Red Hat to Host Second Life-like Virtual JBoss Trade Show
Red Hat is stealing a page from the Second Life playbook and will host an online conference for users and partners of its JBoss Java-based middleware products in which people will have their own avatars and can virtually attend a conference as if it was a live trade show.
The JBoss Virtual Experience is a Web-based conference through which JBoss executives and engineers will give the usual keynote speeches and host sessions just as they would at a regular trade show, according to Red Hat. The virtual conference, for which people can register now, also will have booth exhibits from JBoss, Red Hat and other event sponsors.
Attendees will have avatars that allow them to "walk" around a virtual exhibit floor and into rooms where there are presentations and discussion panels, said Red Hat spokeswoman Caroline Kazmierski. If they want to ask questions, they can do so via an instant-messaging interface, just as in the Second Life virtual-reality game.
