Imagina 2010: The revolution of management through virtual worlds

Next week (Feb. 3-5) we will be at Imagina 2010 in Monaco to present virtual collaboration and e-learning solutions including Teleplace. On Friday Feb. 5, 9:30 – 13:00, I will participate in the Round table: The revolution of management through virtual worlds.

I look forward to showing how modern online collaborative telepresence tools, which are evolving from 2D videoconferencing to immersive 3D virtual environments with professional collaboration tools, enable new and more productive ways of working and collaborating in our global, fast paced world. And of course, I look forward to see the most recent advances and gadgets in 3D technology for VR.

Virtual worlds find more and more applications in enterprises in order to facilitate and optimize management. Nowadays, virtual worlds are adopted by all functions: Human Resources, Organization, Marketing, Production, R&D, etc. This move is fast and irreversible. According to Gartner Group, in 2012 50 % of large companies will have a virtual world similar to Second Life. Altogether in 2007 these virtual worlds have raised funds in excess of 1 billion $.

And according to the last survey by the American institute Forrester, they should be as important as Internet today. But large corporations are not the only ones to turn virtual, as it is shown by the great proportion of SMEs engaged in the IntraVerse Awards. What we have to name “a revolution in management” is easily explained by what virtual worlds can bring to management: they enable to simulate, to make trials and errors, to free creativity, to telework, to better train and communicate. In short, only advantages!

Français: Les univers virtuels trouvent de plus en plus d’applications dans les entreprises pour faciliter et optimiser le management. Les univers virtuels sont désormais adoptés par toutes les fonctions : Ressources Humaines, Organisation, Innovation, Marketing, Production, R&D, etc. Ce mouvement est rapide et irréversible. Ainsi, selon le Groupe Gartner, en 2012 50 % des grandes entreprises auront un univers virtuel de type Second Life.

L’ensemble de ces univers virtuels ont recueilli l’investissement de plus de 1 milliard de $ en 2007. Et selon la dernière étude du cabinet américain Forrester, ils devraient avoir autant d’importance que l’internet aujourd’hui. Mais les grandes entreprises ne sont pas les seules à basculer dans le virtuel, comme en témoigne la forte représentation de PME aux Prix IntraVerse. Ce qu’il faut bien qualifier de "révolution du management" s’explique aisément par les apports des univers virtuels au management : ils permettent de simuler, de faire des essais-erreurs, de libérer la créativité, de travailler en mode projet, de réduire les investissements, de faciliter la collaboration, de travailler à distance, de mieux se former et communiquer. Bref, que des avantages !

Friday Feb. 5, 9:30 – 13 :00 Round table: The revolution of management through virtual worlds
Moderator: Eric Seulliet, La Fabrique du Futur, CEO d'e-Mergences

With the participation of:
Redwane Bennani, General Director, Newnet 3D
Thomas Burger, Project Manager Service Engineering and ServLab, Fraunhofer IAO
Giulio Prisco, CEO, Metafuturing SL
Greg Rivera, Director, Innovalab
Frédéric Vacher, Director, Alliance & Partnership Programs - Strategy & Marketing, Dassault Systèmes
Jean-François Varinot, E-services Technique Manager, DCNS
Hélène Zuili, General Manager of MakeMyWorlds, Gold Solution Provider of Linden Lab

Strumenti di collaborazione online, telepresenza, e-learning e telework

Una volta (pochi anni fa) viaggiare in aereo era un piacere, ma sappiamo tutti che oggi è un incubo. Ma intanto gli strumenti di collaborazione online, telepresenza, e-learning e telework, che alcuni anni fa erano molto primitivi, hanno fatto passi da gigante e oggi permettono di partecipare a riunioni, seminari, corsi etc. online. Non dico che la presenza fisica e gli incontri f2f non siano più necessari, ma sono certamente molto meno necessari di prima, e questo permette di risparmiare tempo e soldi.

In una giornata di lavoro tipica salto da una a un' altra riunione virtuale con clienti, fornitori e collaboratori in tutto il mondo, usando uno o un' altro degli strumenti di collaborazione online, telepresenza, e-learning e telework menzionati nel seguito. Confesso di fare anche riunioni vecchio stile nel brickspace, ma la produttività diminuisce.

Sono giulioprisco su Skype, e naturalmente sono Skype-dipendente. Non tutti si rendono conto che Skype, un servizio destinato ai consumer, è tecnicamente molto più avanzato (qualità della voce e del video) di quasi tutti i servizi "professionali". Questo è un potente trend: una volta la tecnologia veniva trasferita dai settori professionali a quelli consumer, ma oggi è spesso vero il contrario grazie all' economia di scala e alle cifre astronomiche che vengono spese per i prodotti e servizi consumer.

Skype ha molti limiti, di cui il più importante è che la videoconferenza è limitata a due soli partecipanti. Oovoo è un prodotto simile a Skype che permette videoconferenze con più di due partecipanti, e ci sono anche sistemi SaaS che funzionano nel browser, come Dimdim e TokBox.

Il servizio di videoconferenza desktop multipla che trovo più interessante è EVO (Enabling Virtual Organizations), sviluppato dal Caltech e molto usato al CERN e nella fisica delle alte energie. La piattaforma EVO è da poco disponibile anche in versione installabile sul proprio server, vedasi il sito Evogreen.

Veniamo agli ambienti virtuali 3D, cominciando con il noto Second Life, osannatissimo dalla stampa come Next-Big-Thing nel 2007 e maltrattatisimo negli anni successivi. Come sempre la verità sta nel mezzo: forse Second Life non è la pillola magica che permette di risparmiare miliardi senza spendere niente, e forse non rappresenta la soluzione a tutti i problemi di comunicazione professionale, ma costituisce certamente una dimostrazione di come la virtualizzazione interattiva in 3D degli spazi di collaborazione online permetta di dare ai partecipanti una sensazione di "esserci", che aiuta a "sospendere l' incredulità" e immergersi nell' attività virtuale, con un grado di immersione molto più elevato che in una videoconferenza.

La natura fortemente immersiva di Second Life è illustrata dall' enorme attenzione che alcuni utenti dedicano all' estetica e all' abbigliamento del proprio avatar, alla vita sociale in Second Life... e perfino al "sesso virtuale". In questo interessantissimo post Dusan Writer dice che queste cose, che spesso spaventano gli utenti di tipo business, dovrebbero invece essere considerate come una dimostrazione dell' interesse, da parte di un gran numero di utenti, per i mondi virtuali immersivi. Con il recente lancio di Second Life Enterprise Linden Lab si rivolge al settore professionale, e spero che Second Life, una piattaforma tecnologica interessantissima e con un enorme potenziale, torni "di moda".

Ci sono anche piattaforme virtuali 3D che funzionano nel browser (con un plugin) senza richiedere l' installazione di un cliente dedicato. Spesso questi micromondi virtuali sono indirizzati a utenti finali con poca esperienza informatica, e hanno un' interfaccia molto semplificata e facile da usare. Da notare web.alive, recentemente comprato da Avaya, e l' italiano Moondus.

Il sistema che preferisco in questo momento è Teleplace, una delle migliori applicazioni 3D per telepresenza e telelavoro, meetings online, collaborazione di gruppo, e e-learning in un ambiente 3D (v-learning). I nostri partner ItalSAT distribuiscono Teleplace in Italia, Francia e Svizzera, e i nostri partner Innovex 4G distribuiscono Teleplace in Spagna. Il nome precedente Qwaq mi piaceva, ma è chiaro che Teleplace suona più "serio" e più appropriato all' utenza target nei settori aziendali, pubblico e accademico. In questi giorni, quando presento Teleplace non menziono neanche la parola V, che potrebbe avere troppe associazioni negative con videogiochi e mondi virtuali orientati allo svago, ma dico qualcosa come: Teleplace è un sistema di videoconferenza desktop avanzato con un' interfaccia utente 3D, la possibilità di importare facilmente contenuti dal desktop, e una gran varietà di funzioni groupware per la collaborazione e la produttività. Fra le caratteristiche più interessanti di Teleplace: videoconferenza a più partecipanti, navigazione web condivisa, desktop sharing e, specialmente, la possibilità di condividere e lavorare su documenti Office in tempo reale. Queste caratteristiche sono dimostrate in questa presentazione video con audio in italiano, che si può anche scaricare da http://metafuturing.net/video/.

Streaming torrents

This could be important and have a major impact on the video streaming industry. I experimented with streaming while downloading in the 2.1 beta of utorrent, and it sort of works. The feature is very useful, at least to know if a torrent is real or fake after only a few minutes. The real impact will be on video distribution, especially if the technology can be extended to live streaming.

From TorrentFreak:

uTorrent – the client of choice for most western BitTorrent users – has added the option to stream video files while downloading. With this new functionality, BitTorrent Inc. hopes to provide the ‘point-click-watch’ experience people have grown used to from their usage of streaming sites such as YouTube...

Spoiled by the many streaming video sites that have surged in popularity since YouTube’s launch in 2005, many people simply want to start watching instantly. To satiate this demand the popular BitTorrent client uTorrent has now added streaming support to the latest uTorrent beta release, which allows users to play video files while they are downloading.

Aside from streaming regular downloads, uTorrent’s parent company BitTorrent Inc. is also working on BitTorrent-powered live streams. BitTorrent inventor Bram Cohen himself aims to develop a piece of code that is superior to all the other P2P-based streaming solutions on the market today.

From TorrentFreak's Bram Cohen To Deliver BitTorrent Live Streaming:

The online video streaming revolution has hugely increased the use of bandwidth by individual consumers. At the same time it’s also resulting in huge bandwidth bills for streaming sites such as YouTube.

Thus far the demand for video continues to grow, and it is even expanding to live video. To keep video services from collapsing and to save bandwidth costs, it seems almost inevitable that content providers will have to look at P2P-based streaming solutions. Last year we reported that CNN had experimented with a P2P-based live stream, and the Tribler research team has already shown that it’s possible to use BitTorrent to stream live footage.

There are currently a few dozen people working on P2P-based live streaming, and they are soon to be joined by Bram Cohen, the inventor of BitTorrent...

The article covers some technical issues and other torrent streaming projects like Tribler.

Hughes on Problems of Transhumanism: Atheism vs. Naturalist Theologies

On the IEET blog, James Hughes writes on Problems of Transhumanism: Atheism vs. Naturalist Theologies. The article is part of a series on Problems of Transhumanism where Hughes, who recently stepped down from the Board of Humanity+, the former World Transhumanist Association which he led in the 00s, analyses some important issues of contemporary transhumanist culture. James says:

Naturalistic theology may finally have found solid Enlightenment footing in modern transhumanist speculations about the transcendent powers of superintelligent beings...

Even if all matter in the universe is not currently suffused with consciousness, the transhumanist belief in the inevitable progress of intelligence and the ability of science to ultimately control all matter generates its own form of teleological theology similar to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's notion of humanity's evolution into an Omega Point (de Chardin, 1955, 1959; Steinhart, 2008). One early example of such transhumanist theological teleology or "cosmotheism" was Frank Tipler's (1995) argument for a resurrection of the dead at the universe's end...

A more minimalist version of cosmotheology is found in Nick Bostrom's (2003) "simulation hypothesis." Bostrom proposes that if the universe generates vast superintelligences with billions of years to amuse themselves, one of their activities might be the creation of simulated civilizations. Given the vast numbers of potential simulators, their vast computing resources, and the vast numbers of years to entertain themselves, and therefore the vast number of simulations they will likely run, the likelihood is that there are a vastly larger number ofsimulations of lived realities than actual lived realities. Therefore we are probably living in a simulation. Many people have pointed out the similarity between this skeptical view of sense data and earlier theological views...

Another version of transhumanist cosmotheism is found in the "Order of Cosmic Engineers" (OCE). The OCE describes itself as a transhumanist spiritual movement that foresees a future in which intelligence engineers the universe and becomes godlike. They distinguish between belief in a "supernatural" god, and belief in inevitable natural superintelligent, superpowerful gods. These natural gods might in fact already exist, produced by prior civilizations, or might be able to reach back from our future to influence the past. Religious beliefs in gods, the OCE contends, might simply be a primitive apperception of these superbeings...

Do any of these positions represent a backsliding towards irrationalism, a compromising of the core Enlightenment commitment to scientific naturalism? In principle, no. Naturalist predicates and arguments, coupled with an openness to transhumanist conclusions, are leading to new scientific theologies and spiritualities...

Spirituality and transcendence are not incompatible with Enlightenment values. On the contrary, they meet in the Cosmist vision of a physical reality re-engineered by intelligent life. I prefer not to speculate too much on how intelligent life may be(come) able to resurrect the dead, build natural gods, and spawn baby universes. This is very far from current scientific understanding, and must be left to future generations. But modern science shows that reality is full of unexplored possibilities in the sense of Clarke's Third Law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and the immortal words of Shakespeare: There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. On the basis of these vague glimpses of a future powered by Clarke's magic technology, I allow myself to contemplate possibilities similar to those proposed by religions. And this, for me, is a fusion of Enlightenment and spirituality.

Comment to Hughes' essay on Problems of Transhumanism: Introduction

James Hughes has published a very interesting essay on Problems of Transhumanism: Introduction: What are the current unresolved issues in transhumanist thought? Which of these issues are peculiar to transhumanist philosophy and the transhumanist movement, and which are more actually general problems of Enlightenment thought? Which of these are simply inevitable differences of opinion among the more or less like-minded, and which need decisive resolution to avoid tragic errors of the past?

My comments:

I think we must accept the fact that the transhumanist movement is fragmented in different groups promoting different interpretations of Transhumanism and Enlightenment philosophies. Once we accept that there may be differences difficult to reconcile, we can work together to promote our common goals, and agree to disagree on other issues.

Political differences are, I think, unavoidable. Core transhumanism, the conviction that human enhancement is doable and good, can be adopted by persons with very different philosophical and political ideas. "Pure" transhumanists, if such persons exist, may tweak their political positions to match their transhumanist worldview, but most people will simply adapt their favorite interpretation of transhumanism to the ideas of their chosen philosophical and political camp.

I think the idea that “superlative technocentricity” performs an anti-democratic ideological function, that promising techno-fixes for social problems can be used to distract from immediate social needs and injustices, is a strawman invented by intellectually dishonest idiots to support their thought policing attitude, and should not be taken seriously. On the contrary, I think it is perfectly possible to be a technoprogressive social activist focused on here-and-now AND a transhumanist, or if you prefer a "superlative technocentric", and it is easy to remember which hat is more appropriate to the situation at hand.

I certainly do not share the presumption that transhumanists must be New Atheists. If by New Atheists you mean those intolerant and aggressive atheist fundamentalists who wish to force others not to believe, my message to them is, feel free to buy as much ad space on city buses as you like, but let others think with their own head.

Enlightenment belief in the transcendent power of intelligence generates new theologies. These theologies can follow from consistently naturalist predicates. I agree, and I am very interested in current experiments to design religions compatible with science.

MTA: Brief Comparison of Cosmism and Transfigurism

Lincoln Cannon of the Mormon Transhumanist Association has posted a Brief Comparison of Cosmism and Transfigurism: some quick thoughts on how the Ten Cosmist Convictions, as authored by Giulio Prisco and Ben Goertzel, compare to my perspective as a Mormon Transhumanist. Some of the comparisons merit more elaboration than I give them here, but will, I expect, yet provide some insight into compatibilities between these views.

Lincoln'r review is excellent, establishes many parallels between the Ten Cosmist Convictions and Mormon doctrine, and shows how Cosmism, as defined in the Cosmist Manifesto, is basically compatible with Transfigurism: I share with Cosmism a trust in, and even childlike anticipation of, our potential to explore the universe, as presently conceived, and whatever may be beyond that. Mormon scripture references innumerable inhabited worlds, both similar to our own and as diverse as globes of fiery glass, and proclaims that no knowledge will be withheld: whether there be one God or many, if there be bounds to the heavens, they will be manifest. Buzz Lightyear put it best: "To infinity and beyond!"... I agree with the Sixth Cosmist Conviction, that science and technology will enable realization of most prophecies, including resurrection of the dead -- PARTICULARLY resurrection of the dead.

I already thought Transfigurism is very compatible with my own worldview and this is why, though I am not a member of the LDS (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka the Mormons), I am a member of the Mormon Transhumanist Association and fully subscribe to the Mormon Transhumanist Affirmation:

(1) We seek the spiritual and physical exaltation of individuals and their anatomies, as well as communities and their environments, according to their wills, desires and laws, to the extent they are not oppressive.
(2) We believe that scientific knowledge and technological power are among the means ordained of God to enable such exaltation, including realization of diverse prophetic visions of transfiguration, immortality, resurrection, renewal of this world, and the discovery and creation of worlds without end.
(3) We feel a duty to use science and technology according to wisdom and inspiration, to identify and prepare for risks and responsibilities associated with future advances, and to persuade others to do likewise.

I asked Lincoln to write this review because I am very interested in his opinion. I consider Transfigurism as a very important example of of how religion and science may co-exist, and even mutually reinforce, within the framework of an established religion. I am also very interested in experiments on how to "export" this fusion of science and religion to other established religions, but probably some points in Mormon doctrine make the LDS an especially fertile ground for a "scientific religion". If this is the case, exporting the core concepts of Transfigurism to other established religions may be difficult.

Probably the most significant difference is on point 2) of the Cosmist Convictions: 2) We will develop sentient AI and mind uploading technology. Mind uploading technology will permit an indefinite lifespan to those who choose to leave biology behind and upload. Some uploaded humans will choose to merge with each other and with AIs. This will require reformulations of current notions of self, but we will be able to cope.

Lincoln says: it's not clear to me whether we may differ in our judgment of the value of uploaded intelligence. This requires exploring the meaning of "uploaded intelligence", which I'll do only briefly here... Mormonism holds that embodiment (rather than disembodiment), as a step toward Godhood, is empowering and good; for Mormons, heaven is not fully attained until the dead are resurrected and embodied anew.

I wish to suggest that suitably extended definitions of "body" and "embodiment" may permit reconciling this difference. Our biological bodies are interfaces between ourselves (our cognitive capabilities, which today operate on the wetware computational substrate of a biological brain) and the rest of the world. Tomorrow, uploads will still need interfaces to perceive and interact with external habitats and other sentient beings, and such interfaces, once they are developed, will be at least as rich and complex as those provided by our current biological bodies. They may be robotic bodies with sensors and actuators at least as good as our current biological bodies, and probably much better, or virtual bodies operating in synthetic environments with high performance I/O interfaces providing a rich sensorium indistinguishable from (or better than) our current physical senses. I think with these extended definitions, the embodiment of future uploaded intelligences will be equally (and probably much more) empowering and good.

Tablets and e-books taking off

Amazon's Kindle is a success, and other e-book devices like Barnes & Noble's Android based nook and Sony Reader are also doing well. Perhaps e-books are finally taking off.

E-books have been around for a while. In The Age of Spiritual Machines (1999) futurist Ray Kurzweil wrote: The current generation of virtual books does not have the capability of displacing paper-based publications. Yet the victory of the paper-based book will be short-lived as future generations of computer displays succeed in providing a fully satisfactory alternative to paper.

That moment seems arriving. In a few days Kurzweil will introduce his new e-reader platform, called Blio. A blogger asks Is This the Future of the Book?: I think Blio's biggest plus right now is something simpler: the fact that it can work on multiple devices. Kurzweil argues, and I'd agree, that most people don't want to carry several gadgets around with them. If there's a tool that allows them to read a book on their laptops or their iPhones just as pleasantly as on their Kindles, the Kindles may wind up gathering dust in the cupboard.

I think I will also prefer reading e-books on a more general purpose devices: the Iphone (or in my case an Android phone) or one of the many tablet devices to be announced in the next few weeks, often based on the Iphone or Android software. I bought my first tablet device in 2003. It was not very useful but, as for e-books, it seems that also the moment of the tablet device is coming.