The 'Utherverse' Interview Part 1: Why 'Second Life' Is A 'Dead End'

A 3D virtual world originally designed to help you get a life has set its sights on killing Second Life.

Utherverse, which has its roots as a kind of 3D virtual Adult Friend Finder, is hoping to go mainstream - and attract mainstream users, advertisers and marketers.

So much so that CEO and founder Brian Shuster says Utherverse is going to "dominate" Second Life by year's end.

That may not be saying as much as it seems.

Second Life has been seeing an increasing number of marketers become disenchanted as they find that SL offers too many venues, with not enough traffic in any one venue at any one time.

Many other virtual worlds have long enjoyed higher traffic - and marketers are beginning to take notice.

Indeed, the issues are serious enough for Second Life founder Philip Rosedale to announce recently that he will give up the reins of CEO in hopes, one can surmise, of finding a game-changing new strategy.

Shuster says that by comparison, marketers are going love Utherverse - which features dense user populations and robust capabilities for e-commerce and advertising.

By year's end, the company also hopes to add powerful new mobile capabilities that will keep users connected and immersed in Utherverse wherever they go in our own universe.

What may be most surprising about Shuster is his boyish enthusiasm for the whole enterprise.

I have to admit, I held preconceived notions about him based on Utherverse's more "mature" roots.

But, with no disrespect - and even a little affection - I found that he at least sounds more Dudley Dawson (from "Revenge of the Nerds") than Larry Flint.

Here's why he thinks he can harness that enthusiasm - and some technological prowess - to beat Second Life at its own game.

The Utherverse Interview, Part 1: Second Life = Dead End (Approx. 5 min)

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