Philips Design and Rivers Run Red, the virtual world design agency, have signed a collaboration agreement to establish a Philips Design presence within the imaginary, on-line community known as Second Life. Philips Design intends to use it’s presence in Second Life to gain feedback on innovation concepts, engage residents in co-creation and gain a deeper understanding of potential opportunities in this virtual environment. In addition to exploring this virtual world to gain insights into potential opportunities, Philips Design will have a space on Second Life where virtual concepts can be tested and residents can participate in co-design projects. In this way, Second Life users can have a greater say in the kind of colors, ergonomics, functionality and other features of products they may wish to buy in this virtual world. This will allow Philips Design to find new ways of relating to end users. Having such direct feedback can significantly enrich the design process and lead to innovative and surprising end results. This fits with the Philips Design philosophy that design should be based around people and grounded in research. It also corresponds to Philips Design’s firm belief that the future of design lies in the co-creation of products. ?This sort of foresighting is extremely powerful,” says Stefano Marzano, Chief Executive Officer of Philips Design. “As the only things that actually exist within Second Life are ideas, it provides us with a real opportunity to better understand the dynamics of intangible value. In addition, value created in this virtual world can also be transferred to the real world. ?

Philips’ move is another example of real world companies moving into virtual worlds to capitalize on the real opportunities virtual worlds offer.

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