Based on my dissertation for the MSc in Innovation Management & Technology Policy (2008, Birkbeck - University of London) * Growth & notoriety of virtual worlds * Commercial opportunities within virtual worlds (legal & illegal) * Difficult access to RL creative industries/ easier in virtual worlds * The identity problem: Who is the creator, Who is the consumer? * Innovation in products, sales practices, marketing etc.

1. Sofia Gkiousou www.digital-era.org MSc Innovation Management & Technology Policy March 09

2. The Creative Industries: Do they really count? The creative industries are those that are based on individual creativity, skill and talent. They also have the potential to create wealth and jobs through developing and exploiting intellectual property. Department of Culture, Media & Sport Creative Industries contribute to a country’s GDP but not always visibly. Creative Industries require management, planning, innovation etc. like any other business (although arguably, of a different kind) New kinds of creativity with the advent of new technologies (creating new sources of business & potential wealth across industries) Is IP the only way that Creative Industries may create wealth? Sofia Gkiousou www.digital-era.org

7. Is SL an MMORPG? * MMORPG: Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games Sofia Gkiousou www.digital-era.org

9. Fashion in SL Sofia Gkiousou www.digital-era.org Types of fashion products Skins, Hair, Clothing, Shoes, Jewellery, Accessories, Make-Up Notes on fashion products Additional Features Variety of Tastes Variety of Eras Shops Standalone, Shopping Streets, Shopping Malls Shop structure Branding, Products, Live models, Marketing tools (freebies, voting booths, group invite, greeters etc) Shopping experience Avatars as greeters/ PR, Music/ Video, Decoration according to brand style, Areas for sitting and socialising PR & Marketing Fashion Shows, SL groups, Freebies, Sales, Submissions to blogs & magazines

10. A model presenting a Sintimacy skin in the Sintimacy store. Photograph author’s own. September 21 2008 Sofia Gkiousou www.digital-era.org

11. SL Outfit 5/27/08 by Juushika Redgrave; Model is Juushika Redgrave Clothes by Artilleri, Veschi, Schadenfreude. Body by Nora, Sin Skins, ETD. Accessories by L.A.M.E., ETD, Caroline’s, DEEKS, Persenickety, Gritty Kitty, Anisa, Hybrid, Reel Expressions. http://www.flickr.com/photos/juushika/2532161199/ (last accessed 21 September 2008) Moon- StilettoBoot’s with Heel sound by Cookie’s - Stilleto’s CC Desinz. Photograph author’s own 21 September 2008 Sofia Gkiousou www.digital-era.org

12. AC Creations SL store. Specialising in Gorean, Vampire, Roman etc. Photograph author’s own 25/09/08 Sofia Gkiousou www.digital-era.org

13. Skins at Sintimacy main store. Photograph author’s own. September 21 2008

14. Advertisment from the Harajukubox Fashion Fair http://www.flickr.com/photos/21088562@N06/2848896298/ (last visited 22 September 2008) Screenshot from the SL Fashion Police, http://slfashionpolice.com/?p=114 (last accessed 21 September 2008) Sofia Gkiousou www.digital-era.org

17. Fashion in RL & SL Sofia Gkiousou www.digital-era.org

19. Questions for the future How might this fluidity and difference in creation/ consumption patterns affect business in metaverses? Is art created/consumed differently in online worlds? How can it be monetised? Can corporeal boundaries in relation to art be expanded? What can we learn from that. Is digital art still art? Who gets to decide? Who will be the gatekeepers in metaverses? Sofia Gkiousou www.digital-era.org