Microsoft Meeting at (Sony’S) Home

January 7th, 2009 by: Alisha K.

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People have been using Linden Labs’ virtual world Second Life as a meeting space for a while, so I’m not surprised to hear that people are doing the same in PlayStation Home, Sony’s own avatar-driven online social community. What’s surprising is that, apparently, Microsoft is using Home. Yes, that would be the same rival Microsoft who frequently fights with Sony over exclusive games. It’s a crazy world.

Microsoft is but one participant in the experiment with Home, devised by Dr. Nipan Maniar and Manish Malik from Portsmouth University, in an effort to discover whether or not use of virtual worlds could help cut down on business costs and resource consumption. Financial firms Merrill Lynch and Ernst & Young are also taking part.

Ernst & Young’s Managing director of Advanced Workplace Associates, Andrew Mawson, said: “Increasingly we are living in a world without borders where workers need to collaborate on a global scale.” Tell me about it, Mawson. Anything that helps keep me working in my pajamas is good news.

[GAAP Web via PS3 Fanboy]