Games are increasingly seen as a way to address human needs, from the intimate work of maintaining social relationships to the pragmatic benefits of games for learning, health, and social change. If we hope to design games that address these needs, we must understand how people create meaning with, through, and around games. How do specific game design decisions impact the way players think, feel, and behave? What kinds of imaginative and social affordances can games provide players? And what kinds of problems are most appropriate to solve with games in the first place? This talk explores the complex interaction between game design, user experience, and real-world problems through the lens of game-based research projects on discrimination, smoking, and history.
Via cms.mit.edu

As popular as social networking portal Facebook is these days, no amount of apps and widgets can remove the limitation of Facebook being a website. There are limited ways in how Facebook users can interact with each other as opposed to individuals who reside in multiuser virtual environments like Second Life. Shared space, collaborative environment, and room for user created content all facilitate creativity at the individual and group level that for Ward and Sonneborn (2011), researchers at University of Alabama and Syracuse University, is worth taking a peek at in order to further our understanding about the nature of creativity.
Via www.examiner.com

Today, Hamlet Au wrote a column suggesting that the OpenSim user base is shrinking — and used Hypergrid Business numbers to support his position.The short answer to his question is: No, OpenSim usage is not falling, and the numbers do not support this. In fact, it is growing quite well.The reason being — the numbers Au is citing aren’t the full numbers, not even for the top 40 largest grids. In particular, InWorldz has only released its active user numbers once, last month, when it was at 4,500 active users. And New World Grid, one of the largest grids, stopped reporting active user numbers this fall.Assuming that both have been growing steadily, in line with the growth on other grids — and in line with their region growth — that would show a very different picture.
Via www.hypergridbusiness.com

One of the new functions in upcoming 3DS love-sim New Love Plus is something called Dokodemo Date, or Date Anywhere.This augmented-reality (AR) feature takes a photo of your physical surroundings with the 3DS’s back-facing lenses, analyses the data, before inserting your chosen virtual girlfriend right into the shot, where they’ll animate and play around in 3D space.
Via sgcafe.com

It is hard to know what is happening with user numbers in Second Life. From my empirical experience I would say they are growing because I meet so many new people now, but it is hard to find real numbers to back up that opinion. What I do think is coming clear is the nature of OpenSim and the reasons for the popularity of Second Life.
Via blog.nalates.net

Robin Teigland, Paul Di Gangi, and Zeynep Yetis recently finished an academic paper based on their research of the OpenSim Community. Below is the abstract. If you have any questions about their research, please do not hesistate to contact them.Setting the Stage: Exploring Sustainability of a Private-collective Community
Abstract
While the nature of the firm has long been established as the dominant form of organizing for value creation, emergent forms of organizing such as the private-collective community model have recently gained attention from researchers and practitioners. Little is known about how such communities, where private goods from stakeholders are shared and freely distributed among a public collective, sustain themselves. The purpose of this research is to examine how the resources, stakeholders, and overarching network structure in which these are embedded influence the sustainability of the community. Using semi-structured interviews, archival data, and social network analysis, we explore these items in detail and provide initial findings from an ongoing research study of the OpenSim community. We conclude with future directions, expected contributions, and the limitations of this line of research.

Via nordicworlds.net

On January 12, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals an exciting new 3D GUI for iOS mobile devices. The new UI will work with proximity sensor arrays and will respond to hovering gestures. The Crazy Ones in Cupertino have been working on advanced 3D GUIs for some time now. We first learned of a major 3D GUI project back in 2009 that involved using head tracking technology. Then in early 2010 we learned of Apple’s first project relating to a 3D GUI for iOS devices. Later that year Apple 3D multifunctional widgets and over time revealed advanced 3D and hovering based gesturing for CAD users on an iPad. With twenty times the GPU power coming to iOS devices over the next year, Apple appears to paving the way for a new 3D GUI for mobile devices in the not-too-distant future.
Via www.patentlyapple.com

Online shoppers may be able to buy clothes in their pajamas, but they never know just how well those purchases will actually fit.That problem may soon be history — thanks to a breakthrough piece of augmented reality technology from Bodymetrics.The company has partnered with PrimeSense on a 3D body-mapping product to be revealed this week at CES 2012. The product uses PrimeSense 3D sensors, much like those used for Microsoft Kinect, to scan a user’s height and waist size, as well as the other shapes and curves that make a body unique. After creating an account, users will be able to virtually try on clothes from partner retailers to get a true sense of how potential purchases fit.The 3D body-mapping will be available for preview at CES, but Bodymetrics is still fine-tuning its business model — including its final price, which the company said will be approximately $150.
Via mashable.com

The following is a selection from the Press Release surrounding the court’s ruling that Bethesda (makers of Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls series) and ZeniMax Media have reclaimed sole rights to create a Fallout IP MMO. No longer will Interplay be able to create an online game based on the Fallout IP, as that right now exclusively lies in ZeniMax and Bethesda’s hands. Whether that means we’ll actually be seeing a Bethesda Fallout Online anytime real soon is another story, but come on… that’s kind of the point, right?
Via www.mmorpg.com

Libraries, librarians and library associations have historically been some of the most active nonprofit groups in Second Life, establishing an entire archipelago of library-related islands during their heyday. The American Library Association is one of the most prestigious and well-known library associations, and so their island closing is a major loss to the virtual world.See their blog for some history and background on ALA’s activities in Second Life. We’ll approach them for a comment on why they decided to close the island after all these years.
Via www.betterverse.org