Today begins the very prestigious Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, here in Second Life. It runs today, March 12 through tomorrow March 13. Thousands of educators are expected to gather for the event.

Our company, Sand Castle Studios, has been given the honor of hosting a panel discussion on Creating Educational, Immersive Experiences and Simulations, along with our long time collaborator, the well known, and award winning, machinimagrapher, Draxtor Despres.

During this panel, we will look at how virtual environments are being leveraged to add value to learning through immersive experiences, simulations, and serious games. In addition to presenting several successful examples of each, we will also discuss 3D learning design approaches and sets of archetypes that are core to creating differentiated learning experiences. We will examine the most successful techniques used to create these experiences and what to look for when putting together creative teams. Finally we will cover how you can get your students involved in machinima and how to promote your projects in order to expose them to the widest possible audience.

Our presentation will last for a total of 40 minutes, followed by a 40 minute long Q and A session and discussion with the audience. This will give you all a chance to discuss with us any issues you’ve been facing in the virtual world arena.

Our presentation will be given on the SIM “VWBPE West 3” at 11:00 PST. For your convenience, here is a SL URL to the location:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20West%203/229/168/71

This should be very informative and enjoyable experience for all!  We hope to see you all there!

Another great piece Drax! We were thrilled to be able to build the history of machinima museum/theatre for this piece.

While the Second Life community was buzzing about the long awaited (Beta) release of the new Second Life Viewer 2.0, Linden Lab also made another big announcement.  On the official Second Life blog, Niko Linden announced the Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) program.   The LEA program is being created to help support, encourage, and highlight Second Life artists and their work.

In the upcoming months, it is our pleasure to take a more active role in encouraging the arts inside of Second Life. We are excited to announce the creation of a Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) program which will help support, encourage, and highlight Second Life artists and their work. We hope that the collaboration between Linden Lab and the wealth of talented Second Life artists will contribute to a vibrant new chapter for the arts in Second Life.
The Linden Endowment for  the Arts (LEA) program’s goal is twofold:

1. To create an immersive space for artists to share their art, build connections, and prosper in the Second Life community
2. To provide a new way for artwork to live on within our ever-changing virtual world.

While still under design, this program will be a partnership between Linden Lab and Second Life artists, with the additional objective of gathering, displaying, and maintaining art at an inworld Arts Hub. We are currently building the LEA organizing committee, which will include members of the Second Life artist community and Linden Lab employees, to guide the program’s management. Under the creative direction, organization and guidance of the LEA committee, we will hold biannual art exhibitions, highlighting the most creative artwork happening inworld.

Niko says that they are currently looking for a “small but dedicated group” of Second Lifers who are willing to make a commitment to the program, which (at least for now) will be headed by CEO Mark Kingdon.  Those interested in joining the committee can apply here.

While this extraordinary endeavor is long overdue, it also faces some challenges.  Despite the fact that Niko says, “the key to understanding art is not in trying to decide what it is,” that is exactly what Linden Lab will have to do.  The announcement is already full of comments arguing this very question… What is Second Life Art?

So far, most of the controversy stems from Crap Mariner’s insistence that Second Life music is art.  He argues that the Second Life musicians are not always just “one guy with a guitar playing on a stage.”   He says that some SL musicians create immersive experiences as part of their shows, and that they cannot be “pushed to the back burner” anymore.  I agree and disagree.  Music is absolutely and undoubtedly an art, but just like not every painting is art, not every musical performance is an art either.   Having said that, musicians like Grace McDunnough and her full out live music production Musimmersion, most certainly fit the billing of art.  But where do we start and end that thin defining line?

I tend to lean towards definitions in which Second Life actually facilitates the experience and/or emotions that the art provokes.

Bryn Oh described this better in her response to the announcement:

We are in the frontier of a new art movement which is unlike others before it.  As an oil painter i would not expect a jpeg of my work to be considered for inclusion, as all the element which make up the beauty of a painting are lost when converted to this format.  All the brush strokes which convey emotion are no longer seen, the colour is often changed when scanned and they lose the presence which an oil painting can have in real life.  I think we have to look at it from an art history point of view.  What, in ten years time, would an art historian say defined this new medium?  What is unique about SL art over other forms of art we can find in rl.  A 2D painting on a wall can be appreciated for its colour theory and composition but we remain passive observers. The ability we have in Second Life is to create paintings that you can enter and explore.  Instead of paint we use sound, prims, particles, scripts, narrative, and many other tools which allow us to create a new form of art.  Immersive environments allow the viewer to be drawn into the virtual experience and forget rl for a time.  That interaction is unique to this medium except for perhaps installation art or earth art.  Determining what is unique about this medium should really be the guideline as to determining what should be included.

Wagner James Au also attempted to create his own similar definition of Second Life art on his blog:

Second Life art is art that attempts to essentialize an important aspect of the human experience in a way that’s only feasible in SL, leveraging most or all of Second Life’s unique affordances.

In the end no one can ever truly define art.  In my opinion, the keys to the success of this program will be (as Bryn said) determining what is unique about this medium and the art in it and also remembering the distinction between a craft (music is a craft) and actual art (Musimmersion is art).

Today, in a much anticipated announcement, Linden Lab launched the Beta version of their new Second Life viewer.  It will undoubtedly completely revolutionize the way we view and use Second Life, not to mention the first user experience.  There a heaps of changes and new features (small and large) included in this version and lots of additional features and changes in the works.

To get started you need to download the new Viewer 2 (Beta).

New Interface Introduction

The first thing you are going to notice is how it looks cosmetically.  The look of this new viewer is so smooth and clean.  A major upgrade.  Next you will notice a completely different user interface (UI).  This new UI is so much more intuitive than an other viewer before it.  It is made of up what Linden is calling the top bar, the bottom bar and the side bar.

While new users will find this new UI very intrinsic and much less overwhelming then before, it will take quite some time for experienced users to get used to, as it is radically different.

Most of these features are the same, or at least familiar, but have been relocated so that they can now be found more easily.

The new UI looks and functions very much like a browser.  It includes a browser-like navigation bar with forward and back buttons (history) and easily accepts SLURLs.

My favorite new features that are now easily available on the UI are the teleport history which can be accessed several ways, and the ability to bookmark a location (landmark) with one click. You can then even customize that landmark and add information about the location to the landmarks.

Appearance and Outfits

Another one of my favorite new features is something that designers have been asking for since as long as I have been in SL.  Under Appearance, users and designers now have two more sections.  One gives you the ability to add a tattoo layer.  The other allows you to make parts of your avatar invisible.

Perhaps the best new feature for the resident fashionistas of SL who love to mix and match their clothing wardrobes is the ability to create new outfits using links for no copy items.  Links do not break any permissions, they are simply shortcuts that point to an original no copy item.  This has long been a problem of mine and I’m so glad to see it included in this new viewer!  Also helpful is the addition of the Wearing tab which shows the items you are currently wearing.  Many of us have been used to this from other third party viewers, but its great to see it added here as well.

Shared Media

While all of these features are great, and there is a whole slew more of them… there is something bigger.  Perhaps bigger than the launch of the viewer itself, is the launch of Second Life Shared Media (SLSM).   SLSM is 100% a game changer for Second Life.  It will allow you to display fully interactive, shared web content on any surface of a prim in Second Life including Flash, Javascript, and embedded movies.

Many people are already using it to play games, watch YouTube movies, collaborate on Goggle Docs, check email, display web pages, and the list goes on it.  The applications of SLSM are only just being explored and will most definitely will change the way we use SL for education, collaboration, social media, augmented reality, etc.   This video gives more details about SLSM including how to set it up yourself:

Other Features

There are so many new and updated features I could never cover them all in one post (at least not one you would read).  Luckily Torley has posted several video tutorials to help you learn about them all.  These features include:

Coming Soon

In addition to all of today’s new debuts, we know there are a lot more new features in the works!  In the near future Linden Lab has said that they will still be unveiling some more game changing features like Mesh Support, the addition of C# as a scripting language, additional tools to better integrate social media, and more!  In fact, Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon appeared on building43 this morning to discuss the launch, what the company has been up to, and where it’s going.

As you can tell its been a BIG day for Linden Lab, Second Life, and all of us!  I would love to know some of your thoughts on the new viewer and today’s big news.  What do you love or hate?

This morning, tech enthusiast, blogger, and social media superstar, Robert Scoble (aka the Scobleizer) sent the Second Life community and Twitter world into a frenzy with his post, “Is Second Life about to enter its ’second life?’” He begins by rehashing the usual “failings” of Second Life.   Yet, even after all his experiences with Second Life, he still got why the initial flow of corporations left SL completely wrong.  However, what followed was more interesting… He announced that tomorrow everything is going to change.

Anyway, one thing happened that I find very interesting: it continued to grow in users, time spent on the site, and dollars spent in it.

On Friday I sat down with Mark to find out why.

First, the users remained very evangelistic. Second, corporations like IBM found other uses for its islands and kept investing (they now use these islands for training and replacements of expensive conferences). Third, the technology has been steadily improving. Fourth, the company has found new ways to bring new users in and make the experience easier to get into.

But he admitted that they had been pretty quiet and avoided doing more PR work until just recently.

Why is that changing this week? You’ll see why tomorrow morning at about 11 a.m. on building43.

But to tease a bit, I find that their new direction, the first part of which you’ll see tomorrow in the video I did with Mark, is interesting and represents a new life for Second Life and its host Linden Labs.

Of course there was an immediate reaction from the Second Life community across Twitter.

Much of the talk centered around whether Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon would be discussing the new Second Life viewer affectionately called “Viewer 2.0” by the community.

Regardless.. this is an announcement that you will not want to miss!

So tune in Tomorrow Tuesday February 22, 2010 at 11 a.m. on building43.

Recently, the PBS program, “Frontline,” featured a 90-minute documentary entitled “Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier” which examined what it means to live, work, socialize, in a digital world.  I first heard about the documentary from media theorist, writer, and digital native Douglas Rushkoff during his recent appearance on the virtual talk show, Metanomics.  On the show, Rushkoff discussed his most recent book Life, Inc. and the Digital Nation documentary which he wrote with the film’s producer and director Rachel Dretzin.  I was excited as he described how segments of the film came together, stating ”It’s not us telling America, ‘This is who you are.  You are in a digital nation.’  It was more kind of our digital nation telling us who they are, feeding us the stories that they wanted to see covered.”  (watch the full Metanomics episode here)

Unfortunately, when I tuned in I was saddened, disappointed, and frustrated. It’s not that the piece wasn’t interesting or well done, it was just smothered with this overwhelming feeling of inevitable doom.  I wasn’t the only one who felt this way.  Professor Robert Bloomfield who optimistically hosted Rushkoff’s aforementioned appearance on Metanomics just a few days before the show aired, now wrote on the show’s blog, “The emotional thrust of the piece is clearly that life on the virtual frontier is frightening, dysfunctional, and spells the end of all that is good and wholesome.”

I could easily write pages on how I think this documentary asked the wrong questions, how I think a similar program probably aired decades ago with an identical warning about television, how many of us use computers all day long at work and no one calls us addicts, or how at one point I got up and yelled at a dazed mother to stop mourning over her “addicted” son and do some parenting… but I’ve seen many great blog posts discussing all these points and more.  The segment that I haven’t seen discussed enough is the segment on virtual worlds.

The virtual worlds section begins with an interview with Second Life creator Philip Rosedale.  While Rosedale does a great job sharing his visions and enthusiasm, Ruschkoff’s explanation of the fundamental question, what is Second Life, misses the mark.  Ruschkoff says,  “Second Life is an immersive 3D online universe.  You make a character called an avatar, and then you live in that worlds as that person.”   I can’t speak for all Second Life users, but for me, my avatar is not a character.  I also don’t “live” in Second Life, but when I am in-world, I don’t “live as that person.”  My avatar is simply an extension of myself, a 3D representation of me.

Almost as bad as the explanation, is the machinima footage of the virtual world.  There are multiple clips of Ruschkoff’s avatar hopping around in different poorly build locations as he tries to fly.   These are followed by numerous clips of avatars dancing in various locations, and then more dancing, and after that, still more dancing.  In another clip, you see several well known and high profile avatars, like Pooky Amsterdam,  standing around drinking.  Pooky is the avatar behind two of Second Life’s biggest live television shows as part of her award winning production company, PookyMedia.  Yet, despite this, there is no high quality machinima, no footage of these shows.. just dancing and drinking and more dancing.  It’s simply inexcusable to me, that they could “document” virtual worlds without showing ANY quality content or machinima.  I’ve heard several people argue that they might not have had the knowledge, nor the funding to hire professionals.  I’m currently working on a project for the University of Southern California in collaboration with PBS Frontline, and we would not even dream of producing anything but the highest quality content and machinima.  The paradoxical part about all of this is that the Frontline program is funded by the MacArthur Foundation, who also funds some of the most amazing projects and discussions in Second Life.

As if this wasn’t bad enough, Ruschkoff joins the list of uniformed reporters who covered the “failures” of Second Life stating, “For awhile, companies like Coke and Calvin Klein, thinking Second Life would be the next big thing, opened virtual outposts there.   It didn’t work.  Marketing real goods in virtual worlds never really took off.”  The BBC also published a similar uninformed and angled story (just about four months ago) employing the same premise and even using identical images of the closed virtual American Apparel store.  In a response to the BBC, Wagner James Au stated, “It’s astounding any credible media outlet would cite the experiences of American Apparel and Reuters’ ill-fated SL bureau of two-three years ago as if they were relevant to Second Life as it is now.”  While those failures are completely irrelevant, they are also not failures of Second Life, but of the delusive developers who relished in all the money companies were impetuously throwing into Second Life, while they created them big superfluous virtual ghost towns.  How Second Life can be used successfully by brands is a whole other blog post, but it is being done more and more all the time now when organizations take the time to understand the platform and the communities that exist there, instead of simply just building the virtual equivalent of a billboard.

Just when I thought the piece couldn’t be any more off base, Ruschoff dares to ask, “Do virtual worlds really bring us together with others, or do they just make being utterly alone a little more bearable?”  Again, I can’t speak for everyone, but I use Second Life often as my company works in-world almost as much as we do outside of Second Life.  It has nothing to do with feeling lonely.  I am surrounded by people in the real world and in the virtual world.  I don’t go in-world because I am lonely, I go there because I get to experience so many amazing things I would never have had the opportunity to do otherwise (like the time I met Yoko Ono in-world) and because I love helping organizations harness the power of these worlds so that together we can create those opportunities for others.

Despite the documentary’s tone of impending doom, Ruschoff closes the film by stating that you can still count him “among the believers.”  While I doubt that resonated with very many viewers after just being subjected to 90 minutes of fear mongering, I was glad to see that he hadn’t actually changed his mind about technology.  With that in mind, I extend to him an invitation to come back to Second Life, leave the sensationalism behind, and for lack of better words.. take a second look.

Though I disagreed with much of this documentary, it was still very though provoking.  It raises many questions which generate important conversations about technology and the future.  I encourage all of you to take the time to watch it in full and come back and share your thoughts.

This pack includes 6 New Year’s party items. They are all made from sculpted prims and were careful modeled using professional software to create an amazing realistic look.

The pack includes:
* Champagne Bottle
* Champagne Glasses (with sipping animation when worn)
* 2010 Party Tiara
* 2010 Party Top Hat
* 2010 Party Glasses
* Party Horn (with sound effect)

All items are copyable and modifiable so that you can adjust them for your needs.

You can purchase the pack In-world or on X-Street

Burning Life 2009 opened in the virtual world of Second Life this past weekend.  Burning Life is described as a festival of community, art, and fire.  It is it the virtual counterpart of Burning Man.  Though there have long been many unofficial overlaps between the two, this year SL’s Burning Life was officially added as a Burning Man Regional Group.

Burning Life 2009 stretches across 34 SIMs.  While each camp has it’s own special qualities, I found 20 that really stood out to me.

1. **TRANSCENDENCE** – SAND CASTLE STUDIOS

   

   OK, I *may* be a little biased on this one, but when Reed Steamroller and I came up with the concept for this, I never expected the masterpiece he would create.  The architecture is breathtaking when you examine the complexity of the interlocking sculpted prims.  As if that wasn’t inspiring enough, the brilliant colors on the baked textures are captivating.

   http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life-Bluewing/216/224/24/

2. Among Other Things – AM Radio

   

   Definitely the most inherently fun and interactive exhibit for an outsider to experience as you help create the art for the installation by adding your own graffiti to the trains, which are gorgeously built and textured by this well known Second Life artist.   As an added incentive, when you enter the camp, you receive the wheat from AM’s famous Wheat Fields exhibit as a gift.

   http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DJungo/223/37/24

3. Cabaret of Flames – Poid Mahovlich

   

   Poid Mahovlich combines her deep artistic sense, and her personal experience of the real life Burning Man to bring us this tribal immersive exhibit of fire and art.  The powerful sound of drums will surrounded you upon entering the camp, setting the mood to transport you into the desert, and make you feel like you are actually part of the real Burning Man experience more than any other exhibit.  It digs deep to your core and entrances you.  In addition to the transformative experience, you will be offered a gift of fire fans so you too can participate and become part of the exhibit/experience as you dance on the playa.  Poid talks about her experience and what inspired her to build The Cabaret of Flames in a special mini blog and includes an incredible machinima which is as *must see* as the exhibit itself!

   http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DRabbithole/75/163/24

4. Vessel’s Dream – Bryn Oh

   

   This well known artist and machinimagrapher doesn’t just create art, she creates experiences.  Her camp this year is based off her poem Lilac.  Unlike other exhibits, to truly experience her immersive installation, you will have to follow the clues and explore the mythical and symbolic characters and rooms (hint: use your camera).  I highly recommend you take the time to enjoy the challenging and fascinating journey this exhibit will take you on.

   http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DBordello/21/147/24

5. America’s Homeless Problem – Viomax

   

   This thought provoking exhibit is beautifully constructed and makes a simple, but strong statement about the homeless problem in America.

   http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DPaiute/68/229/25

6. Untitled – Marcus Inkpen

   

   This dreamy installation is one of the most spellbinding exhibits I saw.  It is truly a work of art.  In addition to the in-world version, rockerfaerie has documented it in her ethereal machinima.

   http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DBluewing/47/94/24

7. A Mouse Trap Game – Nawlins Streeter

   

   I always thought that the best part about the game “Mouse Trap” was setting up the contraptions and setting them off.  This nostalgic game installation not only features all the working contraptions, but also allows you to set into the game and trigger them yourself.  Roll the dice and have some fun.

   http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life-Tungsten/216/31/23

8. Museo del Metaverso  – uqbar. media art culture

   

   Though slightly more commercial then I like to see at Burning Life, this exhibit allows you to search for  anything, and then within seconds Flickr photos of whatever you searched for will surround you!

   http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DOpal/219/20/24

9. 42 – Raven Haalan and Isle Lunasea

   

   This intriguing and immersive exhibit is not for those afraid of heights!  Begin the maze of climbing, as the pieces light up beneath you.  As you make your travels to the top, the creators offer words of wisdom and gifts of fire.

   http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DDenio/129/175/24

10. Straight Outta Compton – Anonymous Sorbet

    

    This abstract installation reminds me of a whimsical fairytale.  Designed by an up and coming content creator it is beautifully sculpted.

    http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DSelenite/146/21/24

11. Light, Space & Aliens – Unknown

    

    Take a break and enjoy the beautiful night sky above the playa and be mesmerized by the glow of the “rare species of SkyWorm”  dancing through the air.  Visit a forgotten cave, and check out a solar system like enviroment, (among other things) at this captivating exhibit of lights.

    http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DLimbo/166/30/33

12. Rezzed.TV at Burning Life – Itazura Radio

    

    This exhibit is not just a great build, but also home to some of the best programing in Second Life.  With lots of events and tapings going on here through out the week, stay tuned to the Rezzed.TV Twitter feed to see your favorites live at Burning Life.

    http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DLeadville/118/195/24

13. The Cambrian Explosion – Sledge Roffo

    

    The creator describes the Cambrian Explosion as “the seemingly rapid appearance of most major groups of complex animals around 530 million years ago, as evidenced by the fossil record.”  This is one spectacular and colorful explosion you must see first hand.

    http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%Double%20Hot/74/86/26

14. Gulliver’s Travel Scene – Ub Yifu and Copan Falta

    

    This amazing recreation of a Gulliver’s Travel scene is extraordinary.  Not only can you walk into and explore the oversized installation, there are also multiple pose balls placed around for you to become part the the exhibit itself.

    http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%3%20mile/234/122/26

15. Burning Life Watchtower Camp – Cya, Lavia Dufaux, DeionPT Saunders

    

    This fun and comical exhibit features little scenes such as “BL-Evolution,” “Apple Accident,” and “Surfing Squirrel.”  As if those weren’t enough the installation also features a watchtower with a working (and fast!) lift to the top so you can enjoy the view over the Playa.  It also has swings for you to enjoy in the sky as well.

    http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DNightingale/137/148/24

16. Soul Evolution – Liz Gealach

    

    Creator Liz Gealach says, “Life is a journey of learning.  What we learn in this lifetime will help our soul evolve.  In the brief in between moments before we begin a new life journey what do we have a chance to reflect on and learn. “   With her celestial installation she calls you to come, learn, reflect,  and explore what your soul is here to learn in this life.  The exhibit also features some fantastic quotes from great thought leaders throughout history.

    http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DRabbithole/249/159/24

17. Eridu Society Airship Outpost – Unknown

    

    Described as a place for airship pilots to rest up, get refreshed, and re-supply on their adventures and expeditions.  With a quite little cafe and a looking tower, this installation brings a steampunk feel to the playa.  Don’t forget to check out the brand new Steampunk Pro’s on display there.

    http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DLeadville/183/155/24

18. Evolution of A Single Heart – Dagmar & TRMac Kohime

    

    This exhibit features several artistic representations of the stages of evolution of a single heart, beginning at birth.  Very creative and expressively articulate.

    http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DSulphur/21/84/24

19. Roswell Revisited – Unknown

    

    The creator sets the scene for this installation by saying, “A ship has crashed in the desert. As we look inside we find not aliens, but humans, growing in pods. A “man” stumbles from the wreckage, pleading for help. This is our future, the TRUTH of Roswell. And it will all be covered up… “  This curious installation offers an antithesis look to what you might have expected.    Well crafted and textured.

    http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DElko/14/16/24

20. ..Out of the Box Not Allowed? – Cienega Soon

    

    Creator Cienega Soon calls for Revolution with this exhibit which instructing visitors to get out of their boxes and create, change, and revolt.

    http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%2DZero%20Mile/149/110/24

More of my photos of these exhibits and more can be viewed here.

I’m a ball of emotion tonight as I read on Linden Lab’s Official Blog that the founder of Second Life Philip Rosedale has decided to leave Linden Lab.  The decision comes about a year after Rosedale passed the CEO position over to Mark Kingdon and took over as Chairman of the Board.  Rosedale claims that he will continue his role as Chairman and all that the change really means is that he will no longer be working full time at Linden Lab and will be restricted to “outbound and media type things.”  Instead, Rosedale will be working on a new company that he says is Second Life centric.

“I’m starting a new company, and wanted to let you know.  It’s a big idea – something that actually depends on Second Life existing to get started, and that I have been thinking about almost as long as I’ve been thinking about Second Life.  I don’t want to try to explain the idea here, because it is a decision I’ve just made and honestly I don’t think I can do a good job describing it yet.  But I did want to tell the whole SL community, because I don’t want you to worry that anything is wrong.”

Though Philip did not give us much to speculate on, my best guess is that it is related to “The Rig” which is what Philip actually started Linden Lab to develop and he has talked about numerous times.  “The Rig” refers to a contraption based on haptic technology that could be used as a body-driven interface.  In 2008, original Second Life investor and Linden Lab board member Mitch Kapor unveiled Handsfree 3D and demonstrated how it could be used to control virtual worlds (specifically Second Life) without a keyboard or mouse.  Kapor later said that project was discontinued.  Since then Microsoft introduced Project Natal and provided proof of concept that a body-driven interface not only was completely possible, but also inexpensive to the user as it is expected to cost only $50 USD.  At E3 2009, Lionhead introduced their Project Natal-enabled interactive character named Milo.  The demo is quite amazing.

With technology having advanced so much since Philip last concentrated on “The Rig” if he does indeed base his new company on this type of technology, I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.  Until we know more, Philip says we can find him at a new location not surprisingly in-world.

“I’ve got a new island in-world – it’s called ‘P Squared’.  I’m thinking it can become a sort of extended space for my new work life.  Please come and visit, and don’t be surprised if I give you something to do.”

Many of us have gathered there (SLURL TELEPORT LINK).  Some mourning, some celebrating, some full of intrigue and excitement.  Whatever you are feeling, with the diverse microcosm of SL residents gathered there, all of us having been changed in some way by Second Life, you can’t help but feel the energy that Philip must have felt when first creating the virtual world.

As for the future of Second Life, Rosedale says he feels that the virtual world is safe in the hands of Mark Kingdon and the other Lindens, though he doesn’t always agree with them.

“It’s like when your teenagers leave home – of course you still worry and wish they would listen to you more!  But at some point you believe that they are safe enough to live on their own.  I believe that the mission of building the digital world is safe in the hands of the Lindens, which means that I can start working again at full intensity on this new project.  It’s very exciting.”

How this will effect the virtual world and its residents remains to be seen, and though I am sad to see this chapter close, I am anxiously eager and excited to see what the future holds.

On Friday October 9th 2009, Yoko Ono was in Iceland for the annual lighting of the Imagine Peace Tower, a tribute to her late husband and former Beatle, John Lennon.

Although I am a longtime fan of John Lennon and the Imagine Peace Tower, like many, I have never been able to travel to Iceland to witness the lighting.   This year,  I was privileged to share in the collective experience of the lighting of the Tower and meet Yoko Ono all from the comfort of my home through the magic of Second Life.

Shortly after the annual lighting in Iceland, Yoko joined us in Second Life to unveil a new Imagine Peace Tower and begin a new tradition in the online virtual world.

Yoko began the event by thanking us all for witnessing the unveiling of the Tower.  She continued,

“They say, if all the people in China were to jump up and down at the same time,
the axis of the globe would shift.

Well, we are here together. Billions of us.
Standing at the dawn of a new age, determined to shift the axis of the world to health, peace, and joy by loving and caring for all lives on Earth.

Some of us are here physically, some are joining us in spirit.
Some of us are imprisoned, tortured, maimed, and silenced, but they are also here today with us.
Some of us have passed away before being able to enjoy a new age of love and peace.

But we are all here today standing together with hope.

The light is the light of wisdom, healing and empowerment.

Even in the moments of confusion, fear, and the darkness of your souls,
Hold the light in your hearts,
And you will know that you are not alone,
That we are all together in seeing the light of peace.”

She then thanked the residents of Second Life again and explained,

“IMAGINE PEACE TOWER was visualized with love, and realized by love.
It is a gift from John and Yoko and the people of Second Life to the world.
I know that John is with us, too, in this land of Nutopia,
happy that the light tower is finally a reality after 40 years.

Let’s make a wish as the light goes on.
Let’s send light to each other and say I love you!

i ii iii

John, we love you!”

After her speech Yoko stuck around to dance and converse with us until the virtual dawn came (about an hour after the lighting) in what was surely one of the most incredible events in SL history.  Despite of all us being so far apart, in different countries all around the globe, there was an undeniable feeling of connectedness.

I can’t imagine ever having the opportunity to (virtually) dance with Yoko Ono or hear about the origins of things like the “i ii iii” from her speech.  If you attended the event, you would have learned that one of Yoko’s artist creations (she was a famous artist long before she ever met Lennon) was the Onochord.  The Onochord is a magical little torch on a keychain that is used to send a message of love.  It is send by repeatly blinking the light, with the frequencies and durations spelling out the message I Love You.

I                 i            one flash
LOVE           ii           two flashes
YOU            iii          three flashes

You can see Yoko demonstrate the use of the Onochord here.

In addition to receiving your own virtual version of the Onochord,  if you visit Yoko’s Imagine Peace Tower island in Second Life you will also find:

• Visitors Center – where you can watch documentaries about the projects featured on the island, read books about Imagine Peace and the Imagine Peace Tower, get postcards, buttons, and T-shirts for your avatar (this is also where the Onochords are located).
• Wish Trees – outside the visitors center and all around the island you can find wish trees.  Yoko said that as a child in Japan she would go to a temple and write out a wish on a piece of thin paper and tie it around the branch of a tree there.  From afar all the wishes tied to the tree would look like white flowers blossoming.  Her wish trees started in 1981 after Lennon’s death and she says she has collected over 700,000 peace wishes from people all over the world since then.  At these special Second Life wish trees you can make your wish and it will also be sent to the real life Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland.
• Imagine Peace Tower Wishing Well – Like the original Imagine Peace Tower the virtual Peace Tower also features a virtual Wishing Well inscribed with “Imagine Peace” in 24 different languages.
• Hot Spring Spa – The real Imagine Peace Tower runs completely on Geothermal Energy (from naturally occurring hot water) in Iceland where volcanic springs are quite common.  Visit this virtual spring to relax, mediate, and enjoy the view.
• Hot Air Balloons, Clouds, and Boats – These items are found around the SIM for you to use to further explore the island.  The hot air balloons were inspired by John and Yoko’s film ‘Apotheosis” which was all filmed from a hot air balloon.  The clouds were inspired by the writings from Yoko’s Grapefruit and her album artwork for Imagine and Live Peace in Toronto.  The clouds are located at 125m, 225m, 300m, and 500m in the sky above the Wishing Well.  Take them all the way to the top platform, then parachute back down.

Bernard Herzog, the creator of the virtual Peace Tower expressed that he feels it is a great honor for Second Life to host the only other Imagine Peace Tower outside Iceland, but that it also seems appropriate considering the global reach of Second Life.  I couldn’t agree more.  Thank you Bernard and Yoko for the experience which was truly indescribable and something I will treasure for a long time to come as we all carry out our wishes for peace.

If you can imagine a world of peace
If you can imagine the possibility
Then it can be true.  – John Lennon

www.IMAGINEPEACE.com

You can visit the Virtual Imagine Peace Tower in Second Life – SLURL Teleport Link

More pictures from the event here.

I was recently approached about an upcoming project that would require our team here at Sand Castle Studios to create some custom content within the virtual world of Second Life.  While I can’t talk about the project itself yet, I can share with you a machinima by award winning machinimagrapher and long time Mac lover Bernhard Drax (aka Draxtor Despres in SL) that previews the mockup we put together including virtual Bill Gates who calls out Draxtor for secretly using Windows!

Special thanks to Second Life residents and friends Beyers Sellers, Bevan Whitfield, Anonymous Sorbet, Ze Moo, Java Moonwall, Chantal Harvey, Annabelle Fleury,  Shava Shuntzu, Cyclic Gearz, Tuna Oddfellow, Wilson Voight, Delphina Audina, Arywn Quandry, and Apatia Hammerer who played the office workers.

Pictures of the filming and sets can be seen here.

For more behind the scenes fun, check out The Office Party, a spoof filmed by Chantal Harvey after the shoot was over.

We first heard of some of the new features coming to Second Life, including this new website (the Dashboard feature had been in Beta on the back channel since late June), when Tom Hale demoed them at this years Second Life Community Convention (SLCC).

Yesterday, Torley Linden gave us a sneak preview of the new site as he highlighted some of its key features in one of his renowned video tutorials.

.

Today, the new site went live on http://secondlife.com/ and I have to say I love it!

The first thing you notice is the beautiful high quality photos (thank you finally!) and the visually stunning machinima’s. I especially loved the Titanic like ending of the “What is” video (below).

It’s all superficial though! Not only did Linden Lab take feedback from the community and address some issues from the JIRA, they created a truly Web 2.0 website which hints (that may be later further developed) at ways we can connect are other interactions and social media web presences with our avatar’s virtual interactions. Thinking of how this could develop and expand in the future reminded me of Botgirl Questi’s image visualizing the movement of identity within and between worlds (seen below).

This movement towards embracing and intergratging social media was discussed when Mark Kingdon, aka M Linden, appeared on Metanomics earlier this year.

I am looking to seeing this further evolve. We have so many tools in-world such as Twitter HUDs, and there are lots of SL-centric activity on other online sites such as Flickr, which has thousands of SL groups, that it only makes sense to further incorporate this into the user experience of the SL web (and eventually the viewer UI). I hope that is will further expand in the form of intergration/aggregation on the Dashboard page! Think early Facebook.

I’m also thankful for the prominent featuring of XStreet on the Shop page, but also throughout the website and included on the Dashboard. By putting numerous links throughout and allowing easy access to quick buys, currency exchange, and your personal Xstreet adminstration, Linden Lab has given new users and residents plenty of opportunities to shop, and have increased the visibility of creators and merchants.

The Second Life Map is now web based and interactive. You can now search and find places and events around the grid and then easily teleport to them. The Showcase is also prominently featured on this page as well.

The most notable change to the Land store is the addition of “developed” land aka themed Private Regions. To be honest, I am not sure how useful these will be. I imagine while it might seem interesting at first, a good part of the Second Life experience is having a custom place that represents you. With so many content creators available, I would think more people would want to customize their space themselves. I’ll be interested to see the details and statistics surrounding this type of land in the future.

The feature mostly likely to increase and keep users is the added Help for new residents. Linden Labs redesigned the registration page and process and added a PDF Starter’s Guide. They also embraced their international users by adding a handy drop down menu to change the language at the top of each page, and by providing toll free support numbers for non-English speaking residents.

Lastly, in order to make it work with the new look, XStreet SL is also debuting a somewhat fresh look. I’m not a huge fan of this, but Pink Linden assures me that this is not the final look of XStreet so I will hold off on my thoughts about it for now.

Here are some of my favorites from SLCC ‘09:

• The biggest and best announcements came from Tom Hale as he introduced Second Life 2.0: and some of it’s key features such as the new SL viewer, the new website, and the interactive web media API. You can read all about these new features and changes in detail here.

• Tom also announced the long awaited features of mesh support and global illumination. These concepts might be a little complex to some non-content creators, but they look stunning! Learn more about what these features are and what they mean for Second Life here.

• Mark Kingdon and Philip Rosedale gave joint keynote speeches at SLCC.  Philip discussed how we are still at the very beginning of what virtual worlds will be and how we will need to weather tremendous changes as we move towards a more global digital world, but no matter how hard, we must endure them, because these changes are not just evolutionary, but revolutionary as well. You can view parts of his speech here, here, here, and here.   Mark discussed all the changes and amazing features coming to SL and how they are working on growth and making SL a better place. You can view parts of his speech here, here, and here. You can also view his slides below.

• We also had our own workshop/panel with Draxtor Despres that went quite well. We discussed the California Legacy Project and premiered the latest episode.

• Apollo Manga of the San Francisco Examiner, has day-by-day reports of his SLCC experience: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4.

• Keiko Takamura my favorite SL performer (along with Max Kleene) finially performed live at SLCC this year, with her new band The Shebangs. The performance was fantastic. You would never believe she previously had such fears as documented on her MTV documentary.

What did I miss? Post your links in the comments!

The biggest news coming out of the Second Life Community Convention this year was delivered by Linden Lab Chief Product Officer Tom Hale, aka T. Linden, who announced a dramatic user experience roadmap and gave a tour of several of its features including a new SL viewer and website.

The new SL viewer, which will debut later this year, was designed with user experience in mind. The navigation is a updated so that you can easily go “back” and forth between previous locations and easily use SLURLs as locations. The most used features of the viewer are clustered into a single drawer that opens to a right hand panel and then can be shut when you are not using it, in order to unclutter the display. It promises “no more panel proliferation”.

Also coming by the end of this quarter is a vastly improved Second Life website with a machinima to entice visitors, an interactive keyword searchable map, and an improved XStreet SL shopping experience. They also updated the registration process and provided new users with a PDF quick start guide. The user dashboard is also updated as well and will eventually be your social networking homepage.

Another feature that was previewed was Mesh Support. Since this is a more complicated feature, we have had our Chief Creative Officer breakdown this feature, and you can read about it here.

Lastly, over the course of next year interactive web media files displayable in SL will be introduced. These will be in the form of collaboratively documents like being able to work on a Google Doc with other avatars, and in additional Flash-based media applications like YouTube. A “LL Media” API plug-in for media is also expected to allow for developers to create their own media plugins as well.

UPDATE - Tom has details on the “LL Media” API plug-in and how you can get the code up on the official blog.

Related Posts:

• Second Life Launches its New Website
• SLCC 2009 Wrap-Up
• Everything You Need To Know About Second Life Viewer 2.0 (Beta)
• CNBC Segment on Business & Social Media Highlights LinkedIn, Second Life, and More
• Virtual Machinima for Social Good
• Powered by Contextual Related Posts

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At this years Second Life Community Convention, Linden Lab Chief Product Officer Tom Hale, aka T. Linden, showed video of a polygon mesh object responding to a dynamic lighting system much more advanced then the current lighting and shadows that are available in several Beta viewers. (videos below) With the new system, light is able to be reflected off of objects to their surroundings. Both are much sought after and desired features of advanced and experienced content creators, especially those who want to make use of existing polygon meshes made in Maya and other industry standard modeling tools. Unfortunately, Hale did not give any indication on when theses features might be available.

To help us better understand these features, I have asked our co-founder and Chief Creative Officer here at Sand Castle Studios, Reed Steamroller, to tell us a little more of what this means and what we can expect.

Linden Lab Offically Announces Mesh Support in Second Life

Second Life has been in a probationary period for me since I first logged in. On that faithful day back in October of 2006, I asked a question that has lingered with me since. Can I bring things into Second Life from 3rd party software? The answer I got was, of course, a big, nasty no, as this was the state of affairs of the time. Since then, there has been one giant improvement to the situation: sculpted prims, which do, technically, allow you to import shapes from 3rd party 3D modeling software. However, due to their limitations, sculpted prims are no final answer to that question I asked those years ago. As it turned out, as announced at this year at the Second Life Community Convention 2009, sculpted prims are merely a taste what’s to come, and polygon mesh support is soon to arrive.

Since the dawn of the new millennium, most video games have presented their virtual environments via something called a polygon, and while Second Life isn’t a game per se, it does run on game engine technology. A polygon, in reference to computer graphics, is a simple, two-dimensional shape that can be represented by your computer in three-dimensional space. Normally, most game engines use three-sided polygons, which you may also know by their technical terminology; “triangles.” Although, polygons can have four sides as well. If you guessed these four sided polygons are called “squares”, you are absolutely…. WRONG. We call them “quads” here. Polygons can also have more than four sides, but after that, to the world of computer graphics, they’re just referred to as “n-gons” to keep things simple. In the end, what you need to know is that these are the tiny building blocks of everything you see in Second Life.

Well, you can’t do much with just a triangle, and that’s why we have polygon meshes. A mesh is a bunch of polygons linked together. For example, a prim cube in Second Life may look like just that, a cube. However, if you go into wireframe mode, you would see that each face of the Second Life cube is actually made up of 18 individual triangles connected on their sides. We call this a regular mesh, because of how the polygons are laid out nice and neat across the faces of the cube, in somewhat of a grid-like pattern. If you look at all of the other prim shapes in wireframe, you’ll see their polygons laid out in much the same manner. Even sculpted prims, while they can be bent and formed into a wide variety of shapes, are still made up of these very grid-like, regular meshes.

There are pluses and minuses to these regular polygon meshes. Linden Lap supports these shapes because they are very conducive to a virtual world that is constantly changing, and which constantly needs to be streamed back to its residents. It is much easier for the Second Life asset servers to define a cube as “cube” and be universally understood what is meant by this across all of the viewers, as opposed to defining the coordinates of each individual vertex along the corner of each individual polygon that makes up said cube. From the viewpoint of a builder, however, the problem with these prims is that they are very restrictive, in that they force you into placing groups of polygons at a time, instead of defining for yourself just how these polygons will be positioned individually.

The guts of the question I asked back in 2006 really lay at the feet of irregular meshes. You can think of an irregular mesh as a polygon mesh in which the polygons are NOT laid out in neat or predictable pattern. These meshes are dependent only on the wishes of their creator, and are not restrained by any prerequisites of form. Irregular meshes give the creator access to manipulate the polygons themselves, instead of being limited to manipulating groups of polygons aligned in regular meshes. What is important to know is that allowing user-created, irregular, polygon meshes on the grid will give builders a higher level of freedom in not only what they build, but just how they build it.

You may be surprised to find that Second Life already uses irregular meshes, it’s just that we, the people, haven’t been given the ability to create any of our own. The most visible example of this is the Second Life avatar, an irregular polygon mesh created by Linden Lab to be especially good at deforming to the users will into all the different styles seen in Second Life.

If you’ve never been taught, or learned on your own, the correct way to model 3D objects out of polygons, you’ve got some work to do. Characteristics such as edge flow and poly count can make or break a polygonal mesh, and it takes time to get a handle on things. As with most disciplines, be prepared to make a lot of crap before anything worth showing to people.

Those of you out there with experience in making sculpted prims will be ahead of the curve, in that you won’t have to learn a new user interface. Chances are the software you already use for creating sculpted prims (be it Blender, Zbrush, 3D Studio Max, Maya, etc…) is primarily geared towards modeling irregular polygon meshes, and that sculpted prim functionality was added by some friendly Second Life resident as an afterthought. Really, the only place I’ve found that makes a distinction between regular and irregular meshes is Second Life.

Also demonstrated at SLCC was a new feature in the Second Life client that Linden Lab is referring to as diffuse, or reflective lighting. This seems to be a new lighting scheme allowing whats called indirect lighting. To visualize indirect lighting, think about when the sun shines through your window and hits the floor. The sunlight doesn’t just illuminate the parts of your floor that it hits directly, but instead bounces off the floor and illuminates the entire room as well. This is indirect illumination, and normally it is a VERY resource hungry, ray-trace intensive process. I imagine Linden Lab has figured out some sort of work around with regards to ray-tracing this effect, in order to keep frame rates up, but you really can’t tell from the results. This looks SPECTACULAR!

All in all, we have a ton of things to look forward to in the coming months. Kudos to Linden Lab for all of their efforts. Second Life 2.0 can’t get here soon enough!

Hale’s Presentation with Sound

Up close view

Related Posts:

• Everything You Need To Know About Second Life Viewer 2.0 (Beta)
• SLCC 2009 Wrap-Up
• Second Life 2.0: Tom Hale Presents the New Second Life Viewer, Website, and Interactive Web Media at SLCC
• Second Life Launches its New Website
• CNBC Segment on Business & Social Media Highlights LinkedIn, Second Life, and More
• Powered by Contextual Related Posts

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