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Linda Stone, Founder, Virtual Worlds Group Microsoft Research |
"Today's net is a rich web of information, increasingly complemented by software that supports community and people-to-people relationships. We are spending more and more time on the net, conducting both business and social relationships. Our computer, previously primarily an 'information prosthetic,' is now, also, a 'prosthetic of being' -- it is our virtual self..."
Linda Stone is the founder of Microsoft Research's Virtual Worlds Group. For over a decade, Stone has been a leader in the effort to create both community and content on the computer. Since joining Microsoft Corporation in December of 1993, she has focused on improving human social interactions in cyberspace. She created and now directs Microsoft's virtual worlds team, a joint effort by engineers, designers, and sociologists to develop technologies and interfaces for the construction of social environments that really work on a human level. Her group's approach to virtual worlds blends sociology, design and technology with the goal of enhancing net-based relationships.
Stone's team is part product incubation and part research. The first offerings from the virtual worlds group were multimedia chat services: V-Chat and Microsoft (Comic) Chat. The group is now developing a variety of technologies and interfaces that go beyond.
Background:
Prior to joining Microsoft in December of 1993, Stone worked for Apple Computer as one of the company's key people in building the multimedia marketplace. She was instrumental in forging the first significant relationships between a technology firm, Apple, and traditional creative media, such as book publishers.
Well known in both the creative and technical communities, Stone is a frequent speaker at conferences and has been repeatedly quoted and profiled in the news media. In 1996, Upside magazine has named her one of the 100 leaders of the digital revolution. She is also featured in John Brockman's book, "The Digerati," which describes her as "a visionary both within Microsoft and to the industry at large."
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