One Last Thing...

One of my snapshots was inadvertently left out of the project, one that actually has some meaning. This building is the luxurious hotel in Dubia called the Burj Al Arab. This hotel and resort, with a nightly rate STARTING at just a little over $2000 USD, is an breathtaking piece of architechure siginfiying a blend of both Western and Middle Eastern influences. The very fact that this building is included in Second Life speaks to the international relations aspect, and the ability it has to unite individuals around the world.

Artistic and Societal Implications

Without the talents of skilled 3D animators, Second Life does not happen. The creative minds that add the painstaking details to the three-dimensional environments and character models are the core component of the program, and there will be a constant need for animators if Second Life wants to keep progressively growing. Additionally, the Second Life user base gets in on the act by designing clothes, vehicles, and other accessories, which requires a person with an art background. There are even art galleries in Second Life, meaning that some users are actually creating “fine art” in the computer world.

Societies view of Second Life much depends on what kind of publicity it gets from mainstream media sources. If people keep hearing about divorces occurring due to Second Life sexual affairs, then society will have a generally disapproving view of the program and its loyal residents/users. However, if big named universities or and influx of school districts start to embrace the educational potential of Second Life, the average person will be more favorable to the growth of Second Life.

How can virtual worlds like Second Life enhance the teaching and learning experiences for students?

Second Life could be a wonderful tool for educational purposes, though students might not like the ramifications it would have on them. If schools across the country adopted a Second Life classroom they could use that to reach ill students, like those with the flu or chicken pox, who tend to miss much time recuperating. By allowing these students to actively partake in the virtual extension of the class it would alleviate the stress that goes along with coming back to school and having to play catch-up. For older college students, it could add an unprecedented dimension of realness into online taught classes. Though the professor or teacher for the class would need to have some sort of master control over who would be allowed to leave and control over the audio chat capabilities of his or her students.

Even though these possibilities seem like a good idea, there is a major factor hindering Second Life. While the program is open to anyone who wants to signup and download the program, the program requires the user to have an adequately powered computer and a fast Internet connection. The majority of college students use laptops, which by and large use “integrated graphics” chips which are not very powerful, and the laptops that do have dedicated graphics cards are often large, bulky, and poor battery life. (The notable exception being the Macbook Pro, which is thin, fast, and has a good graphics card, though the starting price point of $1999 during a recession makes it not an option to many college students.) However, looking into the near future, companies like NVidia, Intel, and AMD are creating newer breeds of integrated graphics solutions that would make Second Life more capable and realistic on affordable laptops.

Group Meeting: "In World" vs Blackboard Vista's chat

There were mixed feelings and experiences with the group meeting in SecondLife. While two of us were able to run the program on our computers, several others were not able to get the program to work. However, for the two that did meet in Second Life, it felt a little awkward, yet it was ultimately more productive, as in this setting voice chat was enabled and both users had built-in microphones in their computers. It also felt less “laggy” than the Blackboard chats. Additionally, the two were able to have an actual conversation, rather than partaking in a delayed response web-chat.

Even though we found it better to talk, there were still distractions, such as the ability to fly around as we were talking. It didn’t help that another person walked by and tried to start talking to us, which was a very awkward experience. This incident really exposes the difference between the Blackboard chats and the meetings in Second Life: privacy.

How is the virtual society different than our real world society?

In our experiences with Second Life, the society there seems to be much more laid back and slower paced. In our travels we would occasionally run into people walking around, but they would just be talking to one another and not hurrying around like people do in real life. Furthermore, when we were traveling to the SL renditions of major US cities, the streets were empty--the sea of taxis and cars were nowhere to be seen. This is due to much in part to the drastic difference in modes of transportation in the virtual world. Their society relies on the ability to fly and teleport, which is much more efficient as well as spontaneous. If you have the sudden urge to go to Vegas even though you are in Abu Dubai, you are able travel to there or where ever you may want to go with just a simple click of the mouse. It also does not cost money to fly or teleport, which is a major difference to the real world societal notion that flying is an expensive form of transportation. Expenses in SL come in the form of purchasing land, or clothing, or vehicles, which can add up eventually. Second Life money, measured in Linden Dollars, has a current exchange rate of around 230 LD to 1 USD. Even though both societies have forms of transportation and money, they both differ drastically than their real life counterparts.

Temple University's Second Life Island

I had been aware that some universities had purchased land in Second Life for various purposes, and Temple just happens to be one of them. Due to the lavish details that were evident while walking around, I bumped up my graphics settings to the maximum, and the online campus came to life. Little details like textures were now featured in all surfaces and it really made the environment seem more realistic. Even more so, when I increased the "draw distance" setting, the Philadelphia skyline (minus the Comcast Center) was in view, albeit in a flat 2D still image. Further exploration of the campus' buildings allowed me to see that there were classrooms in each building, complete with chairs, a podium, and a projection screen. I wonder if Temple actually teaches some classes through Second Life?

World Trade Center Memorial

After visiting the Tattoo parlor, I visited an empty apartment building next to the WTC memorial. I found this location to be particularly touching and classy. Not only to the have a separate WTC memorial park and building, but they also have the two towers in silhouetted 3D models. However, they were just ghost like buildings and I was not able to enter either of them, which would have been an interesting experience. Nevertheless, you are able to warp to the top of the towers to get a breathtaking view, yet there is a stand there offering free parachutes for those who are morbid enough to jump off, which just seems to much of a surreal and disturbing action to partake in.

NYC Tattoo Parlor...Is this really necessary?

During my first walk around in Second Life's rendition of New York City, I happened upon many discouraging trends in this program. The first, is the fact that people would actually spend time and actual money on getting a completely fake tattoo on their completely fake avatar. Furthermore, these shops used quite provocative poses of scantily clad female avatar models, which just seemed very weird and unnecessary to me. Instances like this show the unfortunate side of Second Life--the deviant aspect. Frankly, I see it as a waste of time to sit there and customize your digital self and partake in questionable activities (such as the various gentleman's clubs around...yes...there are strip clubs in Second Life) or get tattoos in provocative places, or what-have you. I think I felt particularly heated about this instance as this store and several other risque stores were right next to the World Trade Center memorial site, which is probably visited by younger users who are visiting that site for educational purposes.

Bahamas

For my last stop to visit I decided to take a nice relaxing vacation at the Bahamas. I've never been to the Bahamas before so I would'nt know how similar the real thing compares to Second Life, but it looks like a real fun time. You have the ability to swim with the sharks and dolphins along with other fun activities.

Barcola

This was my first interaction with people in Second Life. Although I didn't have a microphone I heard everything going on around me. I had mixed reactions, at first I thought it was weird, then it started to grow onto me and I became more comfortable with the voices. I'm not even sure how I got teleported here, I was traveling through a piercing and tattoo island when out of no where I got teleported to Barcola. I feel like sometimes I'm lost on here and find myself getting teleported to places without knowning, but I realize that this is a learning experience and I will become more familiar with the program through time.

Oahu Hawaii

The last place I visited was Oahu Hawaii. I have never been to Hawaii so I thought I would go in Second Life. When I was there I sat on the beach, went on a raft in the Pacific Ocean, and went jet skiing. There are other things you can do on this Island and many beautiful things to check out.

Empire State Building

I remember going to see the Empire State building when I was younger so I decided to see how much Second Life resembled the real thing. Honestly, I was dissapointed when I went to go visit the Empire State building through Second Life. It didn't give you the option of entering the building and you couldn't even fly to get ontop of the building. Whats the point of visiting the Empire State building if you can't even get to the top?

Vegas Baby!

What better place to go visit than Vegas. Well maybe not everyone is intrigued by the bright lights and gambling of Vegas, but it certainly draws me in. I've never been to Las Vegas before, and I've always wanted to go so I thought it would be interesting to experience it through Second Life. In Vegas I teleported to a casino floor where all types of gambling could take place. Unfortunatley, I did'nt have any money to gamble with but none the less it was a cool experience.

Magicland (aka Disneyland)

I went to a park called Magicland. It is a Disneyland inspired theme park. It looks just like Disneyland and has some of the same rides and attractions. They had the spinning tea cups, the train that rides around the entire park, and of course the castle. I think this place is fairly new because it was still under construction and they are adding more rides that are in Disneyland like Star Tours. They also had Disney store that you can go into. Overall this was pretty cool place to explore, I love Disney and I thought it was cool how the park looked just like Disneyland.

Sharks Cove VIP

After visiting multiple places on Second Life, I found one place that caught my attention the most and that was Sharks Cove VIP. Sharks Cove VIP is an amusement park that allows you to do a wide variety of activities at the single click of your mouse. On this island I had the pleasure of taking a free helicopter ride around the amusement park, then shortly after I decided to take a ride on the slide that landed me in the ocean with the sharks! If you get chance, I urge you to visit the Sharks Cove and be apart of the experience.

Statue of Liberty

I visited the Statue of Liberty in Second Life. There was a little Island to explore and then I flew around the Statue of Liberty.

Sea World

I went to Sea World in Second Life. This was a really cool place to explore. You can get up close with the animals and you can also go under water and swim with the underwater sea life. Also there is an underwater exhibit you can explore. There are penguins, sea lions, alligators, dolphins, sharks, whales, all different kinds of fish, and many more animals you can check out! There are different exhibits you can explore and learn about the different animals.

Starbucks Coffee

This was my first day in Second Life so I decided I love Starbucks in this life so I found it in Second Life! This is a picture of me at Starbucks in Second Life. It was really cool. They have tables you can sit at in side and outside. The land around the Starbucks was nice to explore too. There was a pond with ducks and a garden. When you teleport in to this location they a box pops up and if you click on it, it will take to the website. This is a really good Advertising tool!