Sametime 3-D

IBM Lotus just announced a new Research project it calls "Sametime 3-D," which will add a "virtual world" atmosphere to Sametime--either through integration with said worlds (such as OpenSim), or through Sametime itself (the new app will let people use Sametime as a virtual environment, complete with avatars and 3-D objects).I like what IBM Research does--usually it's pretty cool stuff that may or may not end up in a product--but I'm still not convinced of the business value of 3-D virtual worlds. While it makes sense to me to let people use Sametime from any web-based location (including, but not limited to, virtual ones), turning Sametime into a "virtual world" just feels like a non starter.The beauty of Sametime and other enterprise collaboration applications is that they simplify life for end users; having to create an avatar and then sloooowly move around a 3-D environment "just 'cause" doesn't seem to me to simplify anything.