Virtual Worlds Explorations and Implications is a keynote address for the Association for Information Technology Professionals (AITP). These slides discuss business and IT concerns, virtual worlds statistics and provide visual examples from Second Life. Content and photos by Cynthia Calongne. Licensed under a Creative Commons Share Alike with Attribution License.

1. Virtual Worlds Explorations and Implications Dr. Cynthia Calongne Institute for Advanced Studies Colorado Technical University Association for Information Technology Professionals February 19, 2009 Licensed under a Creative Commons Share Alike with Attribution License

2. The Future Looms Near 80% of the world’s active Internet users will be in a virtual world by the end of 2011 (Gartner, 2007) Are you ready? Cover slide: An avatar stands on the Statue of Liberty at Ramapo A class meets in Second Life

3. Chart Copyright © 2007 by the Virtual Environments Info Group http://www.virtualenvironments.info In April 2008 - over 100 youth-oriented virtual worlds active or in development In Aug 2008 - it grew to over 150 virtual worlds In Jan 2009 - over 200 virtual worlds 59 have microtransactions 57 require subscriptions 46 use advertising From Virtual Worlds Management by Show Initiative http://www.virtualworldsmanagement.com/2009/youth-01-26-2009.html

5. Virtual Worlds - Science Fiction or Fact? Using a Tardis at the New Media Consortium Symposium Nov 2008

8. What can you do inside Dr. Who’s Tardis? A navigation map of SL regions in the Tardis Navigating between Second Life’s regions Inside the NMC’s Tardis There are a variety of ways to teleport between SL sites. This Tardis in SL was exhibited at an NMC symposium

10. Virtual Training at MyBase Second Life region for AF virtual world projects and game simulations

11. AF Global Learning Forum - Serious Game Simulation - to rescue relief workers

12. Metanomics in Second Life

13. National Physics Laboratory Presentation on the innovations in nanotechnology

14. Lyr explores the Nanotechnology Lab. Interactive objects demonstrate the procedure and give info on notecards Field Trips to Science Sites

15. Science Comes to Life The National Physics Laboratory presents the advances in Nanotechnology Interactive Nano Labs

16. Eric McLuhan in Second Life SLCN machinima October 27, 2007 http://slcn.tv/media-ecology-eric-mcluhan

17. Blended Reality Conferences A MacArthur Foundation panel on games in education answers an avatar’s question. Alternatively, a chat bridge can integrate web and Second Life participants

18. Stepping inside the content during a conference presentation

19. CTU exhibit booth at the NMC Rock the Academy Symposium 2008

20. Meeting Minds in Immersive Literature Roleplay and conflict, an immersive literature experience for teens on the Teen Grid Suffern Middle School students at Ramapo portrayed the roles from the book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Imagine living the scenes from literature and history rather than memorizing them. A juror hollers “Boo!” when Curley takes the stand

21. Literature Comes Alive Literary discussion of The Charge of the Light Brigade at Caledon Library

22. Does this look like your office? Meetings in an underwater office. Come on in! The water’s fine!

25. Content Creation Ryl mentors an 8th Grade student on the Teen grid as he applies a script to a keyboard override he created with futuristic display textures. It appears when he types and disappears when he is silent. At Ramapo on the Teen Grid

28. The floating book holds handouts as Lyr prepares for class

30. Modeling in Second Life A self-guided tutorial for building a 20-minute project

32. How do virtual worlds become successful endeavors? Create good content that reflects your company’s brand. Yet, businesses fail when they create lovely, empty sites. People and interaction makes a site come alive. Visitors share experiences, interact with products, explore services and enjoy virtual world activities. Let’s look at some educational examples.

33. Colorado Tech Island Virtual learning space, alumni center and live music festivals

34. Sharing Educational Content Student projects are displayed on the Boardwalk

35. Experimental Design Classrooms Open spaces where CTU students experiment, explore ideas, create content and learn from their mistakes. Imaginative setting in a class sandbox

36. The Value of Interactivity Human barometer activity Futuring and Innovation students take a stand CTU students shop for academic regalia at the NMC Orientation island

37. Student and instructor robots on a public class space A 3-week course activity with real world, virtual, and 2D robot designs Amusement park of student projects on a private space Students choose the preferred class location

38. CS 672 First day in class Student Projects Monorail and rollercoaster Ferris wheel rotation problem & duck shoot Duck shoot

39. CS 820 Winter 2008 Class Newsstand for low vision users, Electronic Voting Machine Refrigerator for wheelchair use From early ideas to testable projects Students collaborate and work independently

40. Early Skill Development Students new to SL learn to build and texture for class activities

41. Students new to a virtual world create low fidelity interface designs and conduct usability tests in a virtual world

42. Project Prototypes Newsstand for the low vision users; selecting option 4 to hear Refrigerator for wheelchair users; shelves move out and down

44. Community Collaboration Guests from other schools perform usability tests on student projects TCC Online Worldwide Conference attendees visit to examine student work

45. Are You Ready for the Future? We are at the crossroads, gazing at the future. How do we leverage this capability to our best advantage? Photo: Preparing for An Air Force Global Learning Forum Event at the MyBase region in Second Life, a Huffman Prairie design

54. Virtual Worlds Explorations and Implications Dr. Cynthia Calongne Lyr Lobo in Second Life http://ctusoftware.blogspot.com www.slideshare.net/lyrlobo Twitter Lyrlobo For more information Lyr Lobo http://www.slideshare.net/lyrlobo For a copy of these slides, visit: