Google Powered Serious Games: A New Virtual World? - Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog.
"Google Earth CTO Michael Jones insisted in January that Google Earth would always remain true to the real world and not dive into the type of fantasy world that Second Life has become. Therefore, Google's implementation would be more like "First Life," but in virtual form. If "My World" turns out to be a virtual representation of real life, however, it seems natural to question the purpose of launching such a service. We could, after all, just step outside and see these things from the vantage point of a real human, not a virtual one."
There are lots of reasons why a virtual version of the world around us would be a benefit, although seeing why it would be a benefit to Google is perhaps a little less clear. Being able to walk my avatar through, say, the current streets of Burma would be a very interesting adjunct to news reporting - think of the way that news reports so often use Google maps now.
But there are other interesting possibilities too, which are somewhat more long-term. Some time in the next ten to twenty years, it'll be possible to use contact lenses to direct heads-up display-style information overlays on top of what you're seeing. That could be any form of location-related information, including - of course - location-related ads.
Think of the Google virtual world as the first phase of creating this vision: wander across the current fields of Normandy and overlay information about the battlefields of World War II. Tap into service records, and find the location where your great-grandfather's regiment fought.
Google isn't interested in "your world, your imagination". But it IS interested in new ways to overlay all the information it has over the world, letting you access it in real time, anywhere, and in ways which are enlightening. Plus, of course, profitable for it.
