| abstract | - A linden is also a type of tilia tree, but there are no "linden" trees in Second Life. The "lab" part of the name may be meant to invoke thoughts of expirementation as this is a large part of the development of Second Life, not just for Linden Lab but also for the residents--but there is no actual lab in the offices. The logo for Linden Lab, a cube tree, was made by a contractor at the request of LL for something industrial yet also organic. The logo is sometimes mistaken to be an image of an avatar's "selection particles" selecting a cube. Originally, LL was looking to get into hardware with research and development into Haptics. This hardware is also said to still exist, with the nickname "The Rig", sitting in a box somewhere in Linden Lab offices, it has been said that the code that interfaces with "The Rig" has likely been removed. LL has stated that at some time in the future they may return to hardware but there is no current plan to do so due to costs involved and they enjoy working on Second Life. With the hardware they needed the software to go along with it so they began development on it, later naming it LindenWorld which became Second Life. Starting off with a small amount of employees development on Second Life continued and was released for beta testing in 2002. In 2003, Second Life went live to the public and garnered much attention in the virtual world community. Linden Lab over time has grown along with Second Life and only suffered one set of lay-offs thus far (in 2005). The growth of funding, support, and talented creators has far out weighed any such set-backs. On 10/28/2004, LL announced they recieved $8 million USD in funding for Second Life, allowing them to hire more staff and improve technology. LL has been a strong supporter of using virtual worlds for education and has allowed educators to use SL for such purposes. Combining real-life with virtual reality, they have started a "Campus" project which allows students who are learning about digital worlds and cultures to experience them hands-on. Linden Lab has also put Second Life on display in museums, giving visitors an interactive fun way of learning about geometric building and physics, among other things, through SL. Currently, Linden Lab has over 50 employees and continues to grow, even expanding internationally. In 2005, LL announced plans to open Second Life up to international users (mostly from Germany, Japan, and Korea), requiring of course the hiring of equal language-level employees.
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