The Czech town in the virtual world of Second Life has enjoyed continuous interest. CzechTourism agency has been the latest company to enter the game. “We would like to introduce young visitors to the beauties of the Czech Republic and tempt them to visit the country in reality as well,” said Rostislav Vondruška, head of the agency.
A number of other Czech companies have been operating in the Czech virtual town of Bohemia too. Alongside Telefónica O2, Staropramen breweries and Czech Radio, the presentations of J&T Bank and the football club Sparta can be found there also. “It is a new medium that allows us to present our company,” said Petr Málek, head of marketing at J&T Bank. Czech police, Raiffeisenbank and radio stations Leonardo and Wave are also present in the town.
Petr Dvořák from the internet company beVirtual, which looks after the town, said even a public debate with a winemaker has already taken place there. “Some twenty people attended and held a pleasant talk about wine,” Dvořák said. A research group discussion organised by Millward Brown took place there last week. Dvořák said more than 10,000 people are registered on the Czech pages of Secondlife.cz. Some 15 million people are currently living their second lives, spending an equivalent of CZK 1 billion there every month.
Virtual money for real
Second Life has its own currency which can, however, be exchanged for real dollars. That is why it is possible to make good money there – if the player has a lot of free time on his hands.
Two years ago a girl called Anshe Chung made USD 1 million there. The woman who created Anshe Chung’s character put USD 10 into the game at the start, and she managed to become a real estate tycoon.
This “new world” is also starting to be important for large international companies. Steel giant ArcelorMittal ran its general meeting in its virtual headquarters. The management said they wanted to target young investors.
Big computer and software companies such as Cisco and IBM organise trainings for their employees from around the world there, while Sweden has opened its embassy there too.
The world of millions already has a competitor. American internet giant Google has also created its own world. The virtual world Lively has been running in beta. Lively enables users to screen YouTube videos on a virtual television or view photographs hanging in a virtual room.
Discussions, school and fun
Second Life is not only a computer game since it has loftier goals than to be just entertainment. Princeton and Harvard universities both entered the world. The Harvard law faculty simulates court hearings, and to make the movement of planets easier to grasp, Elon University in North Carolina has a virtual planetarium.
The science magazine Nature offers broadcasts of lectures by prominent international experts on its island. Reuters news agency has even sent a reporter, Adam Reuter, into the Second Life.
This article was translated with permission by the Prague Daily Monitor.
