Virtual Environments

1
Virtual Environments

• The hype of Second Life

2
Preview

• Theory
• What is Second Life
• Recent Headlines
• Applications
• Challenges
• Personal Observances

3
Theoretical FrameworkMedia Ecology

• Neil Postman Media ecology looks into the
  matter of how media of communication affect human
  perception, understanding, feeling, and value
  and how our interaction with media facilitates or
  impedes our chances of survival. The word
  ecology implies the study of environments their
  structure, content, and impact on people.

4
Cyberspace (Exigence)

• Lance Strate Our sense of cyberspace is based
  on three building blocks. One is the physical
  cyberspace of the computer itself, and the wires
  and cables that constitute computer networks. The
  second is the perceptual cyberspace that is based
  on our interaction with the computer interface.
  The third is the conceptual cyberspace that we
  create through the logical, metaphorical, and
  rhetorical ways in which we symbolize and
  represent cyberspace. Together, these building
  blocks help us establish what I call second order
  cyberspace, which includes an aesthetic space
  associated with form, and information or
  dataspace associated with content, and an
  interactive or relational space.

5
Massive Multi-Person Virtual Environment

• Second Life (http//www.secondlife.com)
• User owned and generated content
• Economy trading thousands of USD daily
• Virtual islands, cities, bars, music venues,
  museums, resorts, malls, fantasy attractions,
  etc
• Community meetings, groups, forums, guidelines
• Users create avatars to represent themselves
• Supporting software and basic account free

6
Recent Headlines

• Sweden virtual embassy
• Second Life, Darwin, and God
• Politics Pelosi in Pixels
• Sundance holds screening in SL
• A virtual me? Ill second that
• Toyotas Scion parks in Second Life
• Lawmaker takes next leap the virtual world of
  politics

7
More Theory

• Lewis Mumford argued that media and communication
  technologies constitute an invisible city. The
  city acts as a container technology. the
  ancient city was nothing less than a container
  of containers
• Is SL a container technology? Does SL represent
  multiple invisible cities?

8
Possible Applications

• Education
• Distance Education
• Foreign language
• Training tutorials
• Public Relations
• Marketing
• Collaboration distance
• Entertainment films, graphics
• Culture creating, viewing, sharing

9
Challenges

• Access
• Technological restraints (user non-user)
• High learning curve
• Sustaining community
• Attracting and keeping users (not just trend
  setters)
• Attractions of value

10
Personal Observations

• SL has a long way to go with content
• Community standards
• Recent headlines hype
• Most interesting if viewed as experimental
• Music streaming
• Psychological simulation