[UPDATE]
Thanks for staying posted, I wish this could have been streamed.  As it happened, the camera was not hooked up to a  laptop so it did not happen.  Apologies.  Normally I do the streaming myself on my own dime, but in this case I had to run the real-world stage announcements etc.  I invite you to our other sig meetings and will post any links I can to the archived video of today.  Thanks and wish this could have happened.  Best, Bob Ketner

Hi,
Bob Ketner here, I’m not running the camera or audio today, but I’m going to try to direct any media here via ustream. I won’t be in SL either due to organizing the RL conference.
You can view the presentations with the embedded viewer. Video will be active during the presentation.
If not working please try: http://ustream.tv/channel/virtual-world-sig

Hello,
Tomorrow’s the day to be part of the conversation as Virtual Worlds Go Mobile with talks from Nokia, SKT, 4 VC’s, MBlox, Veepers, Gemini mobile, WiFi Army, and Smith Micro.

This afternoon conference coincides with alongside a flurry of press releases and announcements from virtual world platforms and media companies that are taking virtual worlds to the new platforms of phones and mobile devices. Get the inside forecasts and views on these new developments!

Register here:
http://www.sdforum.org/

Virtual Worlds Go Mobile

11:45am – 5:00pm February 26, 2008

Virtual Goes Mobile
Crossing the Chasm from the Internet

Event Overview:
At the speed of light, three dimensional parallel universes and their immersive communities -whether they be virtual worlds of shopping centers, nightclubs or interactive gaming- went from “radical fringe” to mainstream, with multinationals around the world setting up their own islands to be represented in this new part of the internet galaxy. Now the next frontier may be the most complex one to cross yet – mobile platforms. All players in the tech eco-system are setting stakes to offer consumers new options in social interactivity of all forms:

* Companies already entrenched in virtual worlds and interactive gaming, where mobile devicese the next BIG opportunity
* Social networking and community enterprises hoping to add a third dimension to their community and/or “go mobile”
* The enablers and supporters, whether they be investors who fund and help scale these enterprises or technology plays, such as payment systems, operating systems and platforms…

This conference is the first of its kind to listen to all the voices in the eco-system as they discuss what opportunities will be available and what the challenges are to realize this goal, when communities are able to connect, communicate and share content on these mobile devices, how the location-specific abilities and information be integrated, where should we look for emerging markets for web content when it becomes accessible to billions of cell-phone users.

Agenda:
11:45am-12:30pm Registration and Networking Lunch
12:30pm-12:45pm Welcome Remarks
12:45pm-1:15pm

Opening Keynote Speaker:
Anders Nancke-Krogh, Nokia
1:15pm-2:30pm

Panel Discussion: “The Venture Landscape”
Baris Karadogan, Velocity Interactive Group
Nate Redmond, Rustic Canyon
Sharon Wienbar, Scale Venture
Richard Wong, Accel

Moderator: Mike Doran, Fish & Richardson
2:30pm-3:00pm

“The Global Perspective”
Keynote Speaker: Joe Jasin, SKT
3:00pm-3:15pm

Entrepreneur Profile, Virtual Perspective
Martin Dunsby, Vollee
3:15-3:30pm Afternoon Break
3:30-3:45pm

Entrepreneur Profile, Monetizing the mobile Experience:
Steve Livingston, MBlox
3:45pm-5:00pm

Panel Discussion: “Paths for the Future: Success Stories and Learned Lessons”

Paul Anderson, Veepers
Rob Osborn, Gemini Mobile Technologies
Tomasz Wojtowicz, WiFi Army
Mandar Shinde, Smith Micro
Moderator: Ewan MacLeod, SMS Text News

5:00pm-5:15pm Closing Remarks

Price:
Platinum Pass: $25
Members: $65
Non-members: $85

Location:
Tech Mart Center, Fremont Room,
5201 Great America Parkway
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Directions

Here it is, what we have discussed at the SIG before, a mixing of RL and SL and representation of both on screen of some kind. These folks at Georgia Institute of Technology (http://arsecondlife.gvu.gatech.edu/index.html) show how avatars and humans, both seated within a designated AR stage area mix in a video. They also discuss MMO’s in general. Looks slightly odd and hard to tell what’s going on but this is right on the edge of the augmented reality direction for sure.  You can even teleport to their location:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Augmented%20Reality/41/74/38

They also have a longer video at: http://arsecondlife.gvu.gatech.edu/defensearmmoref.mov.

Ouch, watch the mic in the first minutes of this video. The birds and crickets also have a really good time in the background.

Got a heads up from California Condor (in-world SL) that there’s a Metaverse Meetup “Crossroads to the Metaverse” in Hoboken, NJ.
tomorrow Sat. Feb. 23. Organized by Thodore Wright, Andy Fundinger,  and long-time SL’er Hiro Pendragon.

Details at:

http://gamedev.meetup.com/166/calendar/7312910/

Looks like all the details will be posted there.  Hopefully it happens simultaneously in SL.  If so, I’ll be there!