1. The Magic Circle
Realistic Expectations for Virtual Worlds

2. Before We Start (We Move Really Fast):
Definitions & Questions
Sim(ulator), Region, 16 acres... 4 by 4. 256x256m.
65,536sqm. Eight Football Fields.
Rez (from Tron, 1982): Resolution; making something.
Avatar: Hindu Deity; Ultima IV; BBS; Social Media; SL
Virtual Reality: (coined by Jaron Lanier) “Almost” Reality
Who here knows they have an avatar?
Abstract concept of Avatar? Our concept of the Avatar?
What makes an avatar?

3. What is the Magic Circle?
The Regular Rules Do Not Apply

4. Part I: Evolution &
the Avatar

5. Who are you?
Timothy Allen
University of Pennsylvania
Class of 1996
School of Arts & Sciences
Individualized Major:
Combined Psychology &
Computer Science...
...and now...

6. Who are you?
Timothy Allen
Wharton Computing
Wharton Research
Data Services (WRDS)
...and virtually...

7. Who are you?
FlipperPA Peregrine
Founding Member,
Second Life
Community Convention
SLBoutique.com

8. Who are you?
FlipperPA Peregrine
Founding Member,
Second Life
Community Convention
SLBoutique.com
OCCASIONAL BANANA

9. Who are you?
FlipperPA Peregrine
Founding Member,
Second Life
Community Convention
SLBoutique.com
STILL THIN ROCK STAR

10. Who are you?
FlipperPA Peregrine
Founding Member,
Second Life
Community Convention
SLBoutique.com
PURPLE FERAL FOX
(Why not?)

11. The point being...
THE AVATAR
Ultimate Blank Canvas
Self Expression Unleashed
A Path to Freedom
Safe, Anonymous Self
Exploration

12. Imagination, dreams,
“Inception”, blank canvas,
evolution, Facebook, Second
Life, Twitter? Avatars are
everywhere.
Get used to it.
More on that later!

13. Part II: Perception,
Participation &
Public Space

14. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:
1975 to 1980: All in the Mind
Colossal Cave Adventure, Zork & MUDs: Text & Imagination
MUD: Multi-User Dungeon

15. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:
1980 through 1990: @ is for @vatar!
Rogue / Hack / NetHack: The Genesis of Visual Representation

16. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:
1990: MOO Bring Persistence; "Not a Game"
MOO: Mud, Object-Oriented; Permanently Stored Objects

17. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:
1993: Virtual Places & the Web Revolution
Virtual Web Pages; Start of Graphical Revolution

18. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:
1993: The Palace
Social Chat: A Virtual Comic Strip, “2.5 Dimensions”

19. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:
1993: WorldsChat Space Station
Actual 3-Dimensional Perspective

20. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:
1994: ActiveWorlds
The Dawn of UGC: User Generated Content, “E-Motes”

21. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:
1999-2002: Linden Lab Founded; Second Life
The Dawn of UGC: User Generated Content, “E-Motes”

22. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:
July, 2003: The Tax Revolt
Doing the logical thing, SL Residents set themselves on
fire to protest the “prim tax.”

23. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:
November 14th, 2003: IP Rights
Linden Lab grants rights of creations to the creator;
covered in SlashDot; FlipperPA Peregrine is born.

24. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:
BTW, this WAS before Youtube, Facebook,
Flickr, Digg, Twitter & more had traction; in
fact, SL's users became their early adopters!

25. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:
December, 2003: Avalon & Rivers Run Red
London based Rivers Run Red opens the Avalon region;
the design and branding firm soon brings Adidas, the BBC,
Hermann Miller, Avril Levigne, and more to virtual worlds.

26. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:
January, 2004: Land and Prim Limits
Land “bought” from Linden Lab; more land meant more
primitives, which meant more detailed content. Full
simulators (16 acres of space as 1 CPU) begin being sold.

27. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:
January, 2004: The Crompco Virtual Station
Crompco Corporation becomes the first company to use
Second Life for corporate training; reduced time of
apprenticeship cycle from nine months to six.

28. Concepts of virtual space... are
*almost* always public.
Virtual Starwood == The Shining.
Private Space == “Security”...hehe
Like privacy in Facebook, Twitter,
or the Web, does it really exist?

29. Part III: Hyperbole,
Hysteria & Heroes

30. Remember the 2002 map? 16 total regions
(also know as “sims”, short for “simulator”)

31. In 2005, the hype is in full swing...
25,000 sims (each being 16 acres)

32. 2005: The First Second Life Community
Convention (SLCC): 150 attendees in 1L;
1000s more in 2L. “Mixed Reality”

33. The Gartner Hype Cycle of Technology

34. The Media Blitz: Major Hype

35. SLCC 2006: 450 attendees...
...and Mitch Kapor keynoting!

36. 2007: Peak of the Positive Hype
NBC, CBS, and CSI: New York

37. SLCC 2007: 1000 attendes, lots of
press, and time for us to retire!

38. The Fallout: Hype Swings Both Ways
Companies didn't engage the SL community.
Companies believed their brands were cool enough, people
would come flocking to their locations.
A community of creative minds isn't easily wooed by marketers.
Successful examples: Coca-Cola, Pontiac, IBM, Cisco, Intel
Busts: too many to list... but American Apparel was the first.

39. The Pope and Virtuality
Pope Benedict XVI has warned that people are in danger of
being unable to discern reality from fiction because of new
technologies, and not old books.
"New technologies and the progress they bring can make it
impossible to distinguish truth from illusion and can lead to
confusion between reality and virtual reality. The image can
also become independent from reality, it can give birth to a
virtual world, with various consequences -- above all the risk of
indifference towards real life," he said.

40. The Pope and Virtuality
Pope Benedict XVI has warned that people are in danger of
being unable to discern reality from fiction because of new
technologies, and not old books.
"New technologies and the progress they bring can make it
impossible to distinguish truth from illusion and can lead to
confusion between reality and virtual reality. The image can
also become independent from reality, it can give birth to a
virtual world, with various consequences -- above all the risk of
indifference towards real life," he said.
WTF, REALLY?!

41. Simon Stevens: Breaking the Rules
Independent Disability Issues
Consultant
• Cerebral palsy affect speech,
balance, hand control
• Author of "Normality", a play
about his experiences in
mainstream education
• Passion, commitment and
determination

42. Simon Stevens: Breaking the Rules
Founder of Wheelies Dance
Club in Second Life
• All are welcome!
• Fun support center for
those with disability issues
• Some disabled choose to
create avatars with
disabilities
• Some choose to walk,
dance, and fly
• ...and some...

43. Simon Stevens: Breaking the Rules
...and some...
CHOOSE TO BUILD
AWESOME ROCKET
POWERED WHEEL
CHAIRS THAT CAN
DANCE AND FLY!

44. Part IV: The Slope of
Englightenment & the Future

45. Google Apps: Are They Virtual Worlds?
Colors as Avatars, Spreadsheet as Space

46. 2010: Second Life / Vws in the Web Browser:
Viewer “in the cloud” and Canvas Appear

47. OpenSimulator: Free, Open Source Option
“Host it Yourself”, Cost-Effective, & Alpha

48. ...and in conclusion...
Unleash your imagination
Break the rules
Avoid the hype
Nothing lasts forever, embrace change
...and most importantly, have fun with it!

49. And Now: Starry Night
Timothy Allen
Contact Me:
FlipperPA Peregrine in SL (FlipperPA in just about every other
virtual world since 1995 out there)
tallen@wharton.upenn.edu
http://www.PeregrineSalon.com
http://wrds.wharton.upenn.edu
You'll find me hanging on PANMA and SLED:
http://www.PANMA.org
The Philadelphia Area New Media Association
https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/educators
Second Life Educator's Mailing List
Slides will be available on PeregrineSalon.com!