Clear Ink recently sponsored the 'Second Life Foundations' gathering co-hosted by Chip Poutine (Virtual Suburbia), and myself (The Arch). The event featured architectural installations by virtual architects from across the grid, representing a diverse cross section of building and design approaches. We invited builders and architects to shared some of the latest building tips and techniques with each other, and with those who were just starting out.

As a result of this discussion, Chip Poutine has initiated an SL Foundations Wiki, intended to centralize and share the knowledge gathered at this and all future events.

To receive invitations to future Clear Ink sponsored and/or community events, IM Keystone Bouchard.

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!

About three months ago, Steve Nelson, my business partner of 12 years now, and I decided that we would place a rather large bet and commit to growing our practice in "Metaverse Marketing." Our primary interest is in Second Life, and we've been thoroughly impressed with Linden Labs support for us as a developer.

The conversation that I'd like to memorialize here is the one in which we were trying to characterize this opportunity so we could do business planning. "It's like the Internet in 1995!" I exclaimed. And, I do believe that this is one of those wonderful times akin to the first commercial availability of the Internet in which many smart people are beginning to participate, create, and dream. Steve characterized one future of the metaverse as "The 3D Internet."

The more I am talking about this practice with clients and employees, the more I'm coming to see that particular future. Call me crazy, but I am thrilled to be on the cusp of incredible advances that are happening now. Ideas are flying at Clear Ink--and we're having a blast!