Who's Who in Virtual Worlds at CES

So CES is a Consumer Electronics Show, but that doesn't mean it can't be a virtual worlds show as well.  Samsung is already developing consumer electronics applications for virtual worlds--though not showing any off yet--and Intel spent a large portion of its keynote dedicated to virtual worlds-related technologies as well (what it calls "Third Life").  Not all the major players were tying their gadgets to virtual worlds this year, but I'd be willing to bet that CES 2009 brings an increase in phones, peripherals, and PC hardware setups targeted at virtual worlds with CES 2010 and 2011 seeing virtual worlds and 3D online environments popping up in most of the major keynotes. Or, as Samsung VP of Computer Science Victoria Coleman put it, "We see our devices becoming the primary portal that people use to interact with the Web. If virtual worlds become attractive, then our assumption is that people will be using our devices, TVs, phones, etc. to interact with them."

For this year, though, here's a rundown of who's getting in early on the virtual worlds consumer electronics front and who's not.

Who's In
1. Intel is obviously the leader here, with a significant part of its keynote and pre-show PR push aimed at virtual worlds. CEO Paul Otellini brought on members of 90's rock group Smash Mouth to demo a set of technology that quickly created 3D avatars via Big Stage (read our interview), put them into a 3D environment courtesy of Virtual Heroes,  animated them with suit-less motion capture from Organic Motion, and put their music together with help from eJamming.

2. Peripherals are everywhere. More and more people are taking part in 3D environments, which still goes beyond virtual worlds, but it seems like there's a focus on marketing towards better control of virtual world spaces and avatars. For example, Sandio markets its 3D mouse first at users of Microsoft Virtual Earth, Google Earth, and the "3D Internet" and only then to CAD users and gamers. Other exhibitors, including Intel, are using GestureTek, which allows users to "immerse themselves in a 3-D virtual world -- simply by moving their hands and body." Finally, there's my favorite: the EEG cap from Emotiv Technologies that lets users control avatars with their minds (video).

3. Maps: With Google Streetview, Microsoft Virtual Earth, and Everyscape all poised to take advantage of those new peripherals, it seems like it could be a crowded market, but others want in. Tele Atlas already creates maps for GPS makers like Mio, TomTom and Pioneer, but now it's making them 3D, letting users take advantage of satellite navigation in full 3D. Gadget makers are apparently integrating technology over the course of this year.

4. Reaffirmation without debuts: Cisco reaffirmed its commitment to virtual worlds at CES when it hosted a Q&A to celebrate its first year in Second Life. Dell made a similar nod to Second Life by co-hosting an event to launch its new monitor at CES and in the virtual world. Entropia made a showing as well, even without any gadgets. Jon Jacobs used the Consumer Electronics show to announce an in-world treasure hunt. While none of these events moved virtual worlds forward in consumer electronics, they do show a cross-over in interest. CES is a hardware show, but the hardware is starting to go virtual.

Who's Missing
Well, anyone not included is missing, but there are several names notably absent.

1. "You probably see Microsoft and think 'What? they’re not deeply involved in virtual worlds,'"  Daniel Schiappa, Microsot's General Manager for the Strategy Entertainment and Devices Division, said at Virtual Worlds Fall in October. It makes sense that the company had nothing to announce at CES, especially considering it was Bill Gate's last keynote. But what about next year? (Of course, however, any truly important announcements will almost certainly be made at Virtual Worlds Fall 2008.)

2. Sony has plenty to talk about this spring, what with Home for the Playstation 3 on delay until the coming months. The company made no real push for virtual worlds in its press conference, though, keeping its console-based world under wraps. It did, however, pump its cross-platform massively-multiplayer online game, The Agency, at CES. I expect games like that will continue to get more press time at the hardware shows out of their popularity in spite of the fact that they're usually less of hardware churners than games like Crysis.

3. Phillips has never made any big virtual worlds announcements, and their CES press event was no different. They make the list, though, because they seem like they might be in the same position as Samsung. Phillips took part in the interoperability conference, so it's obviously got a stake in the development of virtual worlds for somewhere down the line.

Did I miss anyone? How soon do you think it will be before CES starts hyping virtual worlds? Let us know in the comments.

Comments

[Peter Haik]

I think IBM did more than anyone else there for virtual worlds, both showing off their work with ActiveWorlds and Zula (a new kids world focused on education of science and math).

Also present was Barbie Girls.

I saw a couple of other interesting technologies present with a virtual world impact, Humanity Online (seeking to make more expressive avatars using webcams to make the avs express human emotion), and Pictometry (making 3d objects from photo reference).

I hope to see more virtual worlds on display next year.