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The Archives
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02.24.08Leaving Second LifeVirtual worlds grow, the number of users increase, the number of platforms expand, and in the competition for attention single-purpose virtual spaces position themselves for business, privacy, or specific functions. This increase of users entering environments that are in many ways unique from other Web-based applications in their ability to embed actual economic value and production is an exodus that thinkers like Ted Castranova say may reshape society. While I disagree with how we should port lessons from virtual worlds to government policy, I agree with Castranova that the exodus may be profoundly dislocating. A friend considers leaving Second Life - ...
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01.22.08Reflective Architecture, Sound and Windlight Glow – Second Life InstallationA production video capturing what can best be called an installation piece doesn't quite do justice to the experience of being in the environment. The video hints at the power of working within the new Windlight viewer for Second Life and the use of the glow effect in a way that's could be a brilliant exploit of a 'bug' or pushing the current glow parameters to their outer limits. Either way, in this particular case the effect is an environment that's both technically sophisticated but that also gives a haunting and profound experience. [youtube=[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lEa6xY2sAg] The installation was developed to respond to avatar ...
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01.01.08Welcome to the Renaissance: An Optimistic Outlook on the Power of Virtual WorldsArt, creativity, collaboration, spirituality, identity - early explorers are using virtual worlds to generate the first prototypes for an emerging platform that will allow individuals to interact with each other, create, share and experience in ways that extend, mesh with, overtake, and upend traditional models. The hierarchal corporation is dead. Media are increasingly "hot" - emotional, personal, transformative. Social and political structures replaced as the youTube and Facebook generation twitters each other, mashes up music and media in their basements, and co-opts brand identities in ways often more powerful than the corporate and advertising oligarchs would ever dare dream. Virtual worlds become ...
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12.22.07Lessons from Second Life: Imagination, Discovery and Negative ConsequencesA long and thought-provoking post on the dangerous lessons of Second Life reminds me again of the "strange loop" and offers insight into how the issues of identity, emotion, trust, and immersion will shape issues in the years to come: years when more and more people will migrate to increasingly "real" synthetic worlds. Dave Pollard summarizes the negatives of his immersion in Second Life with two observations: On Appearance In Second Life we can have both. Everyone in Second Life appears lovable, aesthetically and erotically. So from the safety of our lovely avatars we can afford, and have a platform, to put our ...
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12.18.07The Impermanence of the Build: In Second Life, as in Life, Nothing Lasts ForeverA posting a few days ahead of layoffs at Electric Sheep had one of their bloggers commenting, wistfully, I'd say, about the impermanence of builds in Second Life. They write: There will likely be other experiments, projects, and buildings of ours that will no longer grace the terrain of SL; I know others have gone through this same experience — there are people who have more buildings/objects hiding in their inventory that they’ve created but which are no longer out on the grid than I’ve created in my entire time in SL — so it’s no surprise that others might find this ...
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12.12.07AOL Leaves Second Life: The Good NewsAOL's departure from Second Life is a welcome validation that the concept of Your World, Your Imagination is not dead. As reported at VWN quoting from the AOL blog: According to the official blog, the project's goals were to learn more about how to interact with customers in the virtual world, and while AOL is leaving Second Life, the company has its sights elsewhere: "We've gained a lot of insight from our participation in Second Life and we're now refocusing our efforts in virtual worlds. While we have closed AOL Pointe, you will soon be seeing more of AOL products and content ...
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11.06.07Second Life Attraction: A Visit to Black Swan Rezzable and the Legend of StaraxThere's a legend - one from far before my time. Starax Statosky created a wand. This wand had almost mythical powers and was sold in a limited edition. From it, the gates to Heaven could open up. A flying pig might appear. The wand responded to over 150 words (and was beautifully documented here with a slideshow here). Now, the thing is...Starax died. But his spirit returned as Light Waves, and Light Waves has become deeply involved with the work of Rezzable (a mystery of its own, but that's another story). The return of the wand maker was discovered by several astute observers and reported, ...
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10.19.07Second Life: Migration to Virtual Worlds and the Use of TimeI'm a convert to virtual spaces. I'm a convert because there's a migration happening and I like the idea of being part of a diaspora charting new territories, arriving in some new land with hopes and dreams (and a look of total mystification and bafflement). The migration is like from the Old World to the New World - from Europe to America. It's a migration because people move from where life is less good to places where life is better. People who arrive in these new worlds might end up baffled, confused, and then head back to the old country - ...
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09.22.07Burning LifeThis will be my first year attending Burning Life, the Second Life version of Burning Man. 14 sims have been handed over to residents who are free to create and explore concepts and have a space for creativity. I took a tour last night and found myself moved to tears several times. Loki has a beautiful display on the role of child avatars in Second Life - a bit "PG" perhaps and kind of cleaned up for wider consumption but cute, and it makes a point to its target audience. (Aside: Loki, don't take Nemo away! He writes: I have not yet decided ...
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