Humour

Testing the unreal world

T A Balasubramanian on the changing phases of networking and communication in the virtual world

Inside the bustling trade pavilions of the Techno Over-exposition of Geeks and Gizmos for Lazy Enterprises (TOGGLE), you Papyrus Bytewala, CIO of Baffle Corporation, and Danny DeVito, your CTO at Baffle, are listening to a riveting sales presentation.

The presenter, Nawab Ghoda Ghallstone Junior, the energetic founder and CEO of Ghallstone Labs, is in full flow, dressed as usual in colourful Indian robes with a turban to match.

“Well, Papyrus and DeVito, what do you think of it? As you can see, Avatar Baba, our friendly genie from Ghallstone Virtual Magic will become your in-house guide when you decide to bring Baffle into the virtual world,” he booms, pointing to a computer screen featuring a rotund character holding a golden lamp.

Before either of you can answer, he pitches on, regardless. “What you will enter is an artificial 3D corporate world created by the many eager avatars who have set up their mimic datacenters, offices and labs there. Since opening to the public last year, it has grown explosively. Today it is populated by hundreds of companies from around the globe. When you log on, you’ll discover a vast digital enterprise world, teeming with people, business talk, experiences and opportunity. Once you have explored it with Avatar Baba, perhaps you’ll find a perfect location to build your IT site.”

“Hold on nabob,” says DeVito, “we still do not know what to do with an unreal presence in this virtual … what do you call it?”

“Ah, in keeping with my old passion for horses, we call it Enterprise Ghoda,” says the Nawab, beaming. “Or, to use current terminology, E-Ghoda.”

“What’s the attraction, nabob?” says DeVito. “We can always get on the saddle later, when the race heats up.”

“Ah, but it is the early bird that gets the worm, Danny. With so many other companies already setting up shop in E-Ghoda, we don’t want to be left behind, do we? As the virtual world grows up in the coming years, it’s only going to get more attractive to companies that want to send a multimedia message. Everyone’s been searching for the killer broadband offering, and this is it.”

“And I suppose E-Ghoda has plenty of corporate jockeys already on the starting line?” you say.

“Yes, more than 100. Many companies have virtual storefronts for marketing their products to the presumably hip, younger set of avatars who frequent it. These are the new generation customers—people who are spending increasingly long stretches of time not just on the Internet, but immersed in virtual worlds. Others have used E-Ghoda for meetings, product development and designing simulated services. One of our media clients has set up its building in E-Ghoda to kick off news stories on the virtual world. They expect to use their new virtual workplace to let writers chat with one another and to host three or four virtual interviews every month with real-world as well as other E-Ghoda honcho avatars. It is kind of experimental, but they are actively looking around to set up spaces in other unreal worlds as well.”

“That is fine for a media house. What kind of business could we do in there?”

“Well, it is entirely up to you, Papyrus. You can buy and develop online real estate to set up an office, attend a technical forum with avatars created by users from all over the world or import images to craft your own in-world creations such as a new computer center. If you are in real business, you can have real money too. Ghallstone Guild, the virtual currency in E-Ghoda, can be easily traded for tangible money at an official currency site. A popular news service in E-Ghoda offers a variety of market information, such as the exchange rate between the Ghallstone Guild and, say, the US dollar. You know, Papyrus, what you have here is a really hot economy, even if it deals with a purely digital creation that you see only on computer screens. You will also be surrounded by the creations of your fellow-avatars. Best of all, you have the right to retain the digital copyright for your creations. Avatars who are so inclined can buy, sell and trade with each other, as much, and as often as they like—it is the ultimate open economy. And all you have to invest is your brain power.”

“I like all that freedom,” says DeVito instantly. “It seems a great place to try out some of my new ideas that Papyrus here, would possibly find too radical.”

You look at your CTO with apprehension. What possible thoughts could be germinating inside this biped humanoid’s robotic head?

“It is all nice and rosy the way you put it, Nawab,” you say. “But from what I have heard, these freewheeling virtual worlds are open to the public, which, I presume, includes anonymous pranksters and hackers. You see many companies reluctant to let their employees venture into these unreal waters—even if Duckbill & Goose hails it as an innovative immersive environment for richer and more nuanced communication and collaboration among workers, industry partners and customers.”

“Well, Papyrus, we talk to customers all the time who want to use this technology and they do worry about keeping the place secure. But E-Ghoda is a corporate gated community—like your Baffle intranet on the Web. Avatars will soon be able to travel easily in the open virtual sea out there, but only the ones with company passwords can get inside the firewall.”

“That’s a relief,” says DeVito.

“Well, we are doing all we can to make E-Ghoda a surefire winner,” says the Nawab, grinning hugely. “On the upside, let me tell you the story of a young geek—let’s call him White—who started his online adventures in our 3D test arena called Gallop. It was at Gallop that he discovered his love for virtual circuit design. That’s also where he met his online business partner, Knight, and it was Knight who introduced White to Gallop. Once he discovered how much more imaginative he could be in this unreal new world, he was hooked. White had never considered himself a businessman—his only passion was for making electronic gizmos and tinkering with computer graphics. Creating online circuits came naturally, and after designing his own models in Gallop, he took Knight’s advice and put them up on a virtual shop in E-Ghoda, where he found that others wanted them too.”

“Let me guess,” you say. “The unreal business is now called White Knight, and they split the profits evenly?”

“Amazing how you read my mind, Papyrus,” gushes the Nawab. “As White tells me, his business has grown from generating a few bucks a month two years ago to selling more than enough for him and his partner to live on now. And it’s growing every month. Indeed, this year may be a turning point for White—he is quitting his 10-year job as a shop manager in the real world to make the 40 hours he already spends in E-Ghoda as the owner of White Knight his true, full-time avatar career.”

“You should write a book, nabob,” says DeVito, admiringly. “Or maybe a script for a movie.”

“Yes, indeed,” you nod, agreeably. “And you could call it ‘Virtual Horse Sense for the Reality-Challenged’.”