Category: Company Announcements

After we broke the news that we planned to disband the ThinkBalm Innovation Community, members of the community expressed lots of interest in finding new leadership for the community moving forward. We are excited to announce that effective immediately, Tandem Learning will assume the community management responsibilities of the newly named Tandem Learning Innovation Community.

The value of this community is in the membership and the collective wisdom and experience of the group, and Tandem’s focus on new technology, user experience, learning design, and strategic business innovation allows them to touch on the areas of interest that bind our community together. We believe the leadership at Tandem is committed to maintaining the integrity of the community while finding new and exciting ways to add value to everyone who participates.

Exciting times are ahead for all of us and we’re looking forward to what happens next! (more…)

[Update: This survey is now closed.]

We are pleased to announce that the online survey for the ThinkBalm Enterprise Immersive Internet Business Value Study is now up on the Web.  This groundbreaking research study is conducted by ThinkBalm and sponsored by Altadyn, Forterra Systems, Linden Lab, ProtonMedia, Qwaq, and Tandem Learning. ThinkBalm will write a report containing our findings and conclusions, to be published in mid-May 2009. The report will be freely available on www.thinkbalm.com as well as on the Web sites of some of our sponsors.

The focus of the ThinkBalm Enterprise Immersive Internet Business Value Study is work-related use of virtual worlds and campuses, immersive learning environments, and 3D business applications. The core question we are trying to answer is, “What is the business value of using immersive technologies for work?” This study has two research components: an anonymous online survey and in-depth interviews conducted via phone or in-world. We are talking to enterprise Immersive Internet advocates, implementers, and explorers.

You may qualify to participate in this research study if you:

• Used immersive technologies for work in 2008 or the first quarter of 2009
• Have insight into the business value this technology has delivered to your organization (if any)
• Do not work in sales, marketing, product development, or customer support for a technology provider that offers immersive technology solutions

If you meet these criteria and are willing to give us 15 minutes of your time, please click this link or the image to the right to take the anonymous online survey. Also, if you have done a return on investment (ROI) analysis on the use of immersive technologies in your organization, we invite you to contact us at thinkbalm.com to set up an in-depth interview. The interviews will add additional color and insight to the data we collect via the online survey.

Calling all immersive technology advocates, experimenters and implementers!

ThinkBalm is pleased to announce the first-ever industry study on the business value of the emerging Immersive Internet technology sector. Our focus for this study is the business value of work-related use of virtual worlds and campuses, immersive learning environments, and 3D business applications. This research study is being conducted by ThinkBalm and is sponsored by Altadyn, Forterra Systems, Linden Lab, ProtonMedia, Qwaq, and Tandem Learning.

The research approach for the ThinkBalm enterprise Immersive Internet business value study is two-fold:

• An anonymous online survey. We are collecting data about early implementations of immersive technology in the workplace. We are investigating what drives investment, how early adopters see immersive technology as different from existing alternatives, hurdles organizations face when attempting to bring this technology into the workplace, and the business value organizations have obtained from using immersive technology. Here is info about survey qualifications and a link to the online survey.
• In-depth interviews. We are interviewing early adopters to gain a deeper understanding of how and why organizations choose immersive technology over other technologies, how they measure success, the hurdles they face, and their approach to developing a return on investment (ROI) model for the investment. ThinkBalm is sensitive to privacy of information and can limit disclosure to meet interview participants’ requirements. Interview participants will have an opportunity to review and fact-check the section of the report that results from their interview prior to the report’s publication.

People who work in sales, marketing, product development, or customer support for technology providers that offer immersive technology solutions for the enterprise do not qualify to participate in the survey or interviews.

We are now scheduling interviews!

• Who: We are interviewing individuals who have had personal experience with an immersive technology pilot or deployment for work in 2008 or 1Q 2009 and have insight into the business value this technology has delivered.
• What: ThinkBalm industry analyst interviews with adopters of immersive technology in the workplace
• Why: First-ever in-depth research study on business value of using the Immersive Internet for work. Interviews will add color to data collected via online survey.
• How: Phone or in-world interviews, 30-60 minutes in length. These interviews will complement the anonymous online survey.
• When: We are scheduling interviews for the month of April, 2009. The anonymous survey will also be fielded in April. The report will be published in mid-May. The report will be freely available from ThinkBalm’s Web site as well as the Web sites of some of the study’s sponsors.