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Virtual Worlds, Real People
John Lester (Pathfinder Linden)Boston Operations Director
Education/Healthcare Mentoring ProgramLinden Lab
what is Second Life?
Second Life is a unique online world• international community, multiuser, persistent world• a platform, not a game• Linden Lab provides a platform and tools for content creation • Open Source client• all content created and owned by the residents
best fictional analogs are Stephenson’s Metaverse from “Snow Crash” or Vinge’s Otherverse from “True Names”
A new approach to world building
• Stream all content via broadband• Extremely dynamic content• Apply distributed/grid computing
As of March 2008As of March 200818,000 CPUs18,000 CPUs460 square miles460 square miles540,000 Residents spending average of 56 h/m540,000 Residents spending average of 56 h/mEscape, Entertainment, Education, Work, AdvocacyEscape, Entertainment, Education, Work, AdvocacyFree to Access, Fees for Land OwnershipFree to Access, Fees for Land Ownership
Demographics
• SL community older and more gender balanced than typical MMO games
• Gender neutral by hours of use• Median age of 35• Over 65% International
Building in 3D using geometric primitives
http://tinyurl.com/2bwrtj
Breathing Life into Objects with Scripting
Any object can be given physical behavior, interactivity, and can communicate with the world (e.g., email, HTTPRequest, XML-RPC)
Property Rights
In Second Life, residents own their creationsWhat does this mean?• Residents retain their Intellectual Property rights to their
creations• Residents may buy and sell L$ for US$• Residents may license their creations back into the real world
Advanced Atmospheric Rendering
Voice
Spatialization and Attenuation
Sculpted Primitives – “Sculpties”
Creating Complex and Organic Shapes
Shared Spaces based on Reality
Vassar College’s recreation of the Sistine Chapel
Shared Spaces based on Reality
Vassar College’s recreation of the Sistine Chapel
Shared Spaces based on (intangible) Reality
Collaborating on Molecular Structures : Enoyl-ACP reductase
Shared Spaces based on (soon to be) Reality
Palomar Medical Center West Hospital (opening in 2011)
Shared Spaces based on (imaginative) Reality
“Sky Dancers” Live Music and Dance Performance
Perceptually Immersive Environments
Full of Real People
Environments with a Sense of Place
Cultural Immersion and Contextual Relevance
A Malleable World shifting between Real…
…and Surreal
Emotional Bandwidth
:( :) ;P
Emotional Bandwidth
Use real-world social cues and proxemics, animations and sounds,
and create your visual identity
Leverage the Fact that our Brains Remember Faces
Sue200
JenniferK
JumpKatt
Our Minds Instantly Understand these Places
A Virtual Renaissance…but we’ve been here before
New Media has Always been a Challenge
Bell’s attempt to sell patent for telephone to Western Union
“Why would telegraph operators want to talk to each
other?”
First “online” marriage,via telegraph, late 1800’s
It took 65 years after the invention of the printing press
for someone to decide that putting page numbers in books
was a “good idea.”
We get Mired in Past Frameworks
Why is this logo significant?
The telephone is not the telegraph
Movies are not plays
What does a “clinical intervention” look like in a
virtual world?
What does “medical education” look like?
Good News: Our brains excel at filling in the gaps…
Suggested Books
Thank you for listening
• John Lester (SL: Pathfinder Linden)• http://del.icio.us/secondlife/healthcare• pathfinder@lindenlab.com• www.pathfinderlinden.com• www.secondlifegrid.net
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