Serious Virtual Worlds and STEM
Dave Taylor MSc MBCS
Programme Lead, Virtual Worlds Handheld Learning
Medical Media and Design Lab
Imperial College, London October 14th 2008
SL: Davee Commerce
Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology

About me ….
20 years of New Media
1980 - 1st PC network
Apple Computer
1984 - IBM PC, Macintosh
1987 - Desktop Publishing
Letraset, Adobe
1990 - Multimedia
Letraset, Adobe, Pixar
1995 - Web, eCommerce
& Intranet platforms
VP Global Web Marketing,
Esselte (a multi-brand
multinational)
2005 - Web 2.0 and
Virtual Worlds
NPL, Imperial College
1982:
eMail and Office automation at Citibank, Reuters and CCTA (now the OGC)
Illustrated: Apple II network with file, email and viewdata servers

Summary
• 3D Virtual Worlds, Communities and Networking
• Second Life Main and Teen grids
• STEM examples
• Practical Issues

Virtual worlds Definition: 3D online persistent world with a sense of
presence and simultaneous experience in context
Examples
Habbo Hotel
Second Life
ActiveWorlds
Entropia
Universe
There
MultiVerse
Vast Park
Metaplace
Club Penguin
(pre-teen)
WebKins (pre-
teen)
Google Lively
Source: http://www.virtualworldsreview.com

UK Education Institutions in Second Life
• Active development at over 80% of UK
Universities
• Mostly team driven rather than individuals
• FE use much lower (2 cited in report)
• Some use in schools. But mostly in collaboration
with a University
Source: John Kirriemuir, Eduserv Foundation Sept 2008

Serious Virtual Worlds (represented by Second Life)
COMMUNITY SHARED IMMERSION
• Environment
• Events • Experiences • Experiences
• Collaboration • Visualisation
• Meetings • Information
• Networking LEARNING • Engagement
DESIGN
INNOVATION
WORK

Seriously, why Second Life?
Characteristics of a virtual world
Courtesy of Claus Nehmzow, Method
Real
Asynchronous
time
Paper Email Web Blogs IM/Chat Phone Face-to-face
Virtual World
Isolated Shared
Web Phone Email Blogs IM/Chat Webcast Face-to-face
Virtual World
group identity/individual
Anonymous Identified
anonymity
IM/Chat Blogs Webcast Email Phone Face-to-face
Virtual World
Multi-
Simple Media Voice text graphics video interactive models games
media
Phone Email IM/Chat Webcast Blogs Web Face-to-face
Virtual World

3D Virtual Worlds and the World Wide Web
Website Island
(with related links)
Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology

3D Virtual Worlds as Social Spaces
SciLands Movie: Stephanie Gerson, Woodrow Wilson Center
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.item&news_id=393493
SciLands – founded Dec 06
NASA, NPL, NOAA
Imperial College London
UK Government Depts (BERR/
DIUS/DCSF)
Nanotechnology (NPL)
CSIRO
National Institutes of Health
JPL, NSS, Mars Institute
SF Exploratorium
The Tech Museum
University of Denver
University of Loughborough
Website
Elon University
Island
Texas Wesleyan University
Memorialrelated links)
(with Sloane-Kettering
Cancer Center The SciLands
Princeton Institute of Advanced
Research Isolated
Science Friday
Naked Scientists
Community

Second Life – Teaching Resources
Platform Consider
• Main Grid 18+ • Tours
• Teen Grid 13-17 • Machinima
• Age Verification • Assignment
• Many educational presentations
builds – free to view • Free to visit
(Main grid) • www.scilands.org
• Specific projects on
Teen Grid may
require island or land
rental

Knowledge Transfer at the International Spaceflight Museum: Opened June 2006
The power of Immersive social environments for International Conferences and Networking

Project work – interactive experiences in a public arena

NPL’s Pavilion at the International Spaceflight Museum:
Opened June 2006 Spaceflight museum: 1600-2000 visitors/week
TRUTHS exhibit: 20-30/day Avg stay: 3 mins
NASA CoLab

Case Study: Schome Park in Teen SL
Source: http://www.schome.ac.uk/wiki/Space_Experiment

Muvenation – distance education course on use of
virtual worlds
• participation of girls in mathematics, science
and technology.
• improvement of boys’ reading literacy.
• participation in the education of children and
young people with disabilities.
• the fight against drop outs.
• cross-fertilisation between informal and formal
learning environments.
• smooth and successful transition between
school and work.
Source: http://muvenation.org/
Applicants must be either teachers in active service of primary or secondary schools or graduate applicants who wish to become future teachers.

Healthcare and learning experiences in Second Life
• 3D Anatomy and Physiology
• Patient Groups in Second Life
• Surgeons in Second Life
• Second Health and NHS London (public engagement)
• 3D Visualisations and movies
• Simulated Operating Suites and Patiens
• Patient Safety

Anatomy and Physiology

Collaborative Communities: Patient Groups
Patient group meeting: May 2006
Patient groups in Second Life:
Alcoholics Neurological Disorders Mental Health Irritable Bowel Symptom
Accessibility Nutrition Cluster Headache Aging
ADD/ADHD Obsessive Ambulatory Counseling Leukemia and Lymphoma
Agoraphobia Disorder Chrohns and Colitis Facial Differences
Cancer Organ donors Deaf community Loss, death and bereavement
Aids/HIV Polycystic Ovary Dementia Manic depression
Alzheimers Syndrome
Depression Muscular Dystrophy
Sign Language Users Chronic Pain
Diabetes Mobility Impaired
Social Anxiety Psychosis
Disability Mental Health
Autistic Spectrum Disorders/ Prostate Cancer
Red Cross Multiple Sclerosis
Aspergers Self Harm
Endometriosis Multiple Personality Disorder
Blind/Visually impaired Sexual Health
Fibromyalgia Smoking
Bipolar Epilepsy
Dissociative Identity
Borderline Personality Social Anxiety Disorder
Disorder Spina Bifida Horses for healing
Babies Traumatic Brain Injury Hospices
Breast Cancer Sensory and Motor
Disability
Substance Misuse
Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology
Sources: slhealthy.wetpaint.com and HealthInfo Island

Imperial College: International Virtual Association of
Surgeons, Apr 2008
47 Delegates
8 Professors, 5 countries
Surgeons have held conferences in Second Life
Leong et al. BMJ.2008; 337: a683

Second Health
• Future of health care
provision in London
• Need for visualisation of
strategy
Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology

Second Health: Interactive environment with peer
to peer communication
Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology

Second Health – London access to care in the age of
Polyclinics http://www.secondhealth.org
Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology

Real simulated patient in a real simulated operating theatre

Virtual Hospital - Simulated Patients
Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology

Research: Virtual Worlds Technology Enhances
Medical Student Training In The Operating Room
Kinross J, Umrani I, Woo K, Thomas P, Arora S, Taylor D, Sevdalis N, Aggarwal R, Kneebone R, Darzi A.
n=33.
Virtual worlds group less stressed about
visiting real world OR (P=<0.004)
Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology

Synthesis of art and technology ‘Watch the World(s) by Rob Wright
University of Hertfordshire
Courtesy Melanie Swan, MS Futures Group, Architects in SL Group, Robbie Dingo

Laser Laboratory Safety Movie

Example: Data visualisation/ mashup

Serious Virtual Worlds (represented by Second Life)
COMMUNITY SHARED IMMERSION
• Environment
• Events • Experiences • Experiences
• Collaboration • Visualisation
• Meetings • Information
• Networking LEARNING • Engagement
DESIGN
INNOVATION
WORK

Second Life – Teaching Resources
Platform Consider
• Main Grid 18+ • Tours
• Teen Grid 13-17 • Machinima
• Age Verification • Assignment
• Many educational presentations
builds – free to view • Free to visit
(Main grid) • www.scilands.org
• Specific projects on
Teen Grid may
require island or land
rental

Second Life – Practical Issues
• Orientation/Learning Curve
• School/College/LA firewalls
• Gaming specification PC or laptop
• Broadband
• Main grid/Teen grid (13-17) – there are other
VWs for younger people (eg. Habbo Hotel)
• Mobile access (future)
• Open source server (opensim)
• IP issues

THANK YOU
www.nanodave.com
www.secondhealth.org
www.tinyurl.com/mmdl-icl
SL: Davee Commerce
dave.taylor@imperial.ac.uk