Merged realities – events and issues for virtual worlds

virtualtreeline1. Aussie Second Life resident Juanita Deharo is part of a new art project called Virtual Treeline, with an associated blog.

2. The Chinese government are further expanding their control of virtual worlds, with social games the latest target according to TechCrunch.

3. Earlier this year we covered PIVOTE, which was being used to undertake paramedic training in Second Life. The platform has now won the Times Higher Education award for Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year.

4. Novicraft, a HR and training-focused virtual environment, now has a blog devoted to its further development.

5. Linden Lab have announced that the beta of Linden Homes is open. They’ve also started promoting SL Pro, an in-world conference for content creators coming up in February.

6. This paper on gender roles in MMOs is well worth a read. The abstract:

Several hypotheses regarding the importance of gender and relationships were tested by combining a large survey dataset with unobtrusive behavioral data from 1 year of play. Consistent with expectations, males played for achievement-oriented reasons and were more aggressive, especially within romantic relationships where both partners played. Female players in such relationships had higher general happiness than their male counterparts. Contrary to stereotypes and current hypotheses, it was the female players who played the most. Female players were also healthier than male players or females in the general population. The findings have implications for gender theory and communication-oriented methods in games and online research—most notably for the use of self-reported time spent, which was systematically incorrect and different by gender.

China’s virtual currency regulation and Conroy’s filter

I had the pleasure of having a chat to Radio Australia’s Ryan Egan for the 20th episode of the Tech Stream podcast. We spoke in some detail about the Chinese Government’s ban on using virtual currencies to purchase real world goods, as well as the recent flare-up in concerns around the impact of the Federal Government’s internet filtering legislation on virtual worlds.

You can listen to the edited interview here (the full version is here), plus there’s some great previous features on augmented reality and more.

I also wrote a piece for Crikey on the net filtering issue, which you can read here.

China earthquake appeal in Second Life

Metaverse developer Simuality is holding a fundraiser for the China earthquake victims.

The full details:

SIMUALITY HOSTS FUNDRAISER FOR CHINA EARTHQUAKE AID

Evanston, IL – 05/15/2008 – Metaverse developer Simuality LLC is seeking to help raise funds for relief of the horrible human tragedy in China’s Sichuan Province following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which devastated the region this week.

Hosting their appeal in the virtual world of Second Life, Simuality will be turning over the very popular Club Mannequin for a 24-hour fundraiser. The club is one of the most popular locations in Second Life, and is a hub for nightlife and designer clothing, as well as being the future cornerstone of a developing virtual fashion and entertainment district. Club Mannequin is one of the highest traffic spots in SL, featuring urban styles and hip-hop music. Special guest DJs will be on hand to keep the party going.

Prominently featured in the middle of the dance floor will be an attention-grabbing donation kiosk, with smaller versions placed around the club and in surrounding areas. The event will take place from midnight to midnight (Pacific time) on Saturday, May 17th at Club Mannequin in Second Life.

Virtual world donations are being collected in the Second Life currency of Linden Dollars. All monies collected will be donated to the International Red Cross to support their efforts to aid the hundreds of thousands of survivors of China’s major earthquake disaster.”

Check it out in-world

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