Couch Talks with...JAVABOX KAWANISHI

OMG is amazing that I not do an interview since 2010, bad Lua :)
This time was Couch Talk but under the water lol, not will enter in details hehe.

But was an interesting interview!

Javabox Kawanishi have a big background in SL, a well know avatar, since Cybertopia SIM he never stopped and his latest creation in conjunction with a hard worker team and really nice people, he created Virtual Asia.

LV: Tell us a little about your first steps in SL.

JK: I was searching for new opportunities for my real life company, Virtual Adventures, for a way to present products and services. I was conducting research for a real client to build a 3D shopping center. In 2007, I did an Internet search and found SL. After playing a bit with the interface and visiting some SL destinations, I immediately saw possibilities and business opportunities. I have been here nearly 5 years and am still enjoying it.

LV: How did Virtual Asia come to be?

JK: Virtual Asia is the result of my adventures in SecondLife over the last 5 years. 
I started to build the virtual cities of Cybertopia City, Nederpoort City and then New York City. 
New York expanded to 5 Sims at one point. 
You can continue to do Internet searches for any of these cities and find information about them. After those cities maximized on their potential, it was time for me to reflect, start over and do it better this time around. 
That is how Virtual Asia was born.

 

LV: Tell me about the Virtual Asia Project.

JK: I carefully chose the core team we have in the City. Our first real life project will be set up in either Indonesia, the Philippines, or Malaysia. 
The project will be about creating a means where we can train participants and offer them a full-time job in our virtual city. Rather than hard manual labor that pays $ .50 to $1.00 per day, we strive to offer $3.00 to $5.00 per day in a virtual city by working in jobs such as greeters, store managers or virtual cab drivers. 
 For those not familiar with virtual worlds, this probably sounds unbelievable. 
Soon, however, we will have our main web site online where we will clearly explain how this will all work.

 

LV: That is a very nice incentive and great idea, but how do they know about this in RL? How do they know that in SL they can work for more money?

JK: In short, our plan is to physically go to Asia and open a real office with computers and a strong Internet connection. We will start small, with 5 participants for example. Although we are still in the early stages of this project, we are already investigating the possibilities and doing a good deal of networking. At this stage, we think we will start in Indonesia, the Philippines or Malaysia because of our connections there.

LV: You have or will have sponsors to afford computers, net, office, electricity, etc?

JK: We have some great entrepreneurs ready to lend their support because of our project's innovative nature. At present, we need to collect data and prove that we are capable of pulling this off without sponsorship. 
All of the money that we currently need to sustain the Sim is being made in world: money to pay the tier, greeters, hosts, etc. The best way for us to succeed with this project is by being self-sustaining and not having to rely on sponsorships or donations as yet. 
Wouldn't it be great to be able to buy all the computers we need and pay for rent for the office space with money solely made in Second Life?

 

LV: What motivates you to do this project?

JK: Despite the current state of the world economy, life is very good in Europe and the United States and others have it far worse off. When I visited Indonesia in 2006, during an earthquake, I saw a good deal of poverty. Seeing poverty-stricken places on television in no way compares to seeing it in real life.

While sitting in a fast food restaurant in Jakarta in 2006, we saw young children between the ages of 6 and 10 selling newspapers in the pouring rain. My wife bought a hamburger for one child that was standing near us. He ran outside with the hamburger and eagerly shared it with 6 or 7 friends. It brought us to tears. That was the turning point of our stay. With this on my mind, I decided I needed to do something to make a change. With the experiences in Jakarta and my first visit to SecondLife, I decided to make a collaboration of the real and virtual worlds to try to make a difference. It is not likely that we can help thousands of people with this project, but if we can help 5 people earn a decent income that will be a successful start to this project.

LV: What does Virtual Asia now offer to SL residents?

JK: We can describe it with one word...value. Value, for example, is shown from 50 free apartments, Mandarin Chinese classes, soon we will expand with German and Japanese classes, a movie cinema, multiple cafes/lounges, a city built with photorealistic images, a subway, and most importantly a strong team that is happy to serve the community. Value is content that gives people a reason to log back into SecondLife and that they can use to improve their virtual lives.

LV: How can people help Virtual Asia?

JK: If people really believe in what we do and want to support us, 
please come visit Virtual Asia in SecondLife and enjoy the City, like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/virtualasia and follow our journey on our blog to make this project become real http://virtualasiasecondlife.blogspot.com

Always challenge yourself to do things better and open yourself up for criticism, otherwise you will never experience progress in your work.

Javabox Kawanishi

Thank you so much Jawa for the interview and to Stormy for the help with our not so good english :)

 Hope you liked the interview, and if you like t visit Virtual Asia inworld, 
here is your cab and also is a great place to take pics.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/MaxStudio/179/46/4001

Jawa kindly do the pics for the interview my computer was a little slow today hehe.