Category: News-Opinion

US Army targets Second Life and virtual worlds for healthcare

Posted on by Inara Pey

An interesting article published by the Official Home Page of the US Army came to light recently highlighting the use of virtual worlds as a part of studies into providing better healthcare and support to US soldiers and veterans.

For the last three years, Colonel Valerie Rice, Director of the US Army Research Laboratory’s Human Research and Engineering Directorate located at Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio, Texas, has been spearheading a team studying the use of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as way of teaching army personnel and veterans how to manage PTSD and similar disorders which have resulted from their military service. The work is part of a broader series of research activities funded by the US Army aimed at providing suitable care and support for those afflicted by PTSD.

Colonel Vice Rice
Colonel Valerie Rice

Mindfulness –  “being in the moment” – is a means of stress and anxiety relief using age-old techniques such as meditation and yoga to help focus and clear the mind. It has become a popular means of therapy and support in many areas of life.

The studies being undertaken by Dr. Rice and her colleagues have a twofold purpose. Firstly, to determine the effectiveness of MBSR techniques in helping US Army personnel and veterans deal with PTSD and related issues. Secondly, to identify whether a programme using these methods could be reasonably and effectively adopted by the Army for widespread use.

In this latter regard, MBSR is seen as a particularly worthwhile means of assisting service personnel and veterans because not only is it a proven means of treatment in civilian life, but also because instructors do not need to be qualified healthcare professionals; they only need to have successfully completed a comprehensive training and certification programme. This significantly eases the challenges involved in leveraging it for more widespread deployment and use.

MBSR is also something ideally suited to leveraging the use of virtual worlds, notably Second Life and All These Worlds LLC, which bring with them unique opportunities and benefits which are not necessarily achieved with courses and therapy conducted in the physical world.

The Mindfulness studies take place as 2-hour weekly sessions over a period of eight weeks apiece, and involve some 66 participants at a time, 36% of whom were soldiers on active duty, and the remaining 64% veterans. Half of each batch of participants meet face-to-face in real life, the other half in a virtual world environment.

In both the physical and the virtual environments, sessions are experiential in nature; participants in the study meet, go through various exercises designed to focus the mind, ease tension, and reduce stress. Classes as cumulative, each building on and reinforcing the last, providing techniques participants can carry with them into their daily lives. There are also opportunities for discussion and feedback on individual’s experiences with the techniques, and so on.

Those participating in the virtual classes are encouraged to physically perform the exercises rather than just perform them with their avatar. There is a high degree of interaction between session leaders and participants, and courses include homework sessions – exercises participants are asked to carry out when away from the sessions.

A US Army MBSR session being held in All These Worlds (via alltheseworldsllc.com)
A typical US Army MBSR session being held in All These Worlds (via alltheseworldsllc.com)

Virtual world environments are seen as a particularly beneficial for conducting sessions due to the level of anonymity they offer. There is still something of a stigma attached to seeking help for disorders such as PTSD which can make individuals shy away from any involvement in actual behavioural health classes due to misplaced feelings of embarrassment, inadequacy or shame. The use of what is essentially an anonymous avatar in a virtual environment helps eliminate these feelings, and any associated stress or anxiety which might otherwise be experienced.

The multiple ways in which participants can provide feedback through a virtual world is also seen as beneficial. Giving voice to the feelings, responses and emotions one is experiencing when in a public forum is not always easy. But in a virtual environment, a participant can, for example, opt to give their thoughts and feedback via IM to the session leader, who can in turn relay the salient points to the class in a way that also doesn’t cause the individual any additional stress or embarrassment. Even the use of voice morphing is seen as advantageous, as it again offers participants relief from any fear that their voice might otherwise be recognised.

Participant in both the physical and virtual studies receive "homework" assignments (via alltheseworldsllc.com)
Participants in both the physical and virtual studies receive “homework” assignments (via alltheseworldsllc.com)

Additional benefits in using virtual worlds are those of accessibility and the ability to establish social networks among peers. Writing in Advanced Computational Intelligence Paradigms in Healthcare 6, Jacquelyn Ford Morie, the founder of All These Worlds, and who also one of Dr. Rice’s collaborators in the study, notes:

Today’s returning soldiers are most likely geographically dispersed, which may make it difficult to get to centres where medical help is typically aggregated. In addition, a social support structure may be lacking, leaving veterans unable to socialise with comrades in person on a regular basis … Online shared virtual worlds, however, are easily accessed from any personal computer, and can support the formation of social networks, facilitate access to care, and provide social activities between soldiers where geography is no barrier.

Jacquelyn Ford Morie. All These Worlds, her company, has also provided virtual environments for the US Army's MBSR studies
Jacquelyn Ford Morie. All These Worlds, her company, has also provided virtual environments for the US Army’s MBSR studies

She goes on to note that most service personal today are comfortable with using technology and in playing computer games, so accessing virtual worlds should not present them with significant barriers to entry or from engaging with online communities.

Dr. Rice and her team report that taken as a whole, the MBSR courses have seen positive results across both actual and virtual sessions, with participants registering lower blood pressure, reduced anger and increased calmness in their lives, as well as  exhibiting increased energy levels and faster reactions. Her team also note that anecdotal evidence suggests that those who have participated in courses are still practicing techniques six months later.

However, the team also acknowledge that further research into the overall effectiveness of MBSR with military personnel is required before any definitive findings on its overall applicability to widespread use within the US Army can be determined.

Even so, despite the fact that such formal determination has yet to be reached, the work carried out to date is encouraging, and stands as another fascinating example of how virtual worlds can be used for the betterment of our health and welfare.

Related Links

With thanks to Ziki Questi for the initial pointer to the US Army article on this research.

LL’s mesh avatars updated

Posted on by Inara Pey

In May 2014, Linden Lab launched a new line of mesh avatars. These were made available on both the sign-up page for new users, and as library avatars within the viewer.

These avatars met with a mixed reception; many of the human avatars looked somewhat bland and perhaps suffered from weak skin textures, but some could also look pretty stunning given the inclusion of materials within them, as Caitlin Tobias powerfully demonstrated (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun).

The demon avatar supplied by LL and as pictured by Caitlyn Tobiason FlickrThe demon avatar supplied by LL and as pictured by Caitlin Tobias on Flickr – click for original

However, several of the new avatars did exhibit issues; there AOs resulted in their feet being buried in the ground, hair styles were not overly appealing. Perhaps most noticeable of all – although the avatars were promoted as taking advantage of fitted mesh, they were released with base shapes set to No Modify.

As I commented at the time of the release, making the base shapes No Modify pretty much undermined the entire fitted mesh aspect of the avatars, since it meant the avatars could not by default be customised using the shape sliders to adjust height, build, etc. To be able to do so meant swapping-out the base shape first, something new users would likely be oblivious of, and thus see the avatars as “not working”.

At the time of the launch, I raised this point directly with Ebbe Altberg, and in fairness, he took it on the chin:

fuck you

On June 10th,  The Lab announced this issue, and those relating to things like AO problems for those avatars supplied with AOs had been fixed, and the avatars duly updated.  The blog post reads in part:

Following community feedback about these new avatars, we’ve made some adjustments, and today we’re re-deploying them with a few updates.

Most significantly, users will now have the ability to edit the avatar shape for the human form avatars. Because these avatars are mesh, not all sliders will affect the shape, but many of them will. Play around and personalize the body, torso, and legs using the sliders now supported with the updated, modifiable shape. Some of the head and eyes sliders will also now work to adjust the avatars’ faces.

Additionally, Sara (the blonde female avatar) got a fuller hairdo with more body and volume, and we’ve fixed the hover position for several of the avatars which helps prevent sinking into the ground.

I’ve only had the briefest time playing with the updated avatars, but they do now appear to work as expected. Some problems still remain – the hands on some of the female avatars still look like they’d be more at home on a guy, for example, but then the avatar meshes themselves doesn’t appear to have been reworked. Some people trying them did report some inventory related issues, which I confess I’ve not had time to poke at.

As it is, the update is welcome, and hopefully will see the new avatars enjoy wider use within SL. That said, I confess I won’t be using them. I’m still a stick-in-the-mud where mesh is concerned, and anyway, I’m more than happy with my avatar as she is, shape warts and all!

The Drax Files Radio Hour interviews: defining the real and the virtual

Posted on by Inara Pey

radio-hourEpisode #22 of  The Drax Files Radio Hour was posted on Friday June 6th. With the “live” podcasts currently on hiatus until August 2014, this is the first of a series of more in-depth interviews with people from across Second Life and beyond.

As usual, and as well as being available on the show’s website and on Stitcher, episode #22 is also on YouTube, and embedded at the end of this article.

This first interview show primarily focuses on Tom Boellstorff (Tom Bukowski in SL), a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Irvine, who has studied such subjects as the anthropology of sexuality, the anthropology of globalisation, the anthropology of HIV/AIDS, and linguistic anthropology, publishing numerous books and papers along the way.

Tom has been involved with and in Second Life for over a decade, being one of the early pioneers on the platform, at a time (2004) when there were perhaps 2,000 active SL accounts and concurrency was measured in the hundreds. He has authored and co-authored two notable titles on the subject of virtual worlds in that time, namely Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human, (Princeton University Press, 2008), and Ethnography and Virtual Worlds: A Handbook of Method (Princeton University Press, 2012, co-authored with Bonnie Nardi, Celia Pearce & T. L. Taylor).

Tom’s name may also been familiar to some for his involvement in the story of Fran Swenson (Fran Seranade in SL), a Parkinson’s Disease sufferer, whom I wrote about in 2013, and who was also featured in The Drax Files: World Makers segment #13, in November 2013.

Tom Boellstorff (image: Univ. of California)
Tom Boellstorff (image: Univ. of California)

This is a wide-ranging interview, commencing at 05:06 into the recording,  which encompasses, but is not limited to, such diverse but inter-related topics as how we define – or perhaps should define – virtual worlds; the differences (and similarities) between virtual worlds and other digital spaces; the challenges of defining what is meant be “real” and what is meant by “virtual”; and a discussion on communities of intent and their role within Second Life – and SL’s role with them. Along the way there are some thought-provoking challenges to how we perhaps think about SL and how we may actually contribute, to a degree, to the broader misconceptions surrounding SL simply through the language we use when referring to it.

In terms of providing a definition of virtual worlds and virtual environments, Tom offers up the idea that they can be defined as any place or activity which allows you to “go AFK” (away from keyboard) – that is, you can stop interacting with others involved in the same space / place / activity and then return, and whatever was going on prior to your stepping away continues (and perhaps, in some cases, evolves) during your absence, and is still there where you return.

This is something of a mind-boggling concept and definition, particularly when Tom goes on to suggest that the very first virtual environment came about not in the digital era, but in the earliest days of the telephone, when two people were engaged in a conversation, and one momentarily put the telephone handset down to do something, then rejoined the conversation without actually hanging-up. As such, it’s liable to have some frowning at the idea.

However, when taken alongside his comments about place (or the sense of place), one can see where he is coming from. With place entered into the equation (actually, one of the foundations of the discussion), then it is easier to understand his contention, and to agree with his view that standalone games, as immersive to the individual as they may well be,  are not really virtual spaces in the sense that Second Life, or even a Skype call, can be considered virtual spaces. Second life continues after we log-off, the same way that life at either end of Skype call continues after the call ends; stop playing a standalone game, and that’s it, there is nothing else until you start playing it again.

Such definitions of virtual worlds might sound very academic: interesting for a thesis or a book, but with little other meaning. However, as Tom goes on to explain, this is actually not the case:

I actually think it’s very important because it is amazing how much confusion there is out there about all of these technologies. There’s a lot of misunderstanding and confusion, and so … I spend a lot of time doing definitions, and i think it is just as important as the interesting, sexy stories about the cool things people are doing, because if we don’t have a basic understanding of what we’re looking at, it really makes it hard to figure out why its important.

Continue reading “The Drax Files Radio Hour interviews: defining the real and the virtual” →

A Maze In Grace in Second life

Posted on by Inara Pey
A Maze In Grace, LEA6
A Maze In Grace, LEA6

Recently opened at LEA6 is Krystali Rabeni’s A Maze in Grace, which offers visitors a two-part maze to explore.

“Labyrinths are arguably mankind’s first creation borne purely of human imagination. Today, labyrinths and mazes cradle millennia of legend and folklore in their twisted articulations,” Krystali says of the piece. “Labyrinth and maze imagery has at different periods of time in various parts of the world been associated with all aspects of human life. It has been used as a symbol of fertility and birth, as well as one of purgatory and death. It has religious and meditative importance in Hindu, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist and Shamanic rituals.”

A Maze In Grace, LEA6
A Maze In Grace, LEA6

The starting point for this particular maze is a raised stone terrace ranged to the west of the region, and which offers visitors a note card on the installation. Much of the rest of the region has been flooded, squat grassy banks dividing the water up into channels which surround the terrace. Fours sets of steps, one on each side of the terrace, descend into the ankle-deep waters. At the foot of each set of steps is a sign admonishing people to Keep Off The Grass – a reminder that the water forms the paths of the maze, not the grassy banks.

Within these channels lie several paths which will lead the explorer around and through the region, passing through gaps in the grass banks and to the entrance to the second part of the maze. This is a classic Venus labyrinth, the labyrinth of love and creation, and itself represented by the water element, and one of the nine celestial labyrinths.

A Maze In Grace, LEA6
A Maze In Grace, LEA6

There are also a couple of secrets to be found as you journey along the watery paths, passing swans and sculptures alike. The first of these is A Maze in Grace; the second, a solitary koi carp. The koi is also reflective of the overall theme of the installation, having a strong life symbolism of it own, as described in the introductory note card.

Krystali tells visitors that as with life, there is no map to help people through this maze. The paths to the centre are many and varied; some people may opt for the short, quick routes to the Venus labyrinth, others may try for the longer paths. There is no right or wrong; but also, as Krystali says, there is no rush nor race. This is a place where you can wander with your thoughts for as long or as short a time as you like.

After all, as many in the past have noted, it is not the destination that counts, but rather the journey taken.

A Maze In Grace, LEA6
A Maze In Grace, LEA6

A Maze In Grace is a part of the LEA’s Full Sim Art series, and will be open through until the end of June 2014.

 Related links

Second Life machinima used in postgraduate law degree course

Posted on by Inara Pey

Jayjay Zifanwe (rl: Jay Jay Jegathesan, founder, UWA virtual worlds) brings word via the The University of Western Australia (UWA) in Second Life blog of how a Second Life machinima has, for the first time, been used in one of the major units for a degree programme at the university.

The film, Equity & Trusts: Estoppel Tutorial has been used within the LAWS5103 unit, Equity & Trusts, a 2nd Year compulsory postgraduate unit for the Juris Doctor (law degree), taught at the University of Western Australia. It is a collaborative effort between Metaworlds, based in Ulm, Germany, and the UWA, directed and edited by Laurina Hawks of Metaworlds and featuring a script by Professor Natalie Skead, Associate Professor – Faculty of Law at UWA.

Estoppel is a series of legal doctrines which preclude a person asserting something contrary to what has been expressed or implied by a previous statement or action by that person, or by a previous relevant judicial determination.

legal-movie
Professor Skead and students discuss the unfolding situation in the Equity & Trusts: Estoppel Tutorial movie (image courtesy of the UWA in SL blog

The film charts a situation which develops between a young student and her uncle, who initially offers to finance her tuition fees as she goes to university to study law – at his suggestion – before later withdrawing the offer.

At just under 8 minutes in length, the movie has been shown to students during tutorials designed to trigger  discussions on the Estoppel principle of law. Following the discussions, students were asked to evaluate the effectiveness of the film, and the overwhelming response was positive.

Commenting on the outcome of the presentations, Professor Skead indicated the use of the video resulted in far more rigorous and detailed assessment of the facts as presented in the movie. She added that she felt the discussion on the topic which followed the film was far more sophisticated and detailed when compared to previous exercises conducted using more conventional methods, thus marking Second Life as a valuable tool for connecting students to real life experiences.

Commenting on the approach, Jayjay Zifanwe / Jay Jay Jegathesan said, “We are absolutely thrilled at how successful this has been, and hope to continue supporting more and more areas in the targeted use of Second Life where it adds value. We have the far have had various activities and outcomes across the School of Business, School of Education, School of Physiology, Anatomy and Human Biology aside from this newest venture with the School of Law.”

As well as this work, the UWA has also recently made a series of presentations on how they use  Virtual worlds to support teaching, research, architecture, international community development, art & film at the Digital Education Show Asia, which took place in May 2014 in Kuala Lumpur.

 

 

 

Linden Lab revamp the secondlife.com home page

Posted on by Inara Pey

secondlifeOn Wednesday June 4th, Linden Lab launched a re-vamp of the secondlife.com home page.

Gone is the old single image home page – which was perhaps already staid the day it was launched – and in comes a much bolder 3-part design with not only a fresh look, but a very welcome addition.

Obviously, to see the new page, you’ll have to log-out of your web Dashboard if you have been using it.

At the top is the expected splash-style image, with the familiar Join Now button replaced by a Play for Free button. This section of the page retains the login and local language options towards to top right corner, together with the Twitter and Facebook links, and a link to the Second Life You Tube channel.

The top section of the new Second Life website log-in / splash page
The top section of the new Second Life website log-in / splash page

Scroll down from this and you get the What’s New section, which currently has – wait for it – a picture of the Oculus Rift headset-to-be (i.e. the image of how the production version should look, once it arrives), and a shot of the new starter avatars.

A Learn More button under the Oculus image opens the blog post on the Oculus Rift project viewer announcement,  while a Join Now button under the avatars takes you to the sign-up page.

The What's New section of the new page
The What’s New section of the new page

Beneath this is a section which may surprise some, but which forms – from my perspective at least – the very welcome addition.

Entitled Global Community, it presents The Drax Files: World  Makers, with a special trailer  Drax has put together for the new-look home page, allowing newcomers to grasp more of what SL is about. In addition, a Watch More button will take them to the You Tube channel for the series, which lists all episodes made to date.

The Global Community section
The Global Community section

The presence of the series here indicates another change as well: Linden Lab are now officially sponsoring The Drax Files: World Makers, allowing it to continue on a monthly basis well into the future.  With the deal comes the promise that the Lab will not attempt to exercise any editorial or other influence over how the series is produced, or the stories it tells, nor will it impact any other projects Draxtor undertakes in relation to Second Life.

Below the Global Community section is the familiar corporate links bar.

The new design is crisp and clean, and the addition of The Drax Files: World Makers is an excellent move. Not only does this series truly capture the breadth and depth of Second Life in a way which perhaps hadn’t been seen prior to it, the trailer is fast and hits a good number of strong beats of what Second Life is and about, and the people who use it.

It will be interesting to see how the What’s New section is updated and the frequency with which it is updated. The danger with anything that’s labelled “What’s New” is that if it isn’t seen to be changing frequently, it can be mistakenly taken to mean that whatever it represents isn’t changing and is staid.

Whether this update is indicative of further changes to come with their web properties, remains to be seen. When I contacted the Lab to ask this very question, immediately after the new home page appeared, I was only given a tantalising “For now, this refresh is just of the SL.com homepage…” So we’ll have to wait and see if anything more does pop-up at some point down the road.

Overall, and from a first looks perspective, a most welcome move on the part of Linden Lab – and full kudos to them on striking the deal with The Drax Files: World Makers.