(no subject)
A quick idea I had which I wanted to toss into the open...
A little while back I read this Wired article about the (Snow Crash-like) Second Life virtual world, and its active virtual economy:
Wired: Making a Living in Second Life
If I have any spare time this summer (hah!), I think I might try using Second Life's economy and scriptable world to create an in-game prediction market. Instead of using a purely reputation-based currency such a market could use the game's Linden Dollars, which can be exchanged with US dollars. It seems that in-game scripts can communicate with external servers via email or XML-RPC, so one could probably have such an in-game script placing orders with a server running the open-source prediction market software like Foresight Exchange, FreeMarket, or Zocalo.
One might even imagine creating a Futarchy-like system, with bids made on decisions about how to make the market prosper in the Second Life world. That could be interesting. I've lately been musing a bit on how such a system might be a cute way to create a seed superintelligence, or more precisely, a self-improving collective intelligence.
I should add the caveat that I haven't actually tried Second Life myself yet, as I still haven't gotten around to plugging in my personal computer. Have any of you tried Second Life yet?
A little while back I read this Wired article about the (Snow Crash-like) Second Life virtual world, and its active virtual economy:
Wired: Making a Living in Second Life
If I have any spare time this summer (hah!), I think I might try using Second Life's economy and scriptable world to create an in-game prediction market. Instead of using a purely reputation-based currency such a market could use the game's Linden Dollars, which can be exchanged with US dollars. It seems that in-game scripts can communicate with external servers via email or XML-RPC, so one could probably have such an in-game script placing orders with a server running the open-source prediction market software like Foresight Exchange, FreeMarket, or Zocalo.
One might even imagine creating a Futarchy-like system, with bids made on decisions about how to make the market prosper in the Second Life world. That could be interesting. I've lately been musing a bit on how such a system might be a cute way to create a seed superintelligence, or more precisely, a self-improving collective intelligence.
I should add the caveat that I haven't actually tried Second Life myself yet, as I still haven't gotten around to plugging in my personal computer. Have any of you tried Second Life yet?