It may be a cold rainy night in the Motor City, but in Second Detroit — a digital island that exits in cyberspace — puffy white clouds drift across a sky that is only ever blue. Fat, heavy beats thud from The Inner City Club, an industrial-style disco, as DJ Stacy Pullen spins lush dance beats. A fox-faced girl in a leopard print miniskirt sways to the music. Her screen name is Dinger Slapstick.
"We built Second Detroit to be a landmark community in
Second Life (i.e. SL). Our goal is to let users interact with the best of Detroit's culture," explains Dave Allison, one of the three partners that form
Au Creative Group. "Believe it or not, our city has a mystique to it that attracts people from all over the world. Take that furry who just wandered into our club, she could be from Germany or Tokyo or even China."
In the middle of their crowded launch party in November — a gathering of 20 and 30-something hipster professionals — Dave taps on his computer keyboard to control his virtual stand-in. A clean-cut dude with superhero pecs strolls across the digital club, intercepting the foxy visitor. After some small talk about the music he asks where she is in the RL (i.e. real life).
Dinger's fingers stab the air as she types her reply. "Novi," she answers.
It's hardly the exotic connection Allison was hoping for, but his enthusiasm is infectious. "The great thing about Second Life is that people actually visit and explore their environs. It's a way to capture an audience while giving them the opportunity to participate."
Second Life is a 3-D virtual world created by Linden Labs in San Francisco. Inspired by Neal Stephenson's cyberpunk novel,
Snow Crash, it has been described as
MySpace meets
The Matrix. Boasting more than 1.5 million registered customers, its users create customized alter egos called avatars and roam around a Web-based world called the Grid. It's a lot like a personalized and highly interactive version of the Sims where members socialize with other 'citizens', attend parties and concerts, and buy digital services, merchandise and real estate.
The kicker is that nearly $600,000 — real U.S. dollars — change hands every day in Second Life. Using in-world currency (Lindens) that converts into American cash (at a rate of roughly 270:1), the profits from Second Life's virtual products have started to generate profit in the real world. Clothes, tattoos, music, gambling, skateboards and event planning are just a few of the digital goods and services on offer. A few intrepid fashion designers and musicians have even managed to turn their obsessive computer hobby into a second career.
Sound fantastical?
Reuters News Service doesn't think so. They've hired a full-time reporter to run a Grid based bureau.
Partners Tommy Onyx, Brad Fairman, and Allison (a.k.a.
Au Creative Group) see the virtual environs of Second Life as the new frontier for marketing and promotion.
"I am a true believer, a committed evangelist for Second Life," says Onyx, the founder of Detroit's Web-based music promotions,
Loudbaby. "The thing about Second Life is that Internet users are finally ready for the next step in Web interaction. People have been talking about virtual communities for years but this is the first place that really pulls it off. It goes way beyond chat rooms and forums."
To Onyx's mind, it's all about the timing. Second Life is just starting to take off and he wants the best seat on the boat. "Back in the '90s I watched the Internet explode and didn't jump on concepts I thought had great promise … which, of course, I now regret. Second Life, in my opinion, exceeds the potential of those earlier companies. Its time has come. If you look at something like MySpace, it's really not that unique, there were lots of sites like it in the 90s. But users weren't ready for it; they were just getting their feet wet. Things are different now."
Au Creative Group purchased some digital real estate — an island in Second Life — and went to work developing Second Detroit. The partners hope to be early adopters in a venue with seemingly endless potential. "Right now it's about planting your flag. We're trying to convince companies to take advantage of this new medium now while the signal to noise ratio is still reasonable," Onyx explains, "But there's no doubt it's a social interaction that's hard for corporations to wrap their head around. I mean, we're talking about people visiting a nightclub that doesn't really exist to have their animated avatar dance to music that might be 'live' but isn't really there. It's definitely weird. Nevertheless, much of what's valuable in that experience –reacting to music as it happens, spontaneously interacting with a group of people, sharing the experience — still holds true."
It's not just artists, promoters and corporations who are trying to get in on the act. CNN reports that more than 60 schools and educational organizations have set up shop in Second Life and are investigating how it can be utilized for learning. The real time aspects of the Grid make interactive schooling possible.
There seems to be little doubt that Second Life will continue to grow. Its membership has doubled twice since August and media coverage seems to be catching up. Last Spring,
Newsweek Magazine featured it on one of its covers and, tellingly, a member's avatar was the photo of choice. The popular left-leaning political Web site Daily Kos is convinced that SL will be an important tool for future political campaigns. Back in August, former Virginia governor Mark Warner gave a speech in the online world.
Developments like these excite Dave Allison, and it's where his company sees great opportunities for marketing. "Second Detroit becomes a promotional space that allows our clients a unique presence. The great thing about Second Life is that people actually visit and explore their environs. It's not like a Web site where they're on your home page for 19 seconds then click through. They're here to hang out. The potential for promotions are limitless."
Au's business model doesn't really depart from real world conventions, Onyx says. "From our perspective Second Life is a fancy form of Web hosting, that's what they're providing. However, along with that comes an immersive environment that allows you more interaction with customers and communities. So we approach it very much like Web development. For our clients, however, there's incredible potential for brand marketing and building brand communities — especially for something like the music industry where their product generates devoted and responsive audiences."
Au sees their Second Detroit as a linchpin for their success, a high profile destination that will put them on the cybermap. "The Renaissance Center is the centerpiece of our island right now," Allison adds, "but we intend to add a lot more landmark Detroit buildings; become the official Second Detroit."
SL is filled with attractions from both the real and surreal world. You can wander around the Titanic, ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower or explore Vampire Empire in Transylvania. A Second Life History Library offers interactive audio tours of famous historical people and place and there's even a headquarters for the super hero group The Green Lantern Corp.
Au thinks Detroit is a natural for that list. "In six months we hope to have a lot more landmark buildings. Something like the DIA (Detroit Institute of Art) would be awesome. I'd love to build the Great Hall with the Diego Rivera here." But Onyx would also like to attract counterculture groups like The Dirty Show. "I think they'd be a natural fit for what we're doing. We're really eager to make those kind of connections."
Onyx sees an endless horizon of possibilities for Second Life using the cyberworld's infrastructure to create custom made environs for their clients. "We'd love to expand into developing a bunch of islands … Second Las Vegas, Second Pittsburgh … all as aggregation points. But we don't want to fill in all the blanks because we want our clients to see how they can make things their own."
He also sees an inevitable link with cell phone and iPod technology. "Web development is all about user experience. Second Life has the potential to be the ultimate in user experience. Where it's at now is just the tip of the iceberg."
The group's next online event is to unveil the Grand Opening of "Skyros Island," a virtual clubber's paradise, on February 27th inside Second Life.
Jeff Meyers is managing editor of MetroMode.