Second Chances

Cherilyn Parsons, in a Special to the San Francisco Chronicle wrote

“As I write those words, I can hear the scoffing. Pathetic! Escapist! Are you addicted to computer games? Do you have no friends? Second Life? That place is just about weird sex fantasies!

“By June 2008, more than 14 million people had joined (second life) . . more people went “in-world,” or participated in, Second Life in the 30 days of June than live in all of San Francisco, which is the home of Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life.  …No wonder analysts at Gartner, a leading technology research company, predict that three years from now 8 in 10 Internet users will work or play in virtual spaces.

“It has, in short, all the trauma and pain of real life, and some cautions are in order when it comes to seeking psychological support.

“But maybe because it’s a dream realm, hopefulness abounds. Nowhere is that truer than in Second Life’s support groups, which help people cope with everything from cancer, depression, bipolar disorder and autism, to caretaker stress. There are more than 70 such groups, according to Second Life’s Health Support Coalition. Most are secular. While a few groups are facilitated by associations such as the American Cancer Society, peers run most.

“As expressed on the Web site, www.supportforhealing.com, associated with Second Life’s Support for Healing Island, “we are NOT and never will replace the help of professionals … but purely hold a safe place for people to come when they need a shoulder.”

“A year ago, before I had explored Second Life, I would have laughed at the idea of virtual shoulders. How can a person possibly be “real” via an avatar anyway - much less have a meaningful conversation with a puppy dog, barmaid, elf, or wilder avatar appearance such as a blob or a tree? It’s hard enough to trust someone in real life, much less “second life.”

Then again, what better place to connect our yearning selves with other yearning selves than in a space of mutual creation - a place where those very selves can be one’s unconscious made manifest? Indeed, avatar, in its original Sanskrit, refers to the descent of the soul in human form.

“Click, clack: When I rose from my hourlong anxiety group meeting, I felt seen and heard in the deepest part of me - more so, in fact, than in some “real life” interactions, where we often put up fronts.

“You’re not alone, the group told me.

“Nor are you.”

You’ll want to know about this one:

“This fall, the Institute for the Future invites you to play Superstruct, the world’s first massively multiplayer forecasting game. It’s not just about envisioning the future—it’s about inventing the future. Everyone is welcome to join the game. Watch for the opening volley of threats and survival stories, September 2008.

“This is a game of survival, and we need you to survive.

“Super-threats are massively disrupting global society as we know it. There’s an entire generation of homeless people worldwide, as the number of climate refugees tops 250 million. Entrepreneurial chaos and “the axis of biofuel” wreak havoc in the alternative fuel industry. Carbon quotas plummet as food shortages mount. The existing structures of human civilization—from families and language to corporate society and technological infrastructures—just aren’t enough. We need a new set of superstructures to rise above, to take humans to the next stage.

“You can help. Tell us your story. Strategize out loud. Superstruct now.

“It’s your legacy to the human race.

“Want to learn more about the game? Read the Superstruct FAQ.

Jamais Cascio, http://www.openthefuture.com/ & future thought leader is my source on this. Don’t be left out. Also see: Community Leader Openings

Adam-n-Eve offering in 12 colors, at about a buck US each with all proceeds to the ASPCA

Virtual Worlds News reports that “An April launch for three new products held in Second Life and attracted almost 500 people throughout the day cost Microsoft only $4000. Microsoft told Erica Driver, former analyst for Forrester and now co-founder of ThinkBalm, now that the company  has developed its virtual assets and can reuse them, it costs about 1/3 of the price of a comparable physical event to run a virtual event. The price-per-head only gets better as you add more attendees. More importantly, attendees reported positively about the learning experience.

“That’s led Microsoft Developer Network evangelist Zain Naboulsi to encourage the rest of the company to adopt more virtual worlds technology. Even better for him, the various in-world successes have prompted community members themselves to begin working on a more heavy-duty virtual environment for OpenSim that integrates with Microsoft’s  office and productivity software.”

[via ThinkBalm]

I don’t find the article well written overall, but the points pointing to the importance of enabling the use of virtual technology to connect, rather than seen as addictive behavior, are valid. For example:

“consider a person with a physical disability in which face-to-face communication is difficult to achieve. For someone with limited mobility or large amounts of pain, getting out of the house may range from impractical to impossible. Consider sufferers of social anxieties, or autistic folk, who are barely able to communicate face-to-face, but whom are liberated by the digital space.”

The first part of this article covered information most of us already had. But the oil rigs? All news to me:

“other companies are carving out parts of Second Life as their own. They are creating employee-only islands and office buildings, then encouraging their staff to meet there. Compared with plane tickets and hotel bills, it’s not that expensive: A 16-acre private island in Second Life costs $1,000 plus a $295 monthly maintenance fee.

“Forrester Research, a respected company that focuses on the technology industry, recently highlighted the potential for its clients in a report titled “Getting Real Work Done in Virtual Worlds.”

“Swiss construction giant Implenia, for instance, worked with IBM Corp. to test ways to turn off lights in real buildings by flipping virtual switches in Second Life. The University of Maryland simulated a highway emergency and had participants respond in a different virtual world, designed by Forterra Systems Inc. And a company called Qwaq created a zone of oil rigs, refineries and offices to enable energy professionals to walk through their properties and discuss repairs while viewing actual equipment.

“Virtual worlds are relatively inexpensive, don’t require a great deal of start-up technology infrastructure and provide a naturalistic, immersive approach to simulating space, people and objects,” wrote Forrester analysts Erica Driver and Paul Jackson.

“IBM, which has nearly 387,000 employees in 170 countries, began building in Second Life in late 2006. Now, about 5,000 workers visit Second Life and other virtual worlds to conduct meetings, train employees and hold orientation sessions.”