3pointD.com

I won’t be able to make this, unfortunately, but what sounds a really interesting panel will be held this Thursday, July 19, in the virtual world of Second Life. Kicking off at 6pm SL time (9pm Eastern), the panel will be a “Virtual Roundtable,” discussing “what drives the virtual human connection.” Moderated by Giff Constable of the Electric Sheep Company, it features some great speakers: Susan Wu of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Charles River Ventures, Beth Coleman of MIT, Robin Harper of Linden Lab, and Chris Carella, creative director of the Electric Sheep Company.

I particularly like the topic, since it echoes what I was thinking almost a year and a half ago in this blog post that eventually led to the creation of 3pointD: “It’s about the kinds of interactions people have with each other and with the world around them and the 3D world online, and it’s about improving those experiences by bringing new tools and new environments to the process.” I still believe that to be true. For a more recent articulation of similar thoughts, check out this post from Outback Online CEO Rand Leeb-du Toit, who notes that Linden Lab “thought they were tackling a physics problem” when they started building Second Life, according to Lab CEO Philip Rosedale. “However, they soon realised its not about the technology, it’s really about the people.” We couldn’t agree more.