Second Life in 3600 seconds

Slide 1: March 2007 Second Life in 3600 seconds or “My life in the bush of avatars” Andy Powell, Eduserv Foundation andy.powell@eduserv.org.uk www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation

Slide 2: Second what? www.secondlife.com • 3-D virtual world • run by Linden Lab • ‘proprietary’, but public commitment to open standards and OSS • populated by avatars, aka residents • a ‘metaverse’ (from the book: Snow Crash) Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 3: So it’s just a game right? • looks and feels like a image by J0@nn@ @ flickr.com gaming environment • but no purpose as such – use it to buy / sell, entertain, learn, • can use SL to collaborate, … build games – including shoot ‘em ups • but such activities frowned • do not approach it on in public simply as a game – spaces you’ll be disappointed! Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 4: Ain’t you got a first life mate? Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 5: Joining SL • two steps – register – install client software • note technical requirements Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 6: What does it cost? • basic accounts are free • need to pay monthly subscription ($10) to own land • land can be quite expensive • ‘land use fees’ for owning more than smallest plot Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 7: Naming / identity • every avatar has a name • chosen at registration • can’t be changed • though can have ‘Alt’s • mine is Art Fossett - not an anagram! Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 8: Identity / appearance • on the Internet no one knows you’re a dog • in SL no one knows you’re a bloke • appearance can be changed instantly • wings and tails (‘furries’) seem oddly popular! Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 9: Communication • chat • IM • group IM • IM <-> email • no in-built support for voice • promised soon • but residents have added Skype integration Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 10: Getting around • walking • flying • teleporting – locally via scripted objects – longer distances via ‘landmarks’ • in-world search engine • locations exposed to Web as SLURLs Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 11: Virtual land • rent or buy • needed for permanent buildings – shops, galleries, universities • mainland areas • private islands (~$1000 for non-profits) • issues with ‘land barons’ buying up available land and selling for profit Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 12: Building stuff • anyone can build • in sandboxes or on own land • objects made out of basic building blocks – prims (cubes, spheres, …) • prim limits usually apply • prims can be textured for realism – but uploading costs L$10 • objects as HUDs Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 13: Scripting • scripted objects • C++ like, event-driven language • move, change shape, etc. • interact via clicking, chat, sensing the env. • modify avatar behaviour • in-world physics engine Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 14: Multimedia • limited integration of audio and video files • SL client has built-in support for Quicktime • can play anything that QT supports • pulled in from URL associated with land parcel • however, significant limitations currently Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 15: SL and Web 2.0 • scripting language can issue HTTP GET and POST requests • can integrate with Web 2.0 services • but significant limitations currently • no built-in HTML, XML or JSON parsers so need to parse externally • SLURLs can be bookmarked in del.icio.us • some good examples – Second Talk, SLoodle, SLtwitter, BlogHUD, RSS readers Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 16: IPR • IPR on in-world objects rests with creator • e.g. rights to game designed in-world subsequently sold to Nintendo by its creator • however, objects essentially remain locked in-world Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 17: Money • in-world currency • Linden dollar (L$) • $1 = ~L$280 • fluctuates • but supply influenced by Linden Lab • currency market to buy and sell L$ Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 18: Commerce • many big brands in SL • hype => presence • some criticism from older residents that SL is becoming a ‘brandscape’ Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 19: Entertainment • hard to tell hype from reality • some experimental use of SL to host events and/or mirror RL events • e.g. BBC One Big Weekend • but significant problems with scalability Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 20: Machinima • the use of SL to create movies • application in film studies and related areas • of interest because the techniques are the same but costs significantly lower Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 21: Crime image by ay1ene @ flickr.com • not a significant issue (yet!) • some anti-social behaviour • some reports of people pretending to be shop owners when they are not • some reports of fraud around land sales • one major incident of hacking into SL databases Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 22: Hype • SL very over-hyped • significant complaints that stats are misleading • i.e. worse than Web stats • LL have improved the way they report usage but… • SL also (inappropriately) touted as Web NG Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 23: Demographics Average Age Country % Adult United States 31.19% Age % Grid France 12.73% 13-17 1.23% 33 Germany 10.45% 18-24 27.16% United Kingdom 8.08% 25-34 38.88% Netherlands 6.55% Average Age Spain 3.83% on Teen Brazil 3.77% Grid 35-44 21.13% Canada 3.30% 45 + 11.61% 15 Belgium 2.63% F M Italy 1.93% 2006 September 43.76% 56.24% Australia 1.48% 2006 October 42.65% 57.35% Switzerland 1.29% 2006 November 42.14% 57.86% Japan 1.29% 2006 December 41.42% 58.58% Sweden 0.95% 2007 January 41.11% 58.89% Denmark 0.88% 2007 February 41.07% 58.93% China 0.61% Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 24: Time • SL runs on US West Coast time (GMT-8) • many events tend to run on that basis • SL tends to be empty during our working day • actually, SL tends to look empty, full-stop! • in-world daylight hours run on 4 hour cycle Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 25: Gambling and porn • both exist… in abundance! • as with early Web, both areas quick to exploit the technology • indicative of flexibility? • causes problems because of load on ‘sims’ • not possible to choose who your neighbours are! Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 26: SL rules • code of conduct in public spaces – no griefing / hassling of other residents – no use of offensive language – no nudity – no public sex • no police as such • but breaches can be reported to Linden Lab • areas can be explicitly marked as ‘mature’ (or for gaming) Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 27: Politics • RL politics surface in SL every so often – anti-war, anti-NF, … • SL politics also feature – pricing, land policies, IPR, open sourcing of SL software Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 28: SL and learning • widespread interest in use of SL in education • explicitly encouraged by Linden Lab • not clear that people really know how to use SL yet • but some interesting examples of use • arts, social sciences, law, psychology, archaeology, languages, … Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 29: Teen Second Life • note that SL is segregated • Teen SL (14-18) and SL (18+) • no cross-over allowed except in limited cases (e.g. teachers) • well enforced • presumably to prevent threat of legal action in US Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 30: SL and research • even less clear what is possible here • but note that Nature Publishing have an island (‘Second Nature’) • speaking at our symposium in May Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 31: SL in context • SL is one of many virtual worlds • there.com, World of Warcraft, Entropia Universe, Active Worlds, … • not clear that SL is the answer • SL client now released as open source • clear demand for server to made OSS also • some commitment to this by LL (partly because people are reverse-engineering the server anyway) Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 32: Conclusions… • too much hype • no clear best-practice (or even much practice) around e-learning • high technical requirements • no voice integration • but… useful experimental environment • building and scripting environment very powerful • seems likely that 3-D virtual worlds of some kind will be part of the future Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007

Slide 33: Four examples… Eduserv lunchtime seminar March 2007