Double Happiness Manufacturing is a project of Invisible Threads – a collaboration between Jeff Crouse and Stephanie Rothenberg. Certified as an ISO-9001 & 14001 manufacturer, Double Happiness produces fashionable jeans in a state-of-the-art telematic manufacturing factory in Second Life.

As Second Life becomes more populated, the price of virtual land increases, becoming the game’s idealized virtual commodity. In order to emphasize this relationship and the exchange of real world dollars for virtual assets, the SL sweatshop will follow the “indentured servant” model – SL citizens will work in the factory for a set amount of time and in turn be given virtual land in exchange for their service. For the launch of this exciting venture, we will be producing designer blue jeans. Profits from these purchases will be used to maintain the factory (monthly land rental tiers, SL advertising) and pay for workers’ land.

Employment advertisements will be placed in the Second Life classifieds. Replicating an assembly line model of production, Double Happiness Manufacturing will hire Second Life citizens to work in the factory. At the start of each workday, workers will clock-in. The worker will be assigned to a specific department and workstation and be given a specialized task to perform. Workers will be monitored by a department supervisor and be held accountable for their speed and efficiency and any production errors. The erratic flow of supply and demand and extenuating circumstances such as equipment failures and irrational dispositions may result in docked pay, layoffs and overtime.

In a physical space, our state-of-the-art “just in time” inventory system eliminates the need for the middlemen enabling gallery patrons to purchase goods directly from the manufacturer. Customers can watch their jean orders being produced in real time in the factory via a computer projection on the wall. Ten machines each correlating to a specification of the custom jean order will be operated by a SL worker in an assembly line manner. For example, machine #2 which simulates a laser cutter creates the pattern whereas machine #3, a dye vat, creates the “rinse” effect. At the end of the production cycle, the finished jeans are output on Tyvek material to a large format printer in the physical space.

Also see http://www.realitysandwich.com/ and http://freshtakes.typepad.com/