Next World Design

2010-01-20T17:53:00.002-05:00

Second Life's Growth Debated
Is the reported "growth" of the Second Life economy real, or "virtual." One interesting factoid. The top 25 earners in SL took home $12,000,000 US. That's real!

2010-01-11T15:02:00.003-05:00

"Everyone Knows Everything"
-- Alan R. Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company

Thus, people around the world will have the same information, allowing them to select an automobile made for a world market, according to Ford's CEO. But the declaration: "Everyone knows everything," applies to much more than just cars. With information becoming ubiquitous, will there also emerge a global ethic, a shared value system, a common culture replacing the cultures that have long been central to our identities as peoples? This is a powerful, and in some ways, frightening thought.

Books About Virtual Reality

2010-01-02T17:11:00.000-05:00

If you want to get an idea of how big the virtual reality movement is, and how broad its implications are, just take a quick tour of the books on this topic. Of course, one might consider it ironic that one of the main factors in what is supposed to be a migration away books and towards a culture centering around digital communications technologies has itself spawned so many books. May a thousand flowers bloom! Check out the latest book list now.

And amazingly, the press is covering the topic as well. Are newspapers tracking the story of their own demise?
Check out the latest news stories here.

Wow

2009-07-31T10:18:00.005-04:00

Thanks to Koreen Olbrish for pointing to this excellent note about TransSocialPlay by Gary Hayes. He asks: "Can we truly create meaningful immersive media ‘experiences’ for others? Ones that last, are memorable, have impact & emotion and keep the (people) ... coming back for more?" His full note gives a thought provoking answer to that question (see link below), but he also summarizes this thinking in the form a chart, which I think says a lot.

For the full post from Gary Hayes

Charles Takes His Avatar For A Sail

2009-07-27T17:33:00.004-04:00

This photo was taken with a digital camera on board Charles's RL sailboat off the coast of Tuckernuck, a small island which is bilocated in Second Life New England and a few miles off the real world shore of Nantucket. The avatar Charles2 McCaw was photographed in world at the same location. Both love to sail, cruising RL water during the day and the seas of SL at night using the onboard computer.

Virtual Worlds On The iPhone?

2009-07-24T15:14:00.002-04:00

We're not there yet ... but it's coming. Currently with an iPhone app called "Sparkle" I can log on to Second Life and connect with my friends and business associates who are in world. I can IM, chat, and transfer lindens. I can even send a TP request. Also, when I log on via my iPhone, I show up as being in world even though I may be far out at sea and far away from my computer. Of course, there is no visual presence, but hold your breath, that won't be long in coming, I predict.

White House Rep Hosts Meeting About Digital Technology

2009-07-22T12:00:00.003-04:00

This from Amanda Linden on the Second Life blog:

Yesterday, Beth Noveck, the Deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House and the person responsible for Open Government, held a mixed-reality event co-sponsored by the Markle Foundation and Global Kids, to discuss her new book “WIKI GOVERNMENT: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful.” (for more)

Art, Philosophy and Virtual Reality

2009-07-15T15:51:00.002-04:00

For any number of reasons, several of which are explored on these pages, virtual worlds offer fertile soil for artists, philosophers, theologians ... in fact, anyone, with a penchant for reflecting on the meaning of life. The short movie (referred to by virtual world enthusiasts as "machinima") now showing on YouTube and linked to below, is a wonderful example of how this digital medium works as a promising platform for using a new art form to address some age old questions.

GodArt

2009-07-14T23:29:00.001-04:00

A very interesting and challenging project, culminating in a virtual world exhibit this September. We will track this with great interest as artists and designers seek to answer the question: "Is is even possible to visualize God in a 3D art project?" You can visit the website to learn more, but to really get in on the action you will need to have a Second Life account and avatar.

godart

A Life of Its Own

2009-07-14T09:59:00.002-04:00

In the days when literature was supreme, one of the highest compliments one could pay to a writer was that a character in a work of fiction took on "a life of its own." The impression being that the portrayal was so "real" that the character jumped off the page to take on a life within the imagination of the reader. So ... let's apply this to virtual worlds. What if one's own avatar becomes so real as to begin acting with an apparent independence? Is this a compliment to the creator, or a sign of mental illness? What if it happens to be another person's avatar? Does that, then, bring us back from the brink of mental illness and closer to the unambiguous realm of the compliment? Or even more intriguing ... what if the virtual world, community, or circle of friends becomes populated with characters who seem very, very real? Is this a compliment to the technology, a sign of mass hysteria, or something entirely new in the way people connect with each other and spin imaginary worlds that "take on a life of their own?"

Virtual Hype

2009-05-04T14:26:00.005-04:00

The Fashion Research Institute today posted this ad:

NEW YORK — May 4, 2009 — Today Fashion Research Institute announced its short course for avatar apparel design for virtual worlds. This fast-paced course takes a student from novice user to functional avatar apparel designer by building essential skills in just 20 hours of instruction. Students completing the course can go on to supplement or replace their real life salaries by developing their own virtual goods design business.

As a designer of virtual products of all kinds, a word of caution is in order. Virtual hype can be as deceptive as any false advertising in any world or culture.

Here's why.

Jewish Home?

2009-03-28T09:51:00.003-04:00

Bettina Tizzy calls Jewish Home "one of the sweetest places I have seen geared to faith in Second Life," and to be sure there are several superficially soothing features at this installation. But it is also deeply disturbing. The little synagogue at the top of the hill is dark and delapitated. The pews are in disrepair, and you can't sit on them in any event. Outside, there are some dance balls and the soothing sound of birds chirping with flowing water. But there is also a flaming cross labeled, "burned at the stake." There is a bridge leading to a red door. Open the door and enter ...... Is this sweetness, or is it terror?

Visit Jewish home and decide for yourself.

Television Sucks!

2009-03-27T10:49:00.004-04:00

New research shows that television is the greatest consumer of human life, literally an angel of death. You think our education system is failing? It's not the system that is failing, it's the individual decisions of citizens to tether their minds to a totally passive medium for more than five hours every day. This is a voluntary form of slavery that is a scandal and an outrage in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Read more.

Sacred Art in a Virtual World

2009-02-26T15:18:00.002-05:00

This wonderful exhibit explores the relationship between art, architecture and spirituality in world religions. Informative, entertaining, enlightening. The exhibition was curated by students and staff of the Department of Art History at Rutgers University and the “Art History” group in Second Life. It was sponsored by the Play-as-Being Group, an initiative of Kira Institute. To see the exhibit in world.

Not Possible in Real Life

2009-01-31T10:04:00.002-05:00

Bettina Tizzy is better than almost anyone at turning up the most creative uses of the virtual world, Second Life. Though her focus is specifically upon the arts, we think that many of her comments touch upon two other topics that we are exploring, namely, science and spirituality. Check out the latest from Bettina Tizzy.

Condos in Heaven!

2009-01-31T09:30:00.006-05:00

Second Life artist Bryn Oh's works are artifacts from an alternate future, an apocalyptic universe where desperate mothers upload their dying children into cyborg bodies only to be beset by righteous mobs, children's rhymes warn against impending robot attack and tiny gear-driven insects engage in the ancient and universal struggle to survive. But Bryn and her work are never what they seem. The surface is worth seeing, but a closer look rewards the curious and the patient.

Now Bryn presents Condos In Heaven at the University of Kentucky's island in Second Life. The project is about what we might do should we find a physical way to get to Heaven and questions the boundary between the virtual and the real. For a thought provoking ride, replete with humor, artistry and imagination, check it out now!

Wave of the Future?

2009-01-21T19:00:00.004-05:00

While there has been much ink spilled and many pages printed about how teenagers communicate in the digital age, one thing is clear: an entire generation will soon be graduating from high school and college with a habit of building friendships, seeking entertainment, buying products and services in ways that circumvent the communications technologies of the past. It is also likely that this wave of young adults will seek out opportunities for education and enlightenment within their virtual worlds. The implications of these trends for the institutions that adults inhabit are profound.

For more ...

Second Life Growth Stats

2009-01-13T22:18:00.003-05:00

There has been much discussion of late about whether earlier, rapid growth of the virtual world, Second Life, will continue. Many residents have the impression that growth has slowed, and there are some statistics to support that. Still, Pathfinder Linden has drawn up a chart showing a steady upward increase in what the company refers to as "daily maximum concurrency," that is, the maximum number of avatars on line simultaneously on the same day. Last week, the network topped 80,000 avatars onlne for the first time ever. Also of interst is the relatively steady increase in this metric since March 2007.

So Small

2009-01-06T22:55:00.002-05:00

Second Life avatar, PatriciaAnne Daviau is goddess of the small, building tiny houses, and even whole cities on a micro scale in the virtual world. Her builds are delightful and thought provoking. Read more.

Anna Lo Bello: Artist of the Virtual and the Real

2008-12-23T12:28:00.005-05:00

Anna Lo Bello is a painter living in Turin,Italy, at the foot of the Alps. She populates her imaginary worlds with fruit and flowers, with human figures, characters and costumes, exhibiting her work, among other places, in the virtual world, Second Life. Read more about Anna, here.

New York Couture Comes to YouTube

2008-12-13T16:35:00.003-05:00

Real world art combines with virtual world design as the story of Georgia O'Keeffe's "Oriental Poppies" inspires Second Life couture. Our video features a short bio of O'Keeffe, her emgergence as an artist in New York, several of the nude photos by her husband, Albert Stieglitz, that propelled her to a somewhat unwelcome notoriety, reproductions of her paintings, and, of course, a video of our model dancing in the Oriental Poppy Dress on site in New Mexico's "painted desert."

It's All About Love

2008-12-08T13:56:00.003-05:00

The week the 5th "Le Web" conference is unfolding in Paris. As explained by conference co-founder and organizer Loic Le Meur, the gathering is not about technology, business, or even social networking, "It's all about love." Embedded in his remarks is the weighty claim that the web itself, together with human community, commerce and, yes, spirituality, all center around love. Le Meur has a point, and he talks about it ecstatically. But, beyond his enthusiasm, the scientific and theological underpinnings of this conviction call for further thought, not to mention serious research. It's one of the fundamental questions this blog is exploring.

The Future of Virtual Reality

2008-12-08T09:56:00.003-05:00

Some informed interviews recently posted on YouTube with people at the Online Educa Conferenced in Berlin. Click here for more.

Virtual Reality Hits You Tube

2008-12-08T00:19:00.007-05:00

Talk about mixed media ... virtual reality is one thing, You Tube video is another. Combine the two and what have you got? Virtual You Tube? or Tubular Reality? Some of this stuff is totally serious, and some completely silly. I suggest starting with this one: "Hitler Explains Second Life"

Click here for more.

Slow Dancing

2008-12-03T10:51:00.000-05:00

New York Couture model Charlene Myoo moves across a northern Italian landscape to the beat of John Legend's Slow Dance. She is showing off in Alba Rossini's long black dress. See her move now.