Business week published an article today titled ‘The End Of Work As You Know It‘ where it was argued the concept of the workplace and the employer/laborer relationship are changing as a result of increased connectivity (virtual worlds, social networks et cetera). The article discusses the evolution of the workplace using a variety of anecdotes representing the forthcoming change.

The reason why I bring up this article, besides its obvious relevance, is because it brings forth an interesting and divisive point at the end of the article–questioning what “technology’s ultimate impact on workers” will be.

In discussing virtual worlds, while asserting my belief in it becoming an essential tool of the future, I often get bombarded with the generic concern that the entrance of virtual worlds marks the end of true social interaction and the ultimatum of superficiality.

In tandem, Business Week raises two pertinent questions:

1) Will this be a new world of empowered individuals encased in a bubble of time-saving technologies?

2) Or will it be a brave new world of virtual sweatshops, where all but a tech-savvy few are relegated to an always-on world in which keystrokes, contacts, and purchases are tracked and fed into the faceless corporate maw?

And their response:

“It’s safe to say we’ll see some of both. But perhaps we can comfort ourselves by realizing that, while technology will change the nature of work, it can’t change human nature. “All of these technologies,” says Charles Grantham, executive producer of the research group Work Design Collaborative, “aren’t going to be a substitute for face-to-face interaction.”"

Business week tackled this point well. Human nature is human nature. The rise of virtual environments and other collaborative and social metaverses are not meant to replace human interaction, but simply augment it (at least for now). This is the underlying supposition of progress.

Click here to read Business Week’s article

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra is said become the first to perform a professional music concert in Second Life. The concert is to take place in an exact replica of the hall, which in RL is based in north-west England. During the live performance, avatars will be able to listen and watch the orchestra play in the 3D replica of the space.

The concert will feature works from Rachmaninov, Ravel and contemporary Liverpool composers John McCabe and Kenneth Hesketh, and will be conducted by its principal conductor Vasily Petrenko, as reported by The Sunday Morning Herald.

[Chronos Performing]

The organizers of the event said the audience will be able to interact with each other, purchase refreshments, and at the end of the concert will have the opportunity to chat to the orchestra’s conductor Vasily Petrenko [well, his avatar] and performers in the virtual bar.

This is a fairly big initiative for music in Second Life, as the organizers have said, where they hope to attract a global audience while giving greater access to classical music.

The Old Masters Picture Gallery in Dresden, Germany has established a virtual presence in Second Life, as Wired Magazine reported earlier today. The real gallery in Dresden was founded nearly 300 years ago, boasting a 37,700 square feet space in a 150-year-old building.

Dresden’s virtual presence marks the first official move of a RL museum to the virtual world. As Wired reported, “virtual versions of other collections (most famously “Second Louvre,” which has no official ties to the Paris museum) have [also] popped up.”

Dresden’s virtual reproduction has been recreated with immense accuracy and detail. As Wired reported, “the grounds outside, have been recreated, down to the trash cans and fountains in the courtyard and ceiling moldings, staircases and furniture within.”

Dresden’s Second Life build is a must see! The Gallery houses 750 paintings of The Old Masters, spanning 500 years of European art.

As reported by domain-B.com, IBM India is planning to create an immersive interface, where real life movements and actions would translate into virtual world operations.

IBM’s project comes out of an internship program for students at technical and business schools, who will work at IBM India Software Lab.

As reported by domain-B, Benjamin Chodroff of case Western Reserve University, who came up with idea, states: “The interface will allow users in the virtual world to experience objects in the real world through a new and exciting rich immersive environment. The new idea has many applications and will enhance both the virtual world and the real world with rich connectivity and on-demand-access from any part of the globe.”

This also coincides with IBM’s new energy project, called ‘Project Big Green,” where they plan to take on energy conservation initiatives.

Read domain-B’s full report by clicking here.