AMD Opens Virtual Space

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is joining the ranks of other tech giants as it enters the virtual world of Second Life with the opening of its own island destination.

AMD launched its Developer Central Second Life Pavilion on Developer Central Island on Friday, a move that's meant to promote collaboration and innovation within the metaverse. AMD will open the virtual space for meetings, lectures, training courses and networking opportunities for developers.

The chipmaker is the latest real-world enterprise to extend its brand into Second Life, the 3-D online world created by San Francisco-based Linden Lab. AMD joins the ranks of Dell (DELL), Cisco (CSCO), IBM (IBM), and Sun Microsystems (SUNW), all of which have set up homesteads.

The Developer Central Island is located within the Second Life Developer Archipelago, a series of interconnected islands dedicated to the virtual developer community.

The AMD simulator also includes the AMD Auditorium, a formal place for tech chats between residents, as well as the AMD Display Hall, an exhibition area featuring interactive booths, scripted banners and streaming videos.

"The Second Life metaverse is a gathering place for both new and established developers," says Paul Nolte, AMD project manager and contributing builder for the AMD Developer Central Pavilion. "Through the interactive virtual experience at the pavilion, we hope to provide developers with an outlet to learn and grow, such as helping them to optimize native code for multithreaded applications."