Virtual worlds and virtual life are currently in development phase. Real users are finding virtual spaces as new entertainment environments. The virtual societies are connecting generally young people from the whole globe.
What opportunities hide new worlds for investors from real worlds?
First of opportunity can be using the virtual spaces as value added to current offer (products or services) by enterprises. Each company can use virtual societies as new target group where can test and promote new brands or tries to set new trends. Such operations required to invest in group of people who are operating unofficially in virtual worlds. Nowadays, marketing departments are staying before big challenge. They have to map real products or services to virtual ones. The main challenge is to send the real user hidden information under virtual products or services, which enables the user to recognize real products or services.
Second, but difficult opportunity for real investor is to build and provide virtual worlds. Only owners of infrastructure of virtual worlds can earn real money, but they have to be very fast in implementing competitive features. Probably in the future the infrastructure of virtual worlds will be open and this will enable users a single sign on and free teleportation between worlds.
The early stage of development of virtual worlds and increasing amount of users should be a signal for real investors to follow trends in those new worlds. There can be generated opportunities that are nowadays impossible to imagine.
But what happened if the new virtual boom will be like internet bubble from the end of 20th century? In my opinion, all investors have collect many experience and they will check first all new opportunities. I think the internet bubble won’t be repeated.
In summary, new virtual worlds are a good ground for new investments, but not in the nearest future. Only a transformation of virtual worlds to association of open, connected virtual worlds can bring new, not expected opportunities. Current generations will be surly witnesses of the changes in virtual life.
