds. We can create an unlimited network of business-to-business 3D collaboration to allow b2b e-commerce to be as simple as walking
"next door" and finding the person you are working with. We can leverage the same simplicity of interface between partners, bringing them closer together.
If we can do this between businesses, we can also do this to the consumer. The world we create would intend to augment or replace a business web site, instead creating a rich, brand-right world that can connect your business with it's consumers in a way never before possible. No other method exists to create such an online space that can truly
perfect a company brand, and offer a more personal online customer experience. For retail businesses, product could be presented in an infinite variety of ways, all designed to help the customer understand how to find what they need, and feel comfortable that it is right. A true blend of form and function can be created with no limit to retail positioning but the imagination.
All this would be beneficial even if it were a static "3D Catalog", but, of course, we are much more than that. We add to this rich world the interactivity and collaborative technology to enhance the customer service process. Imagine having customer service representatives waiting in-world for prospects to arrive at your "site", or greeting them at the "door". AI tour guides could be maintained to help people find their way. Calls for help actually get received by an interactive person. Retail activity can be physically "seen" by viewing patterns of activity within the retail rooms, providing instant feedback and support capabilities even at a large scale.
This vision will not be achieved overnight, but rather will be the ultimate prize in a series of evolutions of 3D internetworking. Retail applications will and should be our last effort. Retail is unforgiving, and we would aim to deliver nothing less than perfection to direct applications to a consumer-base.
More Information
I have assembled more detailed information about this system, and what virtual applications will drive its success in the following sub pages:
