Case Study: IBM's Visionary Foray Into Web3D

IBM is a microcosm of all that's happening in Web3D. Since the company announced it would invest millions of dollars in Web3D (in IBM's terminology, the 3-D Internet) in late 2006, the company has set up an emerging business opportunity business unit called Digital Convergence and established an internal Virtual Universe Community, which currently has about 6,000 members. The company is now using Web3D to manage real-world systems remotely, develop software collaboratively, interact with customers, rehearse business activities, bring new employees and interns onboard, and formalize mentoring and knowledge transfer. The benefits so far? Eliminated travel and meeting costs, new business and leads, regained productive time, reduced energy costs, and communities sprouting up that span this huge organization.