Second Life Enterprise

Linden Lab announced the launch of an open Beta program for its behind-the-firewall product, Second Life Enterprise, the company said on Nov. 4.

The company also announced it will release a marketplace for Second Life Enterprise in Q1 2010. The marketplace, Second Life Work Marketplace, will add customization features for the virtual world environments, and it will also add more revenue streams for the product.

“Out of the box, the system comes with content such as meeting rooms and conference areas, which are just ready to go,” Chris Collins, Enterprise general manager at Linden Lab said. “There’s also a marketplace - an area where users can purchase content for their meeting rooms, or if they’re the military, it could be content for tanks and planes, all the way up to full software applications.”

So far, 14 companies or organizations are part of the Beta program. The list includes IBM, Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), The New Media Consortium and DefenseWeb Technologies.

The addition of the behind-the-firewall product will give these countries more options for simulation, training, collaboration, innovation and product design.

Program Technology Lead for NUWC Metaverse Strategic Initiative Douglas Maxwell said Second Life gives them a unique opportunity to prepare for real-life situations in a risk-free environment.

"Virtual Worlds have the potential to provide a safer, more cost effective approach to some of the Navy's current mission areas,” Maxwell said. “The Naval Undersea Warfare Center has collaborated with Linden Lab to create a version of Second Life Enterprise that is secured and meets military grade information assurance compliance standards - out of the box."

IBM is one of the 1,400 schools, businesses, government agencies and other organizations that use Second Life to some degree.

"Second Life Enterprise version offers a great combination of collaboration, content creation and communications tools and resources," said IBM vice president of innovation initiatives Francoise Legoues. "We were one of the early adopters of the Second Life platform, and having that technology behind the firewall gives us the opportunity to expand our use of the platform enterprise-wide."

Second Life Enterprise pricing starts at $55,000. The beta is expected to run from Q4 through the first half of 2010.