Applications?

As the semester is drawing to a close I'm wondering what the future is for SL and Web 3.0 in general. Are the kids who are growing up now going to need to be literate in these technologies to be successful? Even if the platform isn't SL, it seems that kids are going to have to know everything from internet lingo to collaborative tools as more and more of the world is moving online. Today's kids will have more and more interaction with digital classrooms and will use the 3D space of places like SL to learn in a way that was unavailable in the past. 

But, will they be ready for it? I worry that we take it for granted that today's children will all just automatically know how to use these technologies by virtue of being young. And, of course, there is the issue of the digital divide: are only the priviliged children becoming digitally literate? And even if they know how to use the tools, are we giving them the skills to be able to absorb the information that is being presented to them? In many ways, the information landscape is changing, and I think we take it for granted sometimes that everyone is changing with it. 

Even if SL isn't around in the future, I feel that it will be our responsibility as librarians to promote Web 3.0 tools and their potential for collaborative learning, information dissemination and exploration of ideas. For example, one SL educator was telling me about how much easier it was to map ideas in 3D space in SL. There are so many ways that SL and similar platforms could be used that it would seem like a shame if the great ideas that are coming out of SL research weren't fully realized. And, as the technology develops and worlds such as SL become more and more accessible to everyone, librarians will have a role in teaching the world how to use it. 

I just finished reading the Au article from First Monday about journalism in SL. I was particularly interested in his thoughts on SL as 'journalism by metaphor.' He says that there is a lot to learn from SL that reflects on RL. He uses the example of the epidemic in WoW, which is one I have heard before. This use of virtual worlds is one that is particularly fascinating to me; to what extent is SL an extension of RL? Do we expect the same patterns of behaviour and personality? Do we expect the rules of society to apply in the same ways? It's interesting.... as I sit here and type this, I'm thinking that it would be interesting to give standardized tests to avatars to see how the results compare to RL statistics. How would avatars do on personality inventories? IQ tests? Social pyshochological tests? It would be interesting to see how avatars compare to real people in this way..... to replicate classic psychological studies online. This would allow us to really know how reflective SL is of RL.....

I just watched an interesting segment of 60 Minutes that reminded me of something I was wondering about SL. The segment was about new technology that enables people to control computers through thought. Scientists were able to implant electrodes into a monkey's brain so that the monkey could fully control a robotic arm. They were also able to implant electrodes in the brain of a stroke victim. She was able to control the cursor on a computer screen, including moving the mouse and clicking. She was also able to control the movement of a wheelchair. The technology is still very preliminary, but as it develops, it has potential to allow those who are disabled to interact with the world in ways that were not previously possible. Paralysed people or those who have lost limbs will be able to be more independent than ever. 

As I'm typing this, I'm remembering a similar technology that I was reading about over the summer. Video game developers are developing a system which will allow people to control games with their thoughts. Rather than using brain implants, this technology involves some sort of headset.

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/gadgets_and_gaming/article4354041.ece

So this has me wondering, will this technology eventually be used in virtual worlds? What are the implications of actually linking our brains with the computer world? And, could the control one day go both ways? Could the virtual world make us sense things? Could smell, feel, touch, and taste be part of the virtual world? It seems like this technology is one step closer to true virtual reality. It sounds cool, but I assume that there would be a lot of people who would be reluctant to allow anything to interact with their brain in that manner. But, the potential is definately amazing. If we can interact with the virtual world in the same way we can interact with the real world..... well, the possibilities are too many to list.

As a post-script, I just heard this great quotation on 'King of the Hill:'

"I love myspace, but I would never go on as myself. Online, I am Ted Danson. People will tell Ted Danson anything."  - Peggy Hill

This line says a lot about how people can have different personalities online...

Real Life Consequences

I just finished reading the article that DeDe sent around about the woman who was arrested in Japan for killing her virtual husband's avatar. I found it interesting in light of the converation we were having last week in class: most people were dissapointed with the lack of people within virtual worlds. So far, it doesn't seem like any of us have really been able to spend enough time in SL to be able to make any connections; however, this Japanese woman is proof of how much SL can mean to someone. She is also an interesting example of how SL can spill out into RL. 

I tend to think of the two as separate: you go about your RL, and in your spare time, you play around in SL. But the thing that links the two is the money. Once there is real money in a virtual world, virtual actions have real consequences. That can be hard to remember sometimes... that people can put a lot of money into SL. When we walk around some of these beautiful deserted spaces, it makes me wonder, "Why would anyone put so much time and money and effort into something that is so empty?"

Do people put so much money into SL that things in RL are neglected? Do they fail to spend money on their own appearance while buying Nike clothes for their avatar? Do they stop doing the laundry or cleaning the bathroom because they are busy building their virtual house? Obviously this is not true for the majority of SL users, but it could be true for a few people who find it much easier to escape into SL than to deal with RL. And that disconnect has the potential to make actions in the virtual world spill out into RL when we forget that they are very much connected.   

There

I've just been playing with There.com. So far, I think I like it better than SL. Within a few minutes of being signed in, I was randomly invited to a party. There were lots of people there to talk to, and there was a dog play area with several dogs! I definately thought that was cool.... There runs a LOT faster than SL, which is nice.... The graphics aren't as good, but I've never really been too much of a stickler for graphics. The very fact that it runs faster makes it about a billion times better, in my opinion. SL can be so slow sometimes that it gets frustrating and annoying. I haven't made a full comparison yet, but these are just my thoughts so far...

Update: I just played a game of virtual hearts with 3 other people! My avatar was sitting at a card table and playing cards! And the music here is cool.... 

It seems like the organized fun in There is much better than SL..... Maybe SL seems to anarchist to me?

Update: I was just trying paintball! It would definately be more fun if I had a real mouse instead of a touchpad....and if I actually paid to buy a gun and more painballs instead of using the trial gun...

Update: So far, it seems like SL allows more user interaction and input into the world... objects, spaces and avatars are customizable, but There seems more focused on the social interaction. If you're not too worried about creating your own space or your own look, you can just focus on hanging out and having a good time. So, in that way, it has less potential as a true representation of this world, but it seems like it has more potential to be fun (at least to me...)

Update: There is so much more user friendly, and much nicer to look at! It may not be as sophisticated, but so far, it's more fun! I guess it's more like a game in that respect, but it has more potential for me to spend time here...

I keep discovering new awesome stuff.... like dunebuggies! You can try them for free! It seems like so much more fun here! Well, clean fun, at least....

So I decided to try to build a flower... I found that the most difficult thing when building was trying to rotate the prims to the correct angle. I also had trouble joining the prims, but by the end I got a hang of changing the camera angle to be able to see that they were actually touching. I decided to build a flower because I wanted to build something whimsical instead of something practical. Since SL is a fantasy world, I wanted to have a fantasy object. Plus, I was thinking of the line from Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds: "Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers that grow so incredibly high..." Hopefully the next one I make will be a little more natural looking.

While I was building in the Sandbox, some obnoxious person decided that it would be funny or cool to create a swarm of flying swastikas. Talk about doing something that you wouldn't do in real life! The cubes swarmed around everyone and cluttered my computer screen, and then continued to hang and spin in one spot. It took about 15 minutes for their creator to be kicked out. I don't know if the person was actually a nazi or if they were just trying to get attention, but I was fairly shocked and surprised.

And suddenly it gets more interesting...

This is just a quick post while I'm still thinking about this stuff....

So while we were playing around during class, I jotted down a few more pros and cons:
Cons:
Frustratingly slow
It's hard to tell when one place begins and ends
Hills, ditches and random holes are annoying to walk through!
If you're used to regular video games, it's especially frustrating


Pros:
Paying library fines in Second Life is pretty neat!
You can overhear some bizarre conversations (if the names 'Pet' and 'Master' are bizarre in SL... I suspect not...)
Vampires!
I was delighted to learn that there is a game within SL called 'Bloodlines,' in which people walk around sucking blood from other people (it's really all very polite... you have to ask permission and everything!). To turn into a vampire, another vampire had to suck my blood. When I was completely drained, she got my soul. Then I had to drink her blood, and I became a vampire. The neatest thing was that I joined the above mentioned vampire's clan, 'Wicked Kiss.' The group has a castle (complete with dungeons!) and consists of around 45 girls. The ones I have met so far have been very nice, and have offered to show me where to get the best clothes. Apparently, there are always people around to talk to and hang out with at the castle. Now that I actually have something in mind to do in SL, it has become more interesting...

There are a few questions that this Vampire game brings up for me that could be interesting for further exploration:
1. To what extent is SL a venue for the exploration of counterculture and fantasy?
2. What needs does SL fulfill for people? Does 'Wicked Kiss' become a place for people to feel a sense of belonging that is lacking in real life?
3. How taboo is it to talk about real life in SL? Do people want to maintain the illusion, or do they want to bring their personal lives into it?

Hopefully I'll be able to look into a few of these....