I like that you can’t die when skydiving in SL. The blood pool animation when you hit the ground (much) too hard is about as real as it gets. Or is it. Why would anyone want to skydive in SL when you can fly…?

With a healthy dose of virtual trepidation, I strapped on my Terra Sport III PRO parachute, took my place on the Abbot’s Aerodrome Skydiving Pod (vaguely resembling the seats in an airport departure lounge), and held on. The Pod launched me to 4000 meters into the sky then unceremoniously ejected me into free fall. After a bit of expert-looking plummeting, I pulled the ripcord and, held aloft by my Canada flag-emblazoned canopy, drifted slowly back to earth. The view was pretty good – once the details rezzed – and the parachute reacted to my control actions like I would imagine a real one would.  My landing was rated (“CRUNCH! Hard Landing”) and the distance from my launch point was recorded (quite a long way away).

“Skydivers engage in it for the thrill of skydiving – clicking the “Fly” button just ruins the fun” says Cubey Terra, co-founder of Abbot’s Aerodrome [SLurl], “Similarly, even though we can teleport anywhere we want on the map, many SLers enjoy flying aircraft and driving cars. I see SL as an entertainment medium. People enter SL looking for a fun social experience. What better way to liven up a party than to fall together from 4000 meters?” Starting to be convinced about the sport, I confide in Terra my real life fear of skydiving. He quickly sets sets my mind at ease -  “RL skydiving can’t be particularly dangerous. I’ve talked to dozens of skydivers, and none of them have ever had a fatal accident.”

OK, so virtual skydiving is fun. But what about SCUBA diving in SL? Surely there is no need for tanks and wetsuits in a world where you can walk around underwater as easily as down the high street.

Contrary to my RL skydiving experience (none), I have engaged in many SCUBA dives in various challenging locations around the world, so SCUBA diving in SL will assuredly hold no allure for me.  With my mind already made up, I TP’ed to PADI Dive World [SLurl], where the onshore build introduces visitors to various aspects of recreational SCUBA diving.

After donning my Splash Aquatics Commercial Dive Kit Bag, I explored the underwater part of the sim (Splash Aquatics also did the design/build of Dive World). It is filled with (as) realistic (as one can get in SL) flora and fauna, and designed to take the diver through various ocean ecosystems with explanatory signposts distributed on the seafloor. The feel of virtual SCUBA diving seems less ‘real’ than that of virtual skydiving, but the experience was still worthwhile. The diving body posture is accurate, and the drift-delay feel of the movement comes close to approximating the feel of swimming weightless underwater.

I asked John Kinsella (Cilian McCullough in SL) PADI’s VP for Diving Science and Technology (DSAT is PADI’s research and product development arm) about the response to SCUBA diving in SL. “It’s a perfect match! Freedom of movement in all dimensions.” He adds, “People who get in love it. We were careful to develop in a way that contributes to the vibrant SL community. I would offer that we are very well received because of that: we do not give away free equipment (so we don’t undermine SL builders and vendors), we have a great place for people to come and spend some time, we have tried to offer something to the community instead of hitting them over the head with our brand.”

Unexpectedly, I found that indeed sky and SCUBA diving in SL were quite enjoyable despite the fact that they offer none of the adrenaline charge of the actual activity. Both provided a glimpse of the sport, without any of the risk. (Undoubtedly, this is a also significant factor in why virtual sex is so popular.) PADI’s Kinsella feels that SL may in fact be a place where students could learn some of the classroom theory that is part the basic SCUBA diving courses, and this is where I feel that SL may provide the most benefit. Imagine a chat-enable classroom session with a small group of student divers, where the instructor can demonstrate key elements of the the physics and physiology of diving using teaching aids that simply cannot exist outside a virtual environment.

And anyway, only in SL can you sip a Pina Colada while still fully-suited in technical dive gear. And that is good.

Tygr! Tygr! burn1ng br1ght

In th3 for3st5 of th3 n1ght,

What 1mmortal hand or 3y3

Could fram3 thy f3arful 5ymm3try?

(The real thing.)

My apologies to William Blake 1.0.

As the platform matures, Second Life is proving to be a ground-breaking and innovative way to not sell stuff but to teach stuff. One of the most compelling examples of this is Foul Whisperings, Strange Matters (SLURL). As accurately described in the press release, it “brings Shakespeare’s world renowned and extraordinarily influential play Macbeth into a virtual worlds environment.” And is a “timely use of pop culture as an adaptive bridge between classic texts and new media technology.”

Foul Whisperings, Strange Matters

The brainchild of Dr. Angela Thomas (Anya Ixchel in SL), a senior lecturer in English and Arts Education at the University of Sydney, the project is a stunning the example of the combination of imaginative and evocative building and thoughtful (and though-provoking) multi-layered educational content disguised as a wickedly creepy interactive carnival ride. She says “it took me 3 or 4 hours to do the initial designs, and then 6 months to make it.”

Thomas continues, “I didn’t make it of course. I am good at ideas, but actually getting them into practice is really tough. [It was] totally a team effort.” In fact, it was built pro bono over 8 weeks by the New Media Consortium, led by Larry Johnson (Larry Pixel), and builders Chris Holden (CJ Carnot) and Beth Satchjen (Stella Costello). She collaborated with Producer Kate RIchards (Nini Dubrovna) and Director Kereen Ely-Harper (Dorothy Porta). Funding was also provided by the Australia Council, the Australian government’s arts funding and advisory body.

On the island you are wholly immersed in the look, feel, sound, and text of Macbeth. The clever layout of the props leads you sequentially to a series of interactive ‘scenes’, each designed to elucidate a facet of the play. Your path follows that of Macbeth’s as he descends into murder and madness. Along the way there are notecards that give the visitor/student/teacher a range of discussion points, references, and activities relating to the current scene, and the whole project is accompanied by a very comprehensive wiki.

Inside the Castle

This rich educational component, linked with the carefully detailed design of each scene, allows for wide range of user experience; from quick survey to in-depth learning (and teaching) event. And so far, the sim is racking up some pretty impressive traffic numbers. Thomas reports 4000-5000 visits per day on weekends and 700-800 per day during the week.

A visit to Foul Whisperings, Strange Matters unlocks creaking gates though which to venture and excites the cauldron of imagination. It inspired me to re-read Macbeth, which I have not read since high school English class. Surely this, and other similar projects that will inevitably follow, is future for virtual spaces like Second Life. Education, inspiration, invention. Opening doors and showing the way forward.

Just like the Witches.

By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. Open, locks, Whoever knocks!

(Originally published in the Second Life Herald on November 6, 2008)

Another Update: As predicted yet again, The Economist has devotedly referenced and linked to Second Life. This time in a August 2008 article (I predicted summer 2008 – bingo!) titled If you build it… (Lively, Google’s virtual world, has been a flop). This article about Google’s Lively virtual world ends up referencing SL almost as much as the the title topic. If the pattern continues, there will be another article around Christmas 2008.

Magic and wonder is on display from DanCoyote Antonelli and fellow Second Life artists at Kiss The Sky, a “definitive group exhibition of Hyperformalism” at the NMC Arts Lab [SLurl] .

Hyperformalism, a term coined by Antonelli’s RL entity DC Spensly, is “non-figurative abstraction in hyper-medium and has been known to include abstract objects arranged in simulated space, navigable on a network as well as expressions of reactive and interactive artwork behaviors and geometric or algorithmic pattern play in 2, 3, and 4 dimensions.” But forget about that – set your guitar on fire, crank your draw distance up, and and go and see it for yourself.

Another Update: I am a regular Nostradamus! As predicted again, The Economist has once more referenced Second Life. This time in a March 2008 article – OK, so I predicted April, but I was only a couple of issues off – titled Break down these walls (History suggests that open standards will once again trump “walled gardens” on the internet). If the pattern continues, there will be another one in summer 2008.

Update: As predicted in the last sentence of the original post, The Economist has again referenced – and linked to! – Second Life. This time in a December 2007 article titled Getting serious (Virtual worlds are being put to serious real-world uses—and are starting to encounter some real-world problems). If the pattern holds, there will be another one in April 2008. Stay tuned.

The Economist magazine, described by its own (boastful, but arguably true) words, is “the premier online source for the analysis of world business and current affairs, providing authoritative insight and opinion on international news, world politics, business, finance, science and technology, as well as overviews of cultural trends and regular industry, business and country special reports.” And has, in the last 18 months, published five stories about (or mentioning) Second Life, several of which were also chosen to be read on the weekly “This Week In The Economist” podcast.

Although Economist articles are published anonymously, it is likely that all were written by Economist Bay Area-Technology Correspondent Andreas Kluth. Extensive (OK, not so extensive) investigation has failed to scent any whiff of editorial impropriety, and absolutely no evidence has been uncovered that the CEO of Linden Lab, Mr. Philip Rosedale, coerced Mr. Kluth to write such a slew of stories and shout-outs about his company. Maybe SL is simply rich fodder for the New Media journalist. Decide for yourself:

Look for the next story around Christmastime.

Anonymity shields Typist from prying eyes and leaves him free to traverse his Real without concern of recognition or retribution. It deflects criticism and accountability. Fiend can say anything, however vile, and Typist can expect protection.

Anonymity is Typist’s Charon. It carries his soul across the Stygian divide between the Real and the Virtual. However, Typist is much concerned for the reputation of his representative there. For across the ford flows revelation. Typist takes great pains to be accountable; to say nothing too vile. Anonymity empowers Typist to transport himself – so himself it should be.

Most fear the Virtual, for they cannot navigate its marshes. They dare not. They have heard many enter but few return. They cower in the Real.

Some, a meagre cadre, need no Charon. By Herculean force they bypass the Cerberus of privacy and stride, freely exposed, on both banks. They are the proselytizers, the New Priests. They will set the way forward, and walk on, regardless of converts.

The rest – and Typist is one of these – negotiate with the dark boatman for passage, and watch from the far shore as their avatar traverses a place they can never go, never touch, but always feel.

There, in the Virtual, Fiend is Real – a entity independent from, but eternally bound to, Typist. Fiend’s history is not Typist’s history. Fiend’s friend’s are not Typist’s friends. But Fiend’s soul is Typists soul.

And anonymity masks much but reveals all.

—————-

This short discourse (ramble? gibberish?) on the idea of Fiend as Real was fomented by a very interesting discussion presented by the CBC Radio 1 program Ideas (Second Life and First, October 1, 2007, direct link to MP3 here) exploring “the confusions and contradictions of online identity.”

(Picture credit: Crossing the Styx, etching by Gustave Doré, 1861. Public Domain.)

The latest wonder is the vHUD. Although they wrote about it a couple of weeks ago on their company blog, it is to be officially introduced at noon (Second Life time) today, in the Metaversed sim, where they will hand out vHUD prototypes for anyone to try, and announce a working relationship with SLCN, including three new SLCN channels for the vHUD.

This is perhaps the most intriguing and sophisticated HUD I have ever used. Based around their equally innovative Silver Stream System (SSS) technology, the vHUD can stream individually customizable RSS feeds (I am following the RSS feed from Metaversed on my demo vHUD in the image above), HTML, videos (here is a very short video of the vHUD streaming a machinima promo video), and searchable Flickr images to an avatar’s UI. It can also display a list of SSS enabled regions SL, which includes clickable teleport links. “Basically, something for everyone to get their SL info with while they are inworld,” says i3D’s Anthony Reisman.

i3D will distribute the vHUD free of charge, with plans to support continued development the product with unobtrusive, targeted ads. “Most people don’t mind ads, as long as they have relevance to what they are doing,” says Reisman, “so we are going to do our best to implement a relevancy system. When viewing content or an ad, the user [will be able] to put feedback into the system about the ad’s relevance to the location they were and the content they were viewing. We don’t need to store data about the person providing the feedback, just whether the ad is good or bad, relevant or not, and over time, collect enough data so that the ads are relevant to what people are doing and watching.” i3D will also announce today that they have a working relationship with SL Exchange to explore the potential for implementing these ads.

Reisman summarizes SSS for those interested techies: SSS consists of a back end that takes care of interfacing RSS, HTML, etc into a stream that can pass into SL, and an ‘in-world’ server that manages the various streams. This allows the client terminals (such as the vHUD) to simply request content without that terminal having to be owned by the landowner or even caring what media calls are required. Since the owner of the terminal doesn’t have to be the landowner, they retain full control over what content is served based on how they configure that particular terminal. A single SSS server on a Sim can handle requests for any terminal in that Sim regardless of the owner of the terminal, server, or the land.