Local Papers Launch Community-Based Virtual World
The EastBay Publishing Corporation has created a virtual world for the communities served by The San Leandro Times and Castro Valley Forum aimed at providing many of the same community functions that the papers themselves do in an immersive, social environment. The still-developing Virtual Valley (V2) runs on Unity 3D's Web-based plug-in and opens up to an outdoor environment with a business storefront, a news and information stand, and a library based on the new local addition.
There are connections to Amazon for purchasing books and Web-linked billboards for advertising. The company envisions possibilities like local crafters setting up virtual storefronts, 3-D real estate listings, community events, and even a virtual reality sports arena.
There have been other reproductions of specific locations and of interest-based communities in virtual worlds, but this isn't a perfect mirror world. Instead, V2 looking at providing a geographic community with a virtual environment to stay in touch and extend relationships, which, it's worth pointing out, was the same idea behind Facebook.
I'm not saying V2 is the next Facebook, and it's probably got a harder time ahead of it convincing its readers to join a 3D virtual world than Facebook did convincing Harvard students to use a focused social network. It does, though, present an interesting new niche for virtual worlds: the local community.
With the rise of location-based services, augmented reality, and mirror worlds, it seems like a sensible direction to explore. And, considering the state of the newspaper industry, looking for more advertising options and ways to reach readers is certainly not a bad idea.
V2 probably isn't what the final combination of services would look like, but I'm pretty intrigued to see how the multiple mirror worlds aimed at launching this year wind up affecting community use like this.
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