"Metapparatus" - The $100,000L Word & The Electrolux Innovation Grant Program

Electrolux Innovation Grant Program
Published on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 by Blair

Well this afternoon Electrolux, the Gronstedt Group, and Millions of Us finally unveiled a plan we’ve been working on for quite a while. First we announced the winner of the “Invent a Word” contest. Doubledown Tandino won himself $100,000 Lindens with his word “Metapparatus - An all encompassing tool used in a virtual world to make interactions and processes easier.” The other 30 participants in the word creating exercise will earn $1,000 Lindens each as well.

Then we came to a very special announcement for our project: the Electrolux Innovation Grant Program. This is a program to really engage the Second Life community and work with them on their terms, not in pre-canned typical corporate experience way. Since Electrolux has been strongly committed to recognizing innovation within both the real world and the virtual one, this grant program is the perfect way to foster and encourage innovative minds within the community. Already the reaction from the kick off ceremony this afternoon has been overwhelming and positive.

Here’s a few choice quotes from users at the event:

[12:55] Sin Trenton: Thanks you guys for arranging this

[12:46] Doubledown Tandino: this is incredible!! ive actually been looking at ways to do this. i had no idea how to submit inventions.
[12:52] Doubledown Tandino: finally i get to utilize all these doodles and scratch pads of stuff i couldnt make!

[12:55] MSo Lambert: I’m really excited to see how Electrolux is engaging the Second Life community, thanks so much

So now we need to spread the word and let people know about this program so we can get some cool proposals in before November 1st. If you or someone you know is an aspiring Second Life inventor, creator, or innovator, get involved. Let them know we’re looking for cool people or teams to sponsor.

Here’s the official grant program guide:

Are you a Second Life innovator, creator, or inventor who wants a chance to make the great idea you’ve always had come to life? Now you can have the help you need to make your visions a virtual reality. The Electrolux Innovation Grant Program is looking for creative teams or individuals to help support cutting edge new ways of making all of our Second Lives even better.
Electrolux Innovation Grant Program

Assignment:
Second Life residents will be encouraged to submit ideas for useful devices designed to solve a specific challenge. They can present ideas already in development or projects that are still in the concept phase. They can work either as a team or as an individual.

Electrolux will decide among the submissions which projects they deem worthwhile, feasible, and able to be completed. From the projects they select (a number at their discretion) they can then award them significant amounts of grant money in Linden dollars based on merit.

Submission criteria:
1. Describe the problem you’re trying to address.
2. Describe a thoughtful, cutting-edge and innovative solution that is based on consumer insights.
3. Describe how you or your team is prepared to meet that challenge.
4. Describe how long you think it will take your team to complete the project.
5. Be as detailed as possible. How is this innovative? Will it be free or for sale? How will it help Second Life users?

Judges:
A private team of Second Life innovators, Electrolux employees, Gronstedt Group representatives, and Millions of Us members.

Grants:
Grants will be awarded in amounts of $25,000 Lindens for accepted proposals. Upon reaching a decided upon halfway milestone, a second $25,000 grant will be given. Projects that are finished and released into the community will be given a final $50,000 Linden award grant.

As a special recognition, the project completed and deemed most innovative by the judges will have its inventor or team avatars be permanently added to the display of great innovator paintings in the Innovision Hub.

Disclaimers:
Entrants own the intellectual property rights to their entries. Electrolux will NOT own the invention. If inventors would like to name or include Electrolux’s Innovation label on their product somehow of their own choice, we definitely are open to that.

Deadline:
Grant proposals should be submitted by Thursday, November 1st. At that time grant winners will be contacted within 7 business days by Electrolux. Further group meetings to discuss projects will be held weekly at the Innovision Hub.

Submissions:
Send your Electrolux Innovision Grant Program proposals to carola.lundell@electrolux.se

Alright Second Lifers, get the word out there!

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Looker Lumet's Blog

Electrolux & Millions of Us Honors Doubledown Tandino as a SL Innovator

I want to thank Electrolux and Millions of Us for honoring me with this award. It was such a huge treat to hear I am in the ranks of the other innovators mentioned. It came as a big suprise and I'm still glowing from the acknowledgement. I am glad I could represent the SL DJ community in this way, and it's cool to see my name listed with SL geniuses.

-Thank you

-Doubledown

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Electrolux Enters Second Life in a Really Innovative Way
October 6th, 2007 by Blair
Sometimes it can be tricky for a company to figure out exactly how to enter Second Life. A few have tried and struggled with setting up a storefront that mimics their real life presence, only to find that users in Second Life had a completely different set of needs and expectations. For international electronic appliance company Electrolux, the challenge was even more unique. Electrolux is a company that sells items like washing machines and vacuum cleaners. Useful in real life, but not so in a Second one.

So the minds at Electrolux and Millions of Us teamed up to come up with a unique and creative solution to this challenge. Electrolux spent months researching and talking with Second Life users to identify their needs and problems. Instead of simply setting up shop and waiting for the community to come to them, they went to the community to understand what made it tick.

Ultimately they realized that Second Life was a thriving virtual world full of people who were as innovative and creative as their own researchers. What emerged from this process was a virtual building dubbed the “Innovision Hub.” A place to recognize the achievements of real life innovators as well as the budding ones inside Second Life.

To demonstrate their appreciation and recognition of the emerging in-world innovators, Electrolux opened their building with a special ceremony to recognize and celebrate the most creative and exciting inventors in Second Life. The Innovision Awards were held at the top of the light bulb shaped building in a quirky and fun pavilion. The biggest and brightest names from around the community came out to participate. In addition to the awards given out to the 10 innovators, Electrolux also held a discussion panel with everyone gathered to talk about the unique challenges and issues Second Life inventors deal with.

Afterwards the party moved downstairs where Electrolux hosts showed off an interactive wall that lets users invent a whole new word and share it with other visitors. The grand prize for best invented word is $100,000 Lindens to be given out in 2 weeks on October 18th at the Innovision Hub. Soon after the gathering turned into an avatar costume contest where some of the users showed off their most crazy and unique avatar creations.

More Flickr photos of the event here.

Here is the official list of Second Life Innovators who won the Electrolux Innovision Award:

Shep Korvin - creator of the original Lucky Chair and various other viral marketing tools in Second Life - Shep’s original viral marketing creation the “Lucky Chair” is now fairly ubiquitous in Second Life and has even seen emergent behavior form when bands of people created Lucky Chair Strike Force groups to round up content housed in Lucky Chairs. He’s since developed an in-world auction sales system, and “MobVend” which lowers the price for goods the more avatars in a defined radius.

MSo Lambert - creator of the Subscribe-o-Matic group information distribution tool - Subscribe-o-matic is a group update system which circumvents the flaws in the Linden provided group system. Subscribe-o-matic automatically generates an RSS feed for announcements and prevents the hated group IM chatter which no one can turn off.

FlipperPA Peregrine - creator of the SLTrivia.com system - SLTrivia is a resident created trivia question and answer system similar to the systems which are played in many RL bars. SLTrivia also supports banner advertising with engaged players who are enjoying themselves trying to answer trivia questions retrieved from an out-of-world database system.

Francis Chung - creator of the open-source Franimation AO system and the amazing Dominus Shadow - The Dominus Shadow is probably the best known car in Second Life. Styled after the classic Ford Mustang the Shadow can also turn itself into a hovercar. The Wet Ikon/Franamation animation override provides the basis for just about every animation overrider in Second Life. It was one of the first to take advantage of animation override permissions back in the very early days of Second Life.

Jorgen Friis - Created the Interactive Wall for Electrolux Innovision Hub which allows users to drop notecards which are read by the wall and stored inside the system for other users to read and share anything from word definitions to famous quotes with each other.

Keiki Lemieux - creator of the HUDDLES animation HUD - The HUDDLES system can animation not just the user of the system, but also other avatars. Additionally, it features one of the clearest and nicest looking animation activation HUDs in Second Life.

Doubledown Tandino - DJ extraordinaire - always has an innovative mix of house beats and cool jams over top - Every show’s an adventure in layered sound and mashups.

Sasun Steinbeck - Made a “only in Second Life” prim sculpture that changes and morphs shape as avatars touch it, and also created kiosk.net - the network content distribution system that vends the art gallery notecard all over Second Life.

Flea Bussy - The man who runs Grendel’s Children, already known as one of the most amazing prim and texture artist in Second Life with an incredible sim sized store to house the amazing creations of Grendel’s children.