Author: Mariis

Lively 3D chat .. so what?

Mariis2 Comments

There has been a lot of talk about Google’s latest addition, Lively. And I did actually create a room a couple of days ago ..

I created the room from the windows part of my MacBook Pro (this is exactely the argument for keeping the windows part!), but it is rather annoying that I can’t access via the Mac part..

So I guess I’ll let others analyze this new virtual environment for now. At RezED I just stumbled on an interview with Sandra Andrews (Arizona State University) made in SL by Jeremy Kemp from (San Jose State University):

In this 30-minute interview, Sandra Andrews, Education Technologist working on the Lively platform for nearly a year, outlines general features, strengths and weaknesses of Lively as a teaching and learning tool and just a few hints on what’s next.

Some of the major advantages of Lively seem to be:

  • Easy to access (link to your Google profile and log-in information, small download)
  • Privacy (as a room owner you control access)
  • Good educational gadgets (e.g. video)
  • Text chat
  • Avatars and 3D setting (limited customizing!

Sandra Andrews also points out that Lively still is an emerging technology, and it it’s dangerous to compare it too much to Second Life .

As Dusan Writer notes Lively may be more of a social networking 3D space as opposed to a 3D world. And then as Jose C. Gomez states in his review for now Lively may be just another application bugging down the Internet .. Or at least as stated above “a work in progress” ..

/Mariis

Higashiosaka – NpIRL

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Not possible in real life (NpIRL) group founder, Bettina Tizzy sent a tp to Higashiosaka. It’s a very special sim made by a Japanese designer, Jigoku Landman. Higashiosaka apparently refers to Japans buddhist hell – I actually saw a clear resemblance with the Inferno in Dantes Divine Comedy and I think this type of remediation could be useful in litterature studies .. a bit like the Danteworlds project .. only 3D :-)

It’s difficult to explain what goes on on this animated sim … you need to go there to fully appreciate this experience ..

/Mariis

MILs meeting spot in the air

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Ok, the super-hero look didn’t work for me, so I had to change my looks .. this time with a real hero on the t-shirt ..


L. Cohen near the heart!

To change my appearance privately, I went up in the air to MILs meeting spot.


MILs airbourne meeting spot

It is a less respectful remediation compared to our office on ground, and some students find it difficult to associate this type of rough environment with the MIL education.

It is however good to have a place to meet more privately, and if you right click on the steel bars next to the ventilator the room will change since Dr. Asp build it as a holodeck.

If you fall down you’ll land right next to a beautiful old mill in the outskirts of WD1 ..


There is a reason why it’s called Wonderful Denmark :-)

/Mariis

Relay for Life

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With virtual worlds new opportunities arise, and I think that one of the more exiting ways of using virtual worlds is fundraising. No doubt you reach a different audience through virtual worlds. This weekend Relay for Life is hosting a big fundraiser spread out on 35 Heroes Islands.

A similar event in 2007 helped to raise over US $115,000 in total. It’s possible to monitior this years donations from the RFLofSL event site.

Last night I attended a live concert with Tony Uriza, who apparently lost his mother to cancer, and there was an atmosphere of hope and fight for survival with many avatars holding different type of RLF flags.

Of course it’s possible to donate Lindens everywhere on the islands ..

On the avenue leading to Shea Stadium there’s an exhibition by SL artist Byron Oh


Jethopper



Fishbot

Some of the events have also been broadcasted via SLCN.tv

One of the activities is a scavenger/cancer education hunt, and I found one of these inside the Trojan Horse on Heroes19.

Unfortunately I kept loosing my wig, when climbing the rope …

On Heroes3 I got me a nice horse – it was also a place showing pictures of RL cancer survivors.


Demo horse – only to be worn once


Survivors displayed

At the end of the day, I wanted to try out a super-hero costume …

It didn’t really suit me … guess I’m not much of a hero … and now I’m struggeling to get back into (my) shape!

/Mariis

Leonard Cohen in SL

Mariis1 Comment

On July 5th I had the immense pleasure of seeing Leonard Cohen in concert in Copenhagen. It was a very emotional experience that I will not forget any time soon. I’ve been a fan of this gentleman for almost 30 years now, and I listen to him nearly every day.

Now it has come to my attention that there is a Cohen club in SL, and naturally I had to check it out ..


The Club seen from the waterfront


The dancefloor and the bar on the left


The danceflooor seen from the dj’s spot


Relaxing with a beautiful view

I’ve joined the group behind the club which has 143 other members at the moment. I’ve never been a member of a fan club before, so I not quite sure on what to expect. It seems there will be happenings and there is nice easygoing jazz coming out from the speakers, when there are no arrangements.

/Mariis