CHAT BACK: The curious case of virtual space

It’s no secret that space is important. Not the galactic kind but the type of space that surrounds you, because your physical environment plays a major role in getting you into the right creative mindset. I have always been an advocate of having the right creative environment because it’s important to help stimulate your creativity and the creativity of your people.

A while back I had the experience of being taken on a tour of a creative space in the virtual world of Second Life called ‘Virtualis’. ‘Virtualis’ is a virtual conference and learning facility, which also housed some very cool creative spaces. I admit that Second Life was not something I had considered as an option for meetings but what I found was quite an interesting experience.

The world, or city, of ‘Virtualis’ boasts a range of unique conference centers, meetings rooms and war rooms. You can also have the room designed anyway you want, to reflect your own war-room, or your clients board room, or perhaps the environment of your latest concept or campaign.

The advantage is, of course, that once you have your avatar (the virtual you controlled from your laptop), you can get together with anyone from anywhere in the world in a unique place.

But here’s the best bit. At one stage I found myself in a room designed for creative sessions, where one moment I was sitting on floating clouds in a circle chatting with other avatars, and then the next moment I was sitting in a rainforest by a river.

It was a bit like being on the ‘Holo-deck’ of the US Enterprise in a Star Trek episode. At one point, as a mental break and energizer I found myself standing behind my computer performing a series of Tai Chi as my avatar lead the moves in a virtual Tai Chi session.

In our quest to find stimulating environments, this is a pretty cool alternative and a potentially stimulating one. Although it took a little while to get used to (10 minutes or so) the experience carried on after I had left.

It is certainly a different way to hold a brainstorm or creative session and a stark reminder of the importance of fueling our creative minds by using space to our advantage. I for one am looking forward to revisiting ‘Virtualis’ sometime in the near future.