A Smarter Planet

There are no elves or orcs, but IBM’s new online world for business meetings could prove as exciting as a virtual fantasy realm for recession-hit companies looking to cut travel costs while promoting collaboration. Big Blue’s new Virtual Collaboration for Lotus Sametime service, launched Wednesday at the Enterprise 2.0 conference in Boston, offers a host of tools that allow employees and business partners to interact in 3D spaces without leaving their desks.