Apparently, Chinese who go to Second Life "do not know what to do..." IBM and Beijing-based virtual world company UOneNet signed a strategic partnership agreement where IBM’s Digital Convergence department and IBM’s Chinese research center will join forces with UOneNet to research virtual world platforms and develop an IBM China-themed presence in UOneNet’s virtual world uWorld. Founded in 2006, UOneNet is planning to launch virtual world uWorld and has developed a platform called UniG. The founder of UOneNet, Eric Ye, was a former software architect at IBM and has a masters degree in engineering from the University of Southern California (USC). UOneNet plans to design its virtual world uWorld to appeal to Chinese users by adding more in-game tutorials and content creation tools. Recently, the company conducted focus groups with Chinese users who had used Linden Lab’s Second Life. One of the key findings was that Chinese users often wandered around and didn’t know what to do. Eric Ye, founder of UOneNet said, “To adapt to Chinese Internet users in our product design, we put more into in-world tutorials and examples to guide users, also help them form social and economic circles. We give them a sense of achievement when they accomplish something. Chinese users are creative but many are not technology savvy.” uWorld is also being designed with a softer color palate to appeal to Chinese users. uWorld is a 3D virtual community that allows users to live, interact, and conduct business together, similar to Linden Lab's Second Life. Users of uWorld will be able to purchase virtual real estate, start businesses, create social circles, and make and sell virtual items.
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