Mitch Kapor, chairman of Linden Lab addressed the ‘insurmountable opportunities of Second Life and Think Services’ Life 2.0 conference.

(Originally published at SLNN.COM)

CMP Islands – For the past few days, numerous speakers have addressed many topics surrounding Second Life as part of Think Services’ Life 2.0 conference. Yet one comment summed it up better than any. When asked about all that was going on with the future of Linden Lab, Mr. Kapor said that Linden Lab faces ‘insurmountable opportunities’.

Kapor was speaking about how Philip Rosedale’s change of roles at Linden Lab and how it was typical of a company at this phase of its development. He spoke about all the ideas that many residents have about how Second Life can improve and the importance of setting the right priorities. He termed all of these wonderful ideas about the future of Second Life as ‘insurmountable opportunities’. There is no way that Linden Lab will be able to achieve all of them.

This fit nicely with comments that he had about OpenSim and the desires that attendees expressed about personal grids, family grids where teens and adults could be together, and other ideas about grids. While Linden Lab may not be able to meet all the needs of all possible users of Second Life, they seek to be the lead player in a highly interoperable ecosphere of virtual worlds.

One of the biggest concerns that Mr. Kapor expressed about Second Life was the user interface. It was a concern shared by many attendees and Mr. Kapor hopes that Linden Lab will be able to bring significant improvements to the whole user experience.

Once tool that he is very excited about in this area is the 3D video camera. Kapor Enterprises, another venture of Mr. Kapor is focusing on these cameras and how they can be used to improve the experience of Second Life residents.

3D Cameras could be used to control movement of avatars in Second Life. As an example, a user could raise his hands to make his avatar fly. Slides showing developments in this area were presented and discussed.

Such changes could easily be added into Second Life simply by creating a new Second Life viewer or modifying the existing viewer. The cameras could also be used to add better in world gestures including facial expressions. Enhancements like this would require changes not only on the client side, but also on the server side.

Mr. Kapor compared the 3D camera and what it could allow for virtual worlds to what the mouse allowed for graphical interfaces. Beyond that, people expressed interest in other interfaces, such as a Second Life lite for mobile devices.

Yet the insurmountable opportunities that Mr. Kapor is interested go way beyond improving the user experience. Kapor spoke about how virtual worlds put people with disabilities on an equal basis, allowing people confined to wheelchairs in real life to dance and fly in Second Life. Unfortunately, this did not lead to a discussion about how Second Life can be made more accessible for people with disabilities.

He spoke about the opportunities that Second Life provides for companies wishing to provide diversity training. People can enter Second Life as different races, genders, or for that matter, even different species. Mr. Kapor has admitted to spending time in Second Life using other avatars than the one that he uses as MitchK Linden. It is not clear if any of those have different races, genders, species or levels about ability.

The educational sector was another area of interest for Mr. Kapor. He noted that students who would not have the opportunity to visit the Sistine Chapel in real life could do so in Second Life. In such simulations, students can stay as long as they like, hover close to famous pieces of art, listen to lectures, and have experiences that real life visitors of the Sistine Chapel would never have.

Another opportunity that is very important to Mr. Kapor is the possibility of using Second Life to address global warming issues. While there is progress being made in making houses and workplaces more environmentally friendly, long distance travel is an area where there is much less progress.

As more companies use virtual worlds, like Second Life for meetings, the amount of travel will decrease, and ultimately the number flights burning jet fuel and adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Mr. Kapor ended off his presentation expressing gratitude for the intensity of interest shown by all the attendees of his talk as part of Life 2.0. He said that he couldn’t comment on specific short term or long term plans. Those were better left to others involved with Linden Lab. He simply suggested that it is going to be quite a ride, and everyone should keep their seatbelts fastened. Unfortunately, as one attendee noted, they couldn’t find the seatbelts in their inventory.