Could PS3 Home herald a boom in virtual business trips? UK boffins lead research project

Could Home, the PS3’s virtual world, emerge as the hot new destination for international business?  British academics are planning to embark on a novel research project that will explore how Home can be used as a business environment where the suited and booted can discuss ideas and collaborate on projects.

If effective, it could change how large companies using virtual worlds as a business tool in the near future.

Dr Nipan Maniar, the University of Portsmouth academic and creator of the Culture Shock mobile phone game, will lead the project with University of Portsmouth senior lecturer Manish Malik, an expert in web 2.0 collaborative technologies.

Says Dr Maniar: ‘There’s no doubt that business life of the future will include a greater use of virtual world technologies.  In the current economic climate where renting office space is often the second biggest overhead, it makes good business sense for companies to explore the opportunities and benefits of workforce mobility and using virtual worlds as places to get business done more effectively and at a lesser cost than in the physical world.


Let's go virtual
’The PS3 being used to access a virtual world is interesting as there are strong pointers that gaming environments will increasingly be used for other purposes such as education,' says Dr Maniar (pictured right). 'I think a strong current example of where we are going is Jamie Oliver's cook book instruction being delivered via the Nintendo DS Lite.

'The concept can be applied to corporate training and in-house development sessions for senior executives. Why should the execs in New York be the only ones to attend a workshop on improving best practice?

'Let's go virtual and include management from Mumbai, Brazil and Beijing. The benefits, including cost, will be substantial by any measure.’

Manish Malik, an expert in Web 2.0 collaborative technologies, adds: ‘The idea of doing business in virtual world environments is likely to grow in coming years, driven as much by economic forces as well as the fact that it might offer significant advantages over the status quo of regular business travel.’

Game on for business
Workplace transition consultants Advanced Workplace Associates, whose clients include heavy-hitters such as Microsoft, Merrill Lynch and Ernst and Young, commissioned the research.

Managing director Andrew Mawson, believes the idea makes solid business sense:  ‘Increasingly we are living in a world without borders where workers need to collaborate on a global scale. There are human resources and economic tensions in trying to get so many people in the one place at the one time. Audio and video-conferencing solutions have emerged but the use of virtual worlds may offer the next evolution in overcoming the tyranny of distance - a more realistic and learning-enhanced environment where managers can brainstorm, give presentations, express behaviour and network at a more human level while being continents apart. The concept of personalised avatars and immersed realities takes us a lot further than the common conference call.’