VIRTUAL TOURISM » Virtual Worlds

BIZZin3D – Web3D & Virtual Worlds Meet-Up in Berlin

Ronald Iberl — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 07:38:12 +0000

Finally, it looks like there will be a conference about 3D Internet and Virtual Worlds in Germany!!!

The Berlin-based virtual worlds service company YOUin3D.com GmbH is organizing a symposium under the slogan: “Let´s meet, talk & discuss about business opportunities in 3D Internet” enabling participants to represent and discuss the business potentials of virtual worlds and 3D internet.

Let’s keep it short and simple: if you are interested in virtual worlds and always wanted to see/meet all the important people who spend all their time figuring out how to turn virtual worlds into the future of the Internet, grab one of the very cheap tickets and travel to Berlin on 31st May 2009!

Everything else you need to know about BIZZin3D: www.BIZZin3D.com

I hope I can make it there too – if not I heard rumors that you can also join the event in Second Life…

Virtual Worlds Management Industry Forecast 2009

Ronald Iberl — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:32:07 +0000

Chris Sherman and his team from VirtualWorldsNews have just released the Virtual Worlds Management Industry Forecast 2009 – a 45-page report that collects responses from over 60 industry executives, analysts, observers, and thought leaders on what the coming year holds for the virtual worlds industry.

In the survey they have asked the participants the following questions:
1. What are your top 3 trend predictions for the virtual worlds industry in 2009?
2. What business and product goals have you set for 2009?
3. What challenges do you expect 2009 to bring for the virtual worlds industry?
4. How will you adjust to the economic changes of the recent months and coming year?
5. What was the most significant evolution of your company over 2008?

The report overview, a list of contributors and everything about how to receive a free of the full report can be found here.

Google Street View

Ronald Iberl — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:52:03 +0000

When planning your next trip don’t forget to check your neighbourhood at Google Street View!

Virtual Worlds London

Ronald Iberl — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:46:40 +0000

Virtual Worlds London will take place next Monday and Tuesday (20 and 21 October 2008) at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre two blocks from Parliament.

I will be there on Monday October 20th all day. If you’d like to meet me there please feel free to contact me. I’m always looking for experts in mirror worlds as interview partners for my PH.D. research! Hope to see you there.

You can also contact me at the official event community – just visit my profile there.

First Research Step: My Topic

Ronald Iberl — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 07:28:30 +0000

Finally, I have drafted the first version of the topic of my PH.D. thesis:

“Evaluation of the Acceptance of Virtual Worlds in the Tourism Sector: An Extended Technology Acceptance Modelling Approach”

Abstract:
This research makes an attempt to investigate the acceptance of virtual worlds as one of the new information and communication technologies (ICT) emerging from the current development of the World Wide Web. The goal of this doctoral study is to evaluate the acceptance level of various target segments with respect to a specific virtual world and to identify those virtual world dimensions that are mainly responsible for the acceptance of virtual worlds by its potential users (e.g. tourists). Therefore, an evaluation instrument will be developed based on literature research and complemented by qualitative expert interviews that will then be employed by adopting an extended technology acceptance model (TAM).

If anyone has any comments or input for me please feel free to contact me. Thanks!

Beyond Second Life

Ronald Iberl — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:27:57 +0000

Gary Hayes from Personalize Media has created a nice film showing that there’s more beyond Second Life. It takes a look at over 50 virtual worlds that are currently part of the Metaverse as we know it.

Twinity now in public beta

Ronald Iberl — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:39:53 +0000

Just met the guys from Twinity at OMD in Düsseldorf this Wednesday. I really like their virtual world, which is now in public beta, since it’s so “mirror”. Looking forward to their future steps. Once I have performed a thorough test, I will post my findings here. In the meanwhile enjoy their trailer:

Virtual Worlds Universe

Ronald Iberl — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:06:36 +0000

Nic Mitham from KZERO just updated his Virtual Worlds Universe graph showing total registered accounts for the virtual worlds sector. Thanks Nic, I love your blog!

Via: Kzero

Ronald Iberl featured in iBusiness

Ronald Iberl — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:00:35 +0000

iBusiness: “Deutsche Agenturen sehen Business-Chancen bei Google Lively”

Scientific Research of Brand Communication in Second Life

Ronald Iberl — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:00:03 +0000

[sorry all, but German only...]

Das Institut für Marketing der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München untersuchte in Zusammenarbeit mit uns und der Designagentur TOCA ME die Wirkungsweise der Markenkommunikation in der virtuellen Welt Second Life im Vergleich zum klassischen Internet.

Mittelpunkt des Experiments war ein Laptop, der in Second Life, eine von Benutzern gestaltete Online-3D-Welt, und im klassischen Internet auf einer Website als Verkaufsprodukt vorgestellt wurde. Insgesamt wurden 176 Personen befragt, die zufällig vier Versuchsgruppen zugeteilt wurden. Die Gruppen unterschieden sich in der Art der Markenkommunikation (Website vs. virtuelle Welt) und dem Surfverhalten der Internetnutzer (Browser vs. Searcher). Browser gelten als gering involvierte Internetuser und suchen ohne bestimmtes Ziel nach Informationen. Searcher hingegen suchen gezielt. Als Kernergebnisse sind zu nennen, dass Browser durch ihr unbestimmtes Suchverhalten in virtuellen Welten positiv auf eine Markenkommunikation reagieren und Informationen unbewusst aufnehmen. Da Searcher genau wissen, wonach sie suchen möchten, finden sie sich allerdings im klassischen Internet besser zurecht. Keine Unterschiede zeigen sich im Bezug auf die Emotionen bei der Markenbetrachtung, auf die aktive Markenbekanntheit, auf das subjektive Wissen von Produkteigenschaften sowie auf die Einstellung und der Verhaltensabsicht zur Marke.

Zusammen mit TOCA ME stellten wir dem Institut für Marketing der LMU München die Grundlagen zur Durchführung dieser Studie zur Verfügung: Ein virtuelles Labor auf der eigenen Insel in Second Life und allgemeine Beratung zum Thema virtuelle Welten.