Friday, October 10, 2008

Harvard Business Review covers Virtual Worlds

HBR published a short piece last month titled "Getting Real About Virtual Worlds" in which Paul Hemp talks about the business benefits of using 3D environments. Coverage by the Harvard Business Review, given its stature and high-level distribution, is a good sign for an industry.

To me, the article underscores once more the notion that compelling, useful content is already out there. Unlike many non-impressive virtual reality offerings in the 90's, CPU and GPU power is good enough to create a very compelling experience...if you have a good-enough display system.

Using these compelling 3D worlds on a desktop monitor - usually in 2D - is like watching a new High-Def DVD release on a small black&white television. Try it on a high-resolution HMD with wide FOV and good peripheral vision, and you'll never want to go back.