Virtual environment analyst group Thinkbalm launched ThinkBalm Innovation Community, an online community dedicated to the advancement of "immersive internet" applications, such as virtual worlds and campuses, immersive workspaces and applications, and immersive learning simulations.

The community will focus on work-related uses for virtual environments and is targeted at IT managers, information and knowledge management professionals, software developers, and technology marketers

Built with Spigit's enterprise community software, the free community allows members to pose ideas and solutions to problems, vote or comment on the posts, and "invest" in ideas using the software's built-in stock market-like functionality.

Members earn investment capital for the community through activities like posting and commenting on ideas, winning contests, and investing early in ideas that eventually become popular.

Thinkbalm hopes that with the community, members in the immersive internet sector will "collaboratively refine raw ideas into clear, vetted innovations from which all members of the community can benefit."