I missed the last half of the summit because I was either outside in impromptu meetings, or rushing off to the airport.

Fortunately, there were plenty of other livebloggers in the audience:

Mainstream or Not: Virtual Worlds News 

 The Next Big Business Model?: 3PointD, Virtual Worlds News

Virtual Goods Meet Entertainment: 3PointD, Virtual Worlds News

» Craig Sherman, Gaia Online
» Daniel James, 3 Rings
» Amy Jo Kim, Shufflebrain
» Byron Reeves, Stanford University
» Nabeel Hyatt, Conduit Labs (moderator)

We’re going to talk about why this works for people.

Byron Reeves:

I have a lab here doing psych experiments looking at how people respond to virtual stuff. And the needle points to “real” rather than ‘fiction.” So my answer to why people care about virtual goods is that the human brain is not specialized to differentiate between virtual and real. Close counts — the same neurons fire. Same dopamine releases, same reward structures. My current interest is beyond avatars and stuff, and now is virtual money applied to real behavior. Uses for virtual currency in the real world, not encumbered by regulations — and less psychologically heavy. Interested in how to use it with adults and in enterprise. The lab results seem more applicable to adults!

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