pimg class="float_right" src="/~~/f?id=4936dbc0796c7a4d005f8c4emaxX=240maxY=143" border="0" alt="redbullplane.jpg" title="redbullplane.jpg" width="240" height="143" /Second Life has a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/11/why-reuters-left-second-life-and-how-linden-lab-can-fix-it"stalled/a and Google (GOOG) has a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/11/how-google-could-have-made-lively-work"shut down Lively/a, but the hope that 3D online spaces can attract advertisers just won't die./p pNext up with virtual world advertising dollars: Red Bull, which is partnering with Sony (SNE) to put a tropical island and airplane racing game on the PS3 virtual world "Home." Red Bull hosts real-life air shows too, so the concept isn't out of the blue./p pDespite a spotty track record for virtual world advertising, Red Bull is on to a good idea. The problem marketers ran into in Second Life was they'd spend big bucks on a virtual storefront, and when people showed up there would be nothing to do./p pYou can't build fun things for avatars in Second Life because the user interface is so primitive that even walking is difficult. Both Pontiac and Acura tried giving away Second Life cars based on real-life models, but the virtual cars steered worse than early-80s arcade games like "Pole Position" and people junked them after five minutes./p pFor most corporations, Second Life meant deserted "virtual stores" that became an embarrassment for the companies involved. The handful of successful real world presences in Second Life -- both a href="http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2008/05/20/cw-television-films-gossip-girl-machinisodes-in-second-life/"the CW's "Gossip Girl" region/a and a recreation of the set from a href="http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2008/01/10/showtime-mulls-expansion-of-sl-presence/"Showtime's "The L Word"/a come to mind -- only took off after companies made long-term committments to tedious and expensive event planning run by human staff./p pBut unlike Second Life (or Google's Lively), the PS3 is purpose-built for gaming. If Red Bull can deliver a fun and free air racing game, the company can step back and reap the benefits of positive branding with no further effort./p pAnd there's an added bonus: Red Bull can be fairly confident no one will storm their PS3 island with a barrage of a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/10/second-life-offers-business-teleconferencing-now-penis-free"flying penises/a./p pstrongSee Also:/strongbr /a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/11/why-reuters-left-second-life-and-how-linden-lab-can-fix-it"Why Reuters Left Second Life, And How Linden Lab Can Fix It/abr /a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/11/how-google-could-have-made-lively-work"How Google Could Have Made Lively Work: No Sex, More Ads, Firefox /abr /a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/10/second-life-offers-business-teleconferencing-now-penis-free"Second Life Offers Business Teleconferencing, Now Penis-Free/a/p pemPhoto: a href="http://flickr.com/photos/nathaninsandiego/2474181009/"San Diego Shooter/a/em/p pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/x-oBVf3RaUtt3KH9SAls8jPKF9U/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/x-oBVf3RaUtt3KH9SAls8jPKF9U/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?a=HtoM1tpP"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?i=HtoM1tpP" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?a=GnE2IIbn"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?d=52" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?a=I4RiLO0O"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?d=80" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?a=QZMbTGuD"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?i=QZMbTGuD" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?a=yuuJ2bUm"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?d=131" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?a=SCOkPPWG"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?d=336" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?a=mMmxZ6Py"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?d=41" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?a=rqQhcLbb"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider?d=50" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider/~4/uNkPMh39Eyo" height="1" width="1"/

Virta-Flaneurazine (VF) is a potent programmable mood-changing drug for Second Life (SL). It is identified as part of the Wanderment family of psychotropic drugs because it automatically causes the user to aimlessly roam the distant lands of online 3D worlds. As the prograchemistry takes effect, users find themselves erratically teleporting to random locations, behaving strangely, seeing digephemera and walking or flying in circuitous paths. Many users report the experience allows them to see SL in a renewed light, as somehow reconfigured outside the everyday limitations of a fast growing grid of virtual investment properties. VF derives from a formula which the authors of this study, Dr* JC Freeman and Dr* WD Pappenheimer, synthesized some time ago. The clinical study will include an exhibition that dispenses and evaluates the drug for volunteer subjects. The installation includes a comfortable multi-position mechanical chair, exam area, a waiting room and live SL projection screens for patient and public viewing.p/pimg src=http://rhizome.org/syndicate/nothing.gif?f=art border=0