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.