Virtual interaction in an online world may sound bizarre, anti-social or unnecessary. But the island Lehigh purchased on Second Life, which is a free game where players can interact in 3-D worlds, can also serve as a new medium for communication inside and outside the classroom. The game is a continuation of the technologically-driven lives most students already lead.

Communicating and interacting via technology is nothing new. Students already take advantage of technological advances; playing Guitar Hero instead of guitar, checking Facebook instead of checking on real friends and using text messaging instead of phone calls. (more…)

The dancers’ feet beat at the speed of light. Their technique is unparalleled. When they jump, they fly, and they could pirouette for days without effort. But there’s no chattering audience, no house lights fading, no scarlet curtain, no rumble of the orchestra, no spontaneity – and no third dimension. Founded by former professional dancer and choreographer Inarra Saarinen, Second Life Ballet mimics a real dance company but within the virtual space of Second Life, an internet program where users maneuver avatars through simulated experiences.

With animation programs and motion capture software, the need for the physical dancer to exist is slashed in the digital age. Technology is being developed to directly transport human movement into avatar movement in virtual space. If the user walks, their character will walk. Perhaps, with this, the screen actually will become the separating proscenium between performance and audience. Even video games like Nintendo’s Wii system allow bodies to dive into digital places on a realistic level, by hitting a golf ball or sweating through fitness routines. Can the nuances of dance be translated with Wii? (more…)

A recent news story involves a woman filing for divorce from her husband on the grounds that he was having an affaiir . . . in the virtual world.

The report from Sky News says Amy Taylor spent so much time in Second Life with her soon-to-be-ex-husband that they held a virtual ceremony in the game as well as in the real world. Married in 2005, the couple had met in an online chat in 2003. Taylor had found her then-boyfriend engaging in virtual relations with another avatar in Second Life before they were married, but he promised her that he wouldn’t repeat the experience. (more…)

Did you ever wish you could redraw your life and keep it under your control that way? Some participants in online virtual reality games like Second Life have tried, and found that sometimes you just can’t avoid the slings and arrows of love– or hate.

The most recent bit of news in the world of Second Life/real life intrigue was the announcement on November 14 that a British couple who’d had a newsworthy wedding on Second Life in 2005 was divorcing because wife Amy Taylor allegedly caught husband David Pollard’s character having virtual sex with another virtual woman. (more…)

A major American life insurance company has taken a big step into the virtual world by setting up their own space on popular web-based community Second Life.

AvivaUSA spent nearly half a million dollars setting up their virtual ‘island’ and it is costing them roughly $3000 a year to maintain it. The hopes are that it will encourage younger and more tech-savvy people to get involved.

Second Life was launched in 2003 and combines aspects of other social networking sites with a video game interface. There are over 4 million users of the game throughout the world. (more…)

From YouTube to Flickr, from Facebook to Twitter, images and sentiments from celebrations across the United States flooded into the Internet’s media-sharing sites, just moments after Senator Barack Obama clinched the presidential election.

Some were simple photos of television screens reporting his victory. Others were unfiltered images of jubilant celebrations captured immediately after polls closed on Tuesday on the West Coast, when Obama was declared the president-elect.

Others used the moment to joke. One wig-clad man posted a YouTube video reminiscent of Chris Crocker’s infamous Britney Spears rant, instead shouting “Leave McCain alone!” (more…)

Linden Lab oversees one of the most successful social virtual worlds in existence, but it is still struggling with residents about how Second Life should be governed.

Case in point: The debate over the use of “Open Spaces,” a virtual world land type that the company designed for residents to use for, common sense would dictate, open spaces like forests and water. As residents took advantage of the lower-priced land tier and over-developed and over-used the land, Linden Lab took exception at the increased CPU drain on their servers, and raised prices. (more…)

I heard some intriguing presentations this week about education in Second Life, but I happen know that there is an open-source, free (?) alternative called “Croquet.” Do any of you have experience with Croquet vs. Second Life? I’d love to hear about it in the comments. I attended two talks, hoping that someone would compare different platforms, or at least give the audience a chance to ask questions, but no such luck.

I think these multi-user virtual environments are really interesting, but I have some reservations about educational institutions making substantial investments in building infrastructure inside of an environment that belongs to a single company, Linden Labs. It would be nice to know why an educational group picked one environment vs. another. (more…)