Media Money
- Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg to Harvard Grads: ‘Can You Click On an Ad or Two’
- NCTA Trends: Mobile video, Watch ESPN and TV Everywhere
- Discovery CEO David Zaslav on OWN, Global Growth & Netflix Impact
- National Cable Show: Cloud, Wifi, TV Everywhere Loom Large
- Facebook: Hacking All Night to an IPO
- Why Facebook Is Celebrating Its IPO With a Hackathon
- Inside Facebook's Money Machine
- Sheryl Sandberg: Facebook's Billion-Dollar Woman
- Diablo III Launch Breaks Records and Servers
- Privacy in Focus Ahead of Facebook IPO
More Videos
- Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg to Harvard Grads: ‘Can You Click On an Ad or Two’
- NCTA Trends: Mobile video, Watch ESPN and TV Everywhere
- Discovery CEO David Zaslav on OWN, Global Growth & Netflix Impact
- National Cable Show: Cloud, Wifi, TV Everywhere Loom Large
- Facebook: Hacking All Night to an IPO
- Why Facebook Is Celebrating Its IPO With a Hackathon
- Inside Facebook's Money Machine
- Sheryl Sandberg: Facebook's Billion-Dollar Woman
- Diablo III Launch Breaks Records and Servers
- Privacy in Focus Ahead of Facebook IPO
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- Marc Faber: 100% Chance of Global Recession
- Time for Flash Sales to Adapt or Die
- How to Trade on the Jobs Report
- Citigroup Lost $20 Million on Facebook IPO Trades
- Don’t Trust Buybacks
- Buy Broken Stocks, Not Broken Companies
- The Biggest Market Myth There Is?
- Facebook: The Song — Yes, We're Serious
- Under Pressure, FHA Skews to Wealthier Home Buyers
- Buying the Right Sell-Off Stocks
- A New Look at the ‘New Poor’
- Six Pack: Beer Buzz of the Week
- Greek Exit Could Trigger 50% Fall in Euro Stocks: Analyst
- Under Pressure, FHA Skews to Wealthier Home Buyers
- Big Stock Upside for Hudson City Deal: Analyst
- 5 High-Yield Stocks Ready to Boost Dividends
- Yoshikami: Four Things You Need to Know About Gold Now
- Steinbock: The Euro Zone Endgame Begins
- Option Bulls Take Another Shot on Idenix
- Citigroup Lost $20 Million on Facebook IPO Trades
- Sticker Shock: What College Is Likely to Cost in 18 Years
- JPMorgan to Shake Up Risk Team After Big Loss: Report
- Icahn Raises Stake in Chesapeake, Wants Board Seats
- Marc Faber: Chance of Global Recession Is Now 100%
- Week Ahead: Europe Has Wall Street Bull on Short Leash
- What Happened to Stocks? Most Unloved in 50 Years
- Cool Jobs: From Gold Stacker to Bed Tester
- Many Greeks Moved Their Money Abroad Long Ago
Virtual Worlds Expo: Real Investments In Virtual Space
Text Size 
Correspondent
 |
Virtual Worlds Expo |
In the first half of this year more than 300 million in venture capital financing poured into virtual world startups, with over 250 new virtual worlds popping up, and generating $700 million plus in business.
This event is where startups hype their new virtual environments, investors come to hunt for the next big thing, and perhaps most interesting, Fortune 500 Companies make big announcements in the space. There are the media and technology companies who are trying to bring their brands online with virtual worlds, and then there are the companies who are using virtual worlds to cut costs.
As travel gets increasingly expensive, and as companies become increasingly global, it makes more and more sense to conduct business in this virtual space, whether it's training employees, or holding virtual meetings.
PricewaterHouseCoopers is testing an internal virtual reality to connect its far flung offices, aiming to cut travel costs by recruiting, holding specialized training sessions and international meetings, all in this virtual space.
Cigna [CI
Loading...
()
]is the first healthcare provider to communicate with its members through virtual worlds. They're doing things like delivering workshops on healthy eating, but they're trying to take advantage of the virtual space by using impossibly large props to communicate an idea.
And PWC and Cigna aren't alone. Two-year-old Metaversality of San Antonio--a spinoff of Second Life--builds virtual worlds for companies including Toyota,[TM
Loading...
()
] AMD[AMD
Loading...
()
], and France Telecom. Virtual Worlds are still big business even as these companies may be watching their spending elsewhere.
And let's not forget about Second Life, the most prominent virtual world, which has nearly 15 million registered users. Hundreds of businesses from IBM[IBM
Loading...
()
] to Starwood [HOT
Loading...
()
]have built a presence in the virtual space.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
