Via the 3pointD weblog (Link) which was apparently aware of it but didn’t blog it until Micro Persuasion mentioned it (Link), I learned about Starwood’s project to have the Electric Sheep build a virtual hotel inside Second Life. You can visit the development blog and follow along with the process if you want – Link.

When I read about it yesterday the first thing that came to my mind was an earlier entry I posted (reLink) discussing Starwood and the way they were realigning their business thinking. That entry includes a link to a video interview with Starwood’s CEO, so you might want to hear what he has to say. Consequently, it’s no surprise to me that it’s Starwood breaking this virtual ground. You can almost see the lines of connection between user experience-focused companies, mass-customization technologies and virtual development. Some companies are going to leap ahead (like Starwood, imo) and some are going to continue on their old paths… to their detriment.

{Update: C|Net has a gallery of images for this project (Link)}

{Image Copyright © 2006 Electric Sheep Company}