One of my pet research projects during the past 10 months has involved dabbling in virtual worlds to understand if/when they will become a mainstream technology. The outcomes from the research will be publishd at a later date. In the meantime…
If you have heard about Second Life, it’s more than likely you’ll have seen it gain press attention for all the wrong reasons (if you really want to know, see here and here for examples but be warned, one link involves flying genitalia).
Beyond the simple fact that any world, real or virtual, will bring out the good and bad in human nature, virtual worlds offer a range of interesting possibilities. From copying real life to doing stuff not possible in real life to integrating and complementing real life, virtual worlds can assist education, communicatio, process simulation and prototyping new ideas. The research I am currently working on includes experimenting with 3D taxonomy management and syncing data between a virtual office and SharePoint site…
Here are some examples of the work people have created using virtual worlds:
World Builder from Bruce Branit
An aware winning example of integrating the virtual and the real including Minority Report style user interfaces
Attaining Presence: 4Jetpacks4 and Bryn Oh
A great example of ‘not possible in real life’. Both movies show how much easier it has become to create professional looking short animations with everyday tools. Bryn Oh is an amazing artist/builder
NHS Training for Innovation
Not as professional looking as the previous examples (devil is in the details, as usual), this is a video of the NHS training hospital in Second Life (developed by Imperial College, London)
Related posts:
References
- SecondLife
- OpenSim Project
- Reaction Grid
- New World Notes
- Not possible in real life
- Synthetic Worlds Initiative at Indiana University
- Cisco Virtual World
- IBM 3D Business Center
- Virtual World Innovations (includes NHS case study)
Joining Dots 