On Tuesday June 17th, in the run-up to the SL11B events across the grid, the Lab has launched a birthday themed photo contest.
The blog post announcing the contest reads in full:
Starting today, you’re invited to take part in the Second Life: Celebrating Your Second Life Snapshot Contest, in honor of 11th Birthday of Second Life.
Participation is easy – submit your celebratory snapshots from inworld to the contest page on our Official Second Life Facebook Page. Click the contest tab, review the contest information and rules and start sharing. This year you will be able to submit up to one snapshot a day for the duration of the contest. Full rules, submission and voting dates, and details are all on the Facebook page.
Looking for some inspiration for pics? Then drop by Hairy Hippo Fun Land to grab your Limited Edition SL11B Robot Avatar. You can also get your free avatar off the Marketplace.
Browse the SL11B category on the destination guide to see what the community has planned to mark the event inworld.
Don’t forget that the Resident-driven Second Life 11th Birthday Community Celebration starts this coming Sunday the 22nd. Visit their website for the latest information.
You only turn 11 once, and we can’t wait to see what kind of celebrations and fun you create and share!
It is a shame that the Lab once again opt to use Facebook as the medium for a contest; doing so effectively slams the door on the contest for many who might otherwise take part, but who have no wish to be a part of the great Facebook machine.
Given other options are available which are not so controversial, it’s a shame that the Lab doesn’t give thought to them when running contests of this kind. Flickr, for example, would seem to be a suitable alternative. It already has a very large SL community, and establishing a group for competition entries isn’t exactly labour intensive, although ensuring T&Cs are read might be a little harder. People might also be more inclined to sign-up to Flickr if they don’t already have an account.
Of course, Flickr probably doesn’t get the same kind of visibility among non Second Life users that the SL Facebook page gets, but for the sake of encouraging more users to take part in something of this nature, does that really matter?
On Monday June 16th, Linden Lab issued a blog post stating Project Shining is now complete. This is a major milestone for the Lab, with Shining representing some 2 years of effort and has involved significant work in three key areas:
Avatar baking (Nyx Linden) – also referred to as server-side baking or server-side appearance (SSA), which comprised a major project to shift the heavy lifting of avatar baking / appearance from the viewer to dedicated baking servers. for those need to know more, I offer the post I wrote back at the end of December 2012 as the project saw the release of its first viewer. Further information can be found under the Server-side Appearance tag
Interest List and Object Caching (Andrew Linden) – a project to improve how scene rendering is handled by both the server and the viewer, and improving the viewer to retain more information on regions in its cache and re-use that information more intelligently by the viewer
HTTP updates (Monty Linden) – a major update to SL’s communications infrastructure to make more and better use of HTTP in order to improve viewer / server communications and increase their reliability and their efficiency.
The state of play with some of the HTTP work in May 2013
Each of these sub-projects have comprised various stages and releases. Interest List and Object Caching, for example went through several rounds of updates alternating between server-side work and viewer-side work, with the final round of work, focused on improving how the viewer caches and reuses information, reaching a release status in May 2014.
The Project Interesting video released by the Lab in May 2014
The reason for the Lab’s announcement about project Shining is that Monday June 16th saw the release of the final set of Project Sunshine viewer-side updates in the form of the new de facto release viewer, version: 3.7.9.290582, which also includes significant inventory updates and improvements which have been referred to as AIS v3 (Advanced Inventory Service version 3, although this requires additional deployment of server-side updates across the grid). This viewer also includes a number of viewer memory leak fixes as well.
While the implementation and deployment of some elements of the work did experience some hiccups, overall, each element of Project Sunshine was implemented very successfully and with little or no disruption noticeable to users. Each has already yielded significant improvements to both the overall service and in the user experience, and the Lab are to be congratulated in bringing all three of the Project Sunshine activities to a successful conclusion. Here’s to the next round of projects – such a HTTP pipelining!
On Tuesday June 10th, and spotted by Ziki Questi, the Guardian Online in the UK carried an article about how modern urban design is influencing city game design in computer games – and vice versa. As a follow-up to that piece, the Guardian has invited readers to share their favourite virtual cities, and the Lab suggest this is the perfect opportunity for Second Life users promote their favourite Second Life locations.
The Guardian asks readers to upload screen shots of their favourite urban locations via a Guardian Witness page (user-generated content pages curated by the Guardian), which explains:
We want to hear about your best-loved virtual places – from a beautiful view in GTA V to that 20-million-strong SimCity megalopolis you’ve been building (or possibly destroying). What would be the best video game cities to live in? The worst? Perhaps you’ve designed one you think would be better than your own city? Share your screen grabs and we’ll feature the best on Guardian Cities.
To contribute, readers can log-in to the page using either a Facebook or Google + account and then upload a screen shot of their own with some descriptive text, and / or recommend those uploaded by others. There are several locations from Second Life listed on the page already,
Caelestivm, Palau, March 2014, click for full size
Quick to spot a promotional opportunity, the Lab has suggested, via a Featured News blog post, that more SL users should submit their own favourite locations to the Guardian’s page, noting:
This is a great chance to share some amazing Second Life locations with The Guardian’s readers. Whether it’s a place you created personally, discovered (maybe through the Destination Guide?) and love, or just a spot you always find yourself returning to, the Second Life locations that ‘wow’ you are great ones to share to help show off Second Life to the uninitiated.
Assuming the Guardian doesn’t get overwhelmed by images from Second Life and feel a little narked as a result (and keeping in mind they’re asking for city-like images, which the lab’s blog post tends to brush over in referring for “locations”), this might be a way to shine a little light on some SL builds and get a message out about the user-generated nature of SL.
As well as the pointer to the Guardian, the Lab is inviting users to share their favourite SL locations (city or otherwise) via a forum thread, and to submit any which aren’t already listed to the Destination Guide.
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.
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 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.
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
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.
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 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:
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!
Episode #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 Makerssegment #13, in November 2013.
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.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 