I got another demo of Sun's Wonderland project yesterday from Paul Byrne at JavaOne. This was my second time seeing it, and it was exciting to see the progress. These guys have been at it for only four months and it's amazingly well along.

I think our group agreed that this project is at its tipping point. One significant, seemingly small, contribution from an outside organization will send this project exploding into the public consciousness. It might be the contribution of some key technology, but it's more likely to be content. In this case, content means artwork, specifically designs for physical objects.

Imagine, the sea of computerized designs for objects, from chairs to skyscrapers, is out there, filling up the hard drives in schools, private practices and big corporations. Once that sea starts seeping into this virtual world, we're going to have a boat that floats.

But here's the big point I want to get at: the name. Don't let it fool you. Don't think of Carroll's Alice. This Wonderland is a place to conduct business. Paul's team is not overly concerned with replicating physics or allowing people to play out their fantasies, unless their fantasy happens to be a more productive workplace created in a virtual space.

Jon Brouchoud and I keep thinking that although it seems fantastic to imagine working in this environment all day long, five years down the line we'll consider it pedestrian. At Clear Ink, we strive to reinvent marketing every day. We cut ourselves on the bleeding edge so we can lead our clients in the right direction. This is the right direction. Follow us.

My name is Jon Brouchoud, or Keystone Bouchard (depending on which version of reality I happen to be occupying!) and I recently started at Clear Ink as their 3D Experience Architect. My focus is primarily to collaborate on the design and construction of effective and compelling virtual environments. I also provide specialized architectural interpretation for assignments requiring exact replication of real-world spaces and CAD drawings.

As a matter of background, my wife and I recently moved here from Wisconsin. I'm trained as an architect (M.Arch, UW-Milwaukee), and was partner at Crescendo Design, a multi-disciplinary studio with an emphasis on green or environmentally friendly residential design. While our most recent emphasis had been in home design, we maintained a diverse range of assignment types, including web design, graphic design, and architectural illustration.

My background with Second Life started when I began building our designs in this virtual environment, and bringing clients in for tours of their soon-to-be new homes. By enabling our clients to literally inhabit and experience their homes from their own computers, we were able to provide an unprecedented level of visualization and immersion into the design before construction starts. We imported plans and elevations from Architectural Desktop, and were able to create very accurate representations of our designs.

Through contacts I made within Second Life, I met Kiwini Oe (Steve Nelson of Clear Ink), and was invited to visit their office during a trip to San Francisco. I was offered an opportunity to work full time within Second Life for Clear Ink. This position almost magically brings together just about everything I have ever been interested in. In this new role, the perceived lines between architecture, web design, graphic design, fine art and illustration dissolve completely.

I believe the next few years hold some phenomenal potential as the metaverse continues to evolve. With a raster of Second Life assignments building at break-neck speed, Clear Ink is in the fast track for continued leadership and innovation in this virtual world, and I am honored to be a part of it!

In coming weeks, we will be announcing some major projects we're working on as they reach substantial completion, and will be hosting several community-building events within the Clear Islands archipelago. Readers can expect sneak previews of projects on the boards, as well as invitations to upcoming events and launch parties. Stay tuned!