georgiagamerz.com Blog

By BOB KEEFE

Cox News Service

SAN JOSE, Calif. — In between the virtual dance parties and late-night raves in the online world of Kaneva, you can build a virtual dream home, plop down on a virtual couch and soon, watch some real TV.

Turner Broadcasting System Inc. and Kaneva Inc., both of Atlanta, have signed an agreement under which Turner will become the exclusive cable TV programming provider to the virtual world.

In between virtual dances and parties, visitors to the Kaneva online virtual world will soon be able to see real TV clips from Turner Broadcasting System Inc. on their virtual television sets inside Kaneva.

Under the agreement, Kaneva will also add mini-virtual worlds that center on Turner shows. Though Turner hasn’t decided on programming specifics yet, Kaneva members could potentially go behind the scenes and onto a virtual set of “The Closer” or “Saving Grace,” or experience what goes into creating an animated episode of “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends,” for instance.

Meanwhile, Kaneva members can get together with friends — or strangers — from the other side of the country or the other side of the globe to watch Turner shows together in their virtual homes.

“This is what Turner’s history is all about,” said Blake Lewin, vice president of Turner’s New Products Group. “We’re always looking for new ways to package content and get it to consumers.”

Don’t look to see CNN news clips inside Kaneva, however. That’s the one area that’s off limits, Lewin said.

The unusual arrangement is just the latest example of how entertainment companies are trying to reach into the online world of virtual communities.

“Any media property or entertainment property that’s got an interactive brand is going to launch itself into a (virtual) space,” said Chris Sherman, executive director of Austin, Texas-based Show Initiative LLC. Sherman’s company is hosting the two-day Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo here expected to draw more than 1,000 real-life attendees.

For example, on Oct. 24, an episode of the CBS hit “CSI: NY” will take place not just on TV, but also amid the animated high-rises of make-believe Manhattan inside the Second Life virtual world. The episode is just the start of a far-reaching plan to integrate the CSI franchise in Second Life, said CSI creator Anthony Zuiker.

In MTV’s half-dozen online virtual worlds, meanwhile, fans of shows like “Laguna Beach,” “Pimp My Ride” and “The Real World” can play, socialize and party like rock stars — virtually.

Big entertainment companies are increasingly interested in virtual worlds because they don’t want to miss out on a potentially huge market.

Though only a small segment of Internet users today regularly visit virtual worlds like Second Life and Kaneva, technology research firm Gartner Inc. predicts that 80 percent of active Internet users will belong to some sort of virtual world by the end of 2011.

Lewin said working with Kaneva makes sense in part because of their corporate proximity in Atlanta. But, he added, Kaneva isn’t the only virtual world Turner is interested in entering.

“Nothing’s off the table,” he said.

Likewise, the arrangement is just a starting point for Kaneva, said Atlanta tech entrepreneur Chris Klaus, CEO and founder of Kaneva.

In an interview here, Klaus said predicted that someday friends or family members in different parts of the world could get together virtually inside Kaneva to watch a live sporting event or a movie, for instance. Or, he said, they could form virtual clubs around their favorite shows or movies.

“We’re just in the early stages,” Klaus said. “There’s much more we can do.”

Klaus, 34, started Kaneva three years ago after selling his previous company, Internet Security Systems Inc., to IBM Corp. for about $1 billion. A major benefactor to the Georgia Institute of Technology — he dropped out in the 1990s to start ISS — he also is an adviser to Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as a member of the state’s film, video and music commission.

With more than 700,000 members today, Kaneva is a fraction of the size of the better-known Second Life. Klaus said he’s happy with the site’s growth so far, but acknowledged that it still has a long way to go. He’d like to make it easier for members to use, he said, and acknowledges that the virtual universe is still being formed.

Klaus compares the potential of virtual worlds like his to television in the age of radio, or the Internet early days of computing, saying,”We’ve really only got our toe in the water so far.”

“I really do believe this is the future of entertainment and media,” he said.