Kaleidoscape: a gorgeous vision in Second Life

Kaleidoscape, July 2026 – click any image for full size

Update, July 7th: Having had the chance to talk to 3chai4 concerning the greeter issue, she has indicated she will make adjustment at the first opportunity she has, but it is liable to take few days from the date of publication of this article.

Escape to Kaleidoscape, a peaceful medieval countryside filled with flower fields, working farms, hidden gardens, rustic taverns, and scenic walking trails. Whether you’re looking for photography, quiet exploration, or simply a place to relax, every corner offers a new story waiting to be discovered.

– Kaleidoscape Destination Guide description

Occupying a Full private region leveraging the additional Land Capacity bonus available to such regions, Kaleidoscape is the work of region holder 3chi4 (3chi4 Ethereal) with the help of Lisapia. And it is, in a word stunning.

Kaleidoscape, July 2026

Presented – as the Destination Guide entry notes – a medieval countryside, the setting has some interesting modern quirks within it which, as anachronistic as they might be when it comes to medieval times, collectively sit within the setting in a manner that gives it a unique twist without actually intruding into it to the point of distraction.

The most obvious of these is the live event stage tucked away in the south-east corner of the region. However, there are others – such as the mail boxes sitting outside of some of the houses, or the house numbers fixed to the walls of others and the occasional glimpse of overhead power lines together with electrical lighting indoors and out.

Kaleidoscape, July 2026

The Landing Point for the setting sits within a skybox. This is somewhat detached from the setting in theme given it is an alleyway from a modern Japanese city. From here, visitor click on the whirlpool on the ground to proceed on to the setting itself.

An annoyance here is a greeter script has been set-up at both ends of the teleport from Landing Point to ground. This repeatedly spams a greeting and a landmark to the region very other second – and does so every time the ground-level arrival point is passed. Given the arrival point has an information board with worthwhile reading and a horse rezzer for those wishing to ride around the region, this can get irritating.

Kaleidoscape, July 2026

Outside of this, however, the region design is genuinely breath-taking – and while there is a recommendation to use the local EEP settings, I would personally suggest switching to something brighter, as the region settings – in my opinion at least – cast things in far too much shadow, hiding a lot of the beauty of the region. To this end, I took the liberty of using one of my personal EEP daytime settings for the photographs seen in this article.

One of the useful items on the information board mentioned above is a map of the entire setting, outlining the main points of interest. This is also interactive: click on the name of a location on the map and you’ll be teleported to it. This is handy for those wishing to get to the events area or back to a specific place when resuming a visit. However, for first-time visitors I strongly recommend exploring on foot – or at least via one of the horses available from the rezzing stall alongside the information board.

Kaleidoscape, July 2026

The local village is probably the most obvious place to start such explorations. It certainly presents a lot of detail as it steps its way up a shoulder of land bounded on two sides by water on two sides by the cliffs of the region’s uplands to the south and west. It has an eclectic mix of buildings, most of which have an almost Tudor look to them; whilst one had a French lean and another – the water mill – carries a hint of hobbits about it.

Of the two bodies of water bounding the village, one might have once been an enclosed lake; however, two channels now connect it to the waters which separate the region from its mountainous surrounds. The second body of water, meanwhile, takes the form of a channel running inland from the west, cutting a gorge through the highlands before it narrows almost to the width of a stream to finds its way into the would-be lake, therefore placing the village on a rugged island.

Kaleidoscape, July 2026
The village – indeed, the setting as a whole – is populated by static NPCs, all of whom are most definitely in medieval garb. Ehile I think such characters can add personality to a location, they aren’t to everyone’s taste. This being the case, these NPCs have a special power: touch any of them and they will vanish to “go on a wander” around the setting, reappearing in due course. It’s a nice touch for those wishing to take photos but don’t wish to have NPCs in their frame & who don’t want to derender them.

The north side of the setting is beautifully pastoral in design, with sloping fields (two of them forming a marvellous sea of blue blooms with the occasional red and black flickering of butterfly wings) shared by two farms, one to the north-west of the landscape and stepping its way up into the hills there, and the other on lower-lying lands to the east.

Kaleidoscape, July 2026
Sheep, horses and cattle are to be found in the meadows to the east, the lake-like waters within easy reach for them when needing a drink, whilst a fence running between meadows and flower fields prevents them wandering too far.

Throughout all of this are multiple routes of exploration. Cart tracks connect the farms and their windmills with the village, bridges span the water channels and trails wind up into the hills.

Kaleidoscape, July 2026

The latter are home to the setting’s wildlife, and it’s worth keeping an eye out for the deer, foxes, stoats and so on which all help to bring more life to Kaleidoscape, as do the birds and ambient sounds throughout.

The degree of detail throughout is impressive: the houses of the village are all furnished, as are the farms houses and cabins to be found, cats keep an eye on things and there are multiple and various places for visitors to sit and pass the time.

Kaleidoscape, July 2026
I could write a while lot more here but really, Kaleidoscape deserves to be seen first-hand, so I recommend you go see for yourselves!

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A summer’s DayDream Believer in Second Life

DayDream Believer, July 2026 – click any image for full size

In November 2021, I visited DayDream Believer, a region design by Janna Daydream (Janna Blackwood), and found it to be an setting ready for winter and elegantly eye-catching (see here for more). Since then, the setting has relocated to a new homestead region, and at the time of my latest visit offered more of a summer setting with the focus very much on daydreams and the freedom of the mind has for wandering as we sit within that state mid-way between sleep and being fully awake.

Welcome to Daydream Believer
the place between sleeping and waking up
the place that let you keep dreaming

– DayDream Believer About Land description

DayDream Believer, July 2026

The new design is a collaboration between Jenna and Trisha Devotion (Trisha Blinker), and takes the form of a group of five roughly-cut islands sitting within a ring of tall mountains under a sky lit by a westering Sun. The largest of these islands runs along the north side of the region and feature’s Janna’s pose store located at it’s eastern end. A water garden helps soften the bulk of the store building and blend it into the rest of the setting.

The Landing Point sits a little further along this northern island from the store and close to a tongue of water that licks its way inland. hills to either side of the Landing Point encourage visitors to set out southwards to where an arched wall tries to span the narrow passage between the hills, a clock neatly nestled into the arch over the gap to inform people of the time as they pass beneath it. However, a turn to the north before setting out along the path will reveal a ribbon of beach running westward, palm trees given it a slightly tropical feel.

DayDream Believer, July 2026

Thus, visitors have a number of routes of exploration – the store; the beach; the path through the clock arch or up over the hills. All have their own merits and offer things to see. Going south provides access to two of the remaining islands, for example. Both are much small than the main island and lie to the east and south of the region, daisy-chained to one another and the main island by bridges spanning the narrow channels of water separating them.

The first of these two smaller islands offers a quiet retreat focused around a gazebo-like pavilion sitting on the shoreline, bursts of colour provided by flowers breaking up the grass. A fountain and water feature on which to rest together with additional places to sit and pass the time, a wishing well and pair of white doves adding a sense of romantic. It’s an island which encourages sitting and relaxing, a dance system (one of several scattered across the islands) allowing couples to express themselves.

DayDream Believer, July 2026

The second island in the chain is hilly in nature. No human-made structures here; instead one of the setting’s caves awaits visitors. Perhaps a little bare as one walks through it, it nevertheless offers a sanctuary-like retreat in its depths, the entrance watched over by unicorns. For those who prefer to remain outdoors, the top of the hill into which the cave bores offers more seating and dancing.

Two more caves are to be found back on the large island, one seated atop the ridge of hills running west with the beach on one side and the waters splitting the region on the other. The other sits below it and forms more of a rock chamber carved into the hillside more than an actual cave. With comfortable chairs within it, it looks southwards towards the second largest of this group of islands.

DayDream Believer, July 2026

This is, for me, the most attractive of the islands. Sculpted into rounded hills climbing to the west, its focal point is a windmill with sails turning slowly and the land before it divided into a large working field shared by cereal and cows.  An open field of flowers splashes colour beyond the windmill, pointing the way to where a stone causeway bridges the waters separating this island from the smallest in the group.

The latter is a small crescent topped by a large and comfortably furnished deck and gazebo forming another retreat. The fact that this sits with its back  towards the rest of the setting and is partially hidden by the flank of the neighbour island’s hills gives it a nice sense of privacy and detachment.

DayDream Believer, July 2026

As the hills march away from the windmill and turn north, they broaden into a flat-topped plateau, home to a water garden with its own cosy feature in what might have once been a cavern, but which now lacks a roof and so stares up at the sky. Adjoining this is a meadow with more places to sit and a bridge reaching out to the western headland of the main island.

Overlooking the beach mentioned earlier, this headland is dominated by the ruins of a huge cylindrical temple with a distinctive Grecian style to it. Missing most of its domed roof and section of its walls, and with some of the columns which once supported the roof looking the worse for wear, it is nevertheless an attractive retreat, complete with furnishings.

DayDream Believer, July 2026

I would point out that the region is rated Adult and some of the seating does have adult-themed couples poses; there is therefore a risk of some visiting getting up to naughties. However, to avoid the region because of this would be a mistake; it offers a lot that is photogenic. Rezzing rights can be obtained by joining the local group, so I assume that the use of props for photos is allowed but – as ever – do please clean up behind you!

A charming region, easy to visit and explore, whether on foot or via a horse from the available rezzer or, if you feel like it, on the water via the Nessie boats (auto-rezzing what the current one is in use). Enjoy!

DayDream Believer, July 2026

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More coffee and photos in Second Life

The Boathouse Café, July 2026 – click any image for full size

I’ve always enjoyed Sorcha Tyles’ region and parcel builds over the years, so back in June I was happy to drop into her latest (at the time of writing) endeavour: The Boathouse Café as I resumed my occasional visits to various cafes and coffee houses in Second Life.

Occupying a waterfront parcel (hence the name) just over 3,000 square metres in size, The Boathouse is presented by Sorcha under her Dutch Pavilion banner and offers a setting which, unsurprisingly and very cosily has much in common with other designs under that banner and which I’ve covered in these pages (notably Wild Silence, which I visited in late 2025 and June 2025’s iteration of Dutch Pavilion itself) – although leaning perhaps a little more into a Nordic theme in keeping with elements of the estate within which it resides.

The Boathouse Café, July 2026
A rustic Nordic hangout by the sea. Grab fresh fish & chips on the shipyard side, or escape into the wild, wind-swept garden with a cosy coffee. Unwind to the sounds of gulls and waves.

– The Boathouse About Land description

The café itself takes the form of a converted smokehouse with some limited moorings available – the surrounding rocks tend to dissuade attempts to come alongside at least at low tide, as does what’s left of one boat which apparently tried! Most of the high-set wharf is therefore given to outdoor setting to the front of the café, with fish & chips being offered outside as a treat.

The Boathouse Café, July 2026

Inside, the café has something of that Boho, informal look where whatever might have been available / obtained from local markets has been used for furnishings. This results in chairs and tables with a decidedly vintage 1970s or 1980s style to them mixing with more modern bar-style high chairs, together with a rustic-style food and beverage kitchen / counter space. Eclectic it might be, but it is also very relaxed and cosy.

To the rear of the building is a garden space which very much offers memories of Wild Silence, etc., in its informality and wildling growths of grass and plants.

The Boathouse Café, July 2026

The deck here has, admittedly, seen better days and could result in some stern words from a passing health and safety executive, but this doesn’t detract from the pies and other scoffables available nor does it prevent the cafe’s cats and dogs appreciating it as a place to catch some Sun.

A gravel path runs around the garden from the wharf and back, presenting the opportunity to walk off any extra weight that might have been felt to have been gained whilst eating, together with some swings for adults or kids to enjoy. There are numerous places to sit throughout the garden, including one on the water and another over it in the form of another deck.

The Boathouse Café, July 2026

A jet ski also sits on the water by the garden, but fortunately, it is not open to general use so it won’t end up causing interruptions for those trying to relax as it is buzzed around the island.

Those with a romantic inclination or who simply enjoy dancing can avail themselves of a dance system tucked into a corner – although the best place to dance is possible in the garden rather than around where the system has been placed J .  If fishing is more your style, that is also available!

The Boathouse Café, July 2026

In all, a delightful and easy-going visit; however, one point of note: do not remain in one place for too long, as you might be teleported home if you don’t reply to a pop-up dialogue requesting you confirm you are still at your keyboard.

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Summer 2026 at Le Monde Perdu in Second Life

Le Monde Perdu, July 2026 – click any image for full size

It was back to Luane’s World for a summer visit for me – it’s nice to drop in at least twice a year to see what LuaneMeo has cooked up for her public region of Le Monde Perdu, although I admit it’s been a couple of years since my last summer visit!

For 2026, Luane, with the assistance of Gorba McMahon, presents visitors with an island wrapping a Mediterranean feel about it, the two major buildings sitting upon it hinting at places such as Tuscany and the South of France. The island sits with its back towards the residential regions of Luane’s World, its northern side marked by rocky walls sitting above a shingle and grass coastline.

Le Monde Perdu, July 2026

These modest cliffs mark the raise spine of the island, a flat top comprising a pair of flat plateaux of grass and trees on which the houses are located, one to the east and the other to the west, the land sloping down from them to the south to join the golden sands of a beach. The latter forms two south-pointing headlands which give the island an overall C-shape, an inlet cutting into it to form an almost heart-shaped bay, the entrance to which is marked by an offshore lighthouse.

The Landing Point is located on the flagstone terrace of the house to the east side of the island and which in part forms the rental office for the residential aspects of the estate as well as a little café with seating on the terrace outside.

Le Monde Perdu, July 2026

A small barn with fence meadow sits at the end of the elevated land sufficiently clear of the house so as not to crowd it, and a horse rezzer is available there for those who might not wish to walk around the island – the landscape does make for comfortable riding.

A path runs from the back of the house to a set of steps leading down to Luane’s usual bridge across the waters to the rest of the estate. This does contain public paths explorers are free to follow – but do please keep in mind the houses found along the paths are private residences  🙂 .

Le Monde Perdu, July 2026

A second path runs westwards from the house, crossing the grounds to reach a fence guarding against any risk of falling into the gorge cutting but the two plateaux from north to south, connecting the lowlands on either side. A gently humped bridge spans the gorge, allowing the path to continue onwards to the west, where it skirts around the second house.

Sitting in its own wall garden, the latter commands a view out over the beaches and the bay and is charmingly furnished. Across the track from it, the rest of the plateau offers a grassy retreat with the ruins of a cottage and places to sit. A little summer house sits in the lee of the plateau on its north side, just past the point where the sands of the beaches give way to the shingle of the north coast.

Le Monde Perdu, July 2026

These sands can be reached via steps descending the hill from a point just past the house with its walled garden. However, do not expect your passage past the house to go unnoticed – feline eyes keep a careful watch on all comings and goings! And keep an eye out for the rabbits ready to announce “You’ve got mail!” to whomever lives inside 🙂 .

The western arc of the beach provides the broadest expanse of sands, although this is somewhat broken up by a rising mound of gassy land and rock crowned with young trees and where a small pool house has been built on a shoulder of rock, and the (tide-formed?) cave beneath it turned into a cosy and no doubt cool hideaway.

Le Monde Perdu, July 2026

That the sea has worked on the island can be seen from around the foot of the hills and the back of the beaches, where the sand had been compacted by decades of water and then cut into stratified blocks which become quite tall on the eastern arc of the bay.

The headland to the east also has a rise of grassy land sitting within the cure of the beach, and this is home to a little hut sitting with its back towards the bay so that its small deck offers a view out across more open waters.

Le Monde Perdu, July 2026

The bay is obviously a popular place, with opportunities for sunbathing on the sands or splashing about on the water courtesy of floats and the like. A small wooden jetty offers and inflatable boat rezzer for a pootle on the water (mind any swimmers!), whilst a sign offers the same but using a kayak, and a handful of rowing boats scattered around the shallows of the island offer places to sit and relax as well.

The beach and boats are not the only places to sit outdoors, there are benches, seats, blankets, daybeds, gazebos, and swings all awaiting use to be found right across the island, each of them offering a view and /or a place to retreat.

Le Monde Perdu, July 2026

I’ve been covering Le Monde Perdu and Luane’s work for a decade now, and have always appreciated the sense of life she brings to her region designs through her sculpting of the landscape, the flora she puts out across it and her use of animals and wildlife. They are all perfectly blended to present a setting entirely natural in scope and content, never feeling forced or laboured in achieving its goal to encourage people to feel at home, relax, explore and perhaps have a little fun.

In short, Le Monde Perdu Summer 2026 continues the region’s reputation as an absolute delight.

Le Monde Perdu, July 2026

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Celebrating 5 years: Pour-Up Winery & Vineyard in Second Life

Pour Up Winery & Vineyard, July 2026 – click any image for full size

Established in 2021, Pour-Up Winery & Vineyard is the vision of Mach K. Disick (BhampagnePapi) and has been a popular destination within Second Life in the years since.

With 2026 marking Pour Up’s 5th anniversary, Mach has marked the year with a refreshed look for the setting, opening what will hopefully be a new chapter of its time in Second Life.

Pour Up Winery & Vineyard, July 2026

Occupying roughly one half of a Full private region leveraging the available Land Capacity Bonus, the setting has been landscaped on Mach’s behalf by Sevnn Rowley-Sinclair (Svenn007) with décor added by Mach. And it is, quite simply, a gorgeous location dedicated to the appreciation of wine whilst offering opportunities for exploration, photography, horse riding and other activities.

The Landing Point (not enforced) sits towards the middle of the setting, within the vineyard, which occupies the more elevated aspect of the landscape.

Pour Up Winery & Vineyard, July 2026

A converted water mill (with the wheel turning rather conspicuously against the flow of water beneath it – such are the quirks of SL!) sits as the main grape press, although those so minded can their hands – err, feet – at some traditional grape stomping. Just do please remove shoes, etc., before ding so! 🙂  For those who prefer to simply taste the wine, outdoor seating is also provided.

Apple trees border the vines with their rich crop of grapes awaiting picking, the apples perhaps suggesting a nice side-line in cider might be added to Pour Up’s offerings. Along the path running past the fields is the Maison du Vin, where an impressive stock of wines is to be found, whilst under an open-sided summer house visitors can try their hands at pottery.

Pour Up Winery & Vineyard, July 2026

Westward from the winery, an old cart track winds its way along the uplands, edging around a broad plateau before descending past more vines watched over by apple and orange trees as they step their way down towards the coast.

A paved shoulder of rock is to be found at the start of the track’s main descent to the lower lands, and this is home to the rather appealing Paint and Sip – try your hand at landscape painting while enjoying the wine; although do be careful with the amount imbibed, lest your painting become less landscape and more modernistic abstract! Careworn stone steps descend from the main track close by, offering access to a small shingle beach.

Pour Up Winery & Vineyard, July 2026

Reaching the lowlands on the south side of the setting, the track provides access to Pour Up’s stables where a horse can be rezzed for those wishing to gently ride around the location (saddle stands might be found elsewhere as well, allowing horses to be rezzed from them).

Beyond this, the path reaches the biggest single element of the setting: a large waterfront terrace where music events might be enjoyed (Mach being a DJ himself), a stage being set to one side of the terrace.

Pour Up Winery & Vineyard, July 2026

Bordered on two further sides by vine-draped trellis with outdoor seating under their shade, the terrace is guarded on its remaining side by a large barn now converted to the main winery.

Both the winery and the terrace are somewhat separated from the rest of the setting by a slender channel of water flowing outwards from waterfalls located alongside the landing Point. This gives a nice sense of separation from the hustle of any music events from the calm of the rest of the setting, whilst a little retreat can be found across the water from the falls, reached via a path from the terrace area.

Pour Up Winery & Vineyard, July 2026

Eastward from the vineyard and Maison du Vin, another path winds its way to the coast, offering a way to visit the open spaces of a south-eastern headland marked by a lighthouse with wooden moorings a little further around the shoreline. A path winds on from behind the moorings to the small public garden and a personal memorial set-up by Mach.

And if all of this weren’t enough, the plateau mentioned earlier is the home of the winery lake, a tranquil setting fed by the same waters as pass the winery mill, and where quiet times may be had solo or with someone special.

Pour Up Winery & Vineyard, July 2026

The path up to the lake also passes by a small promontory where the top end of a zip line waits to carry visitors down the line of the channel partially dividing the stables, terrace and winery from the rest of the setting. It arrives at a platform joining the eastern path down from the winery and the Maison du Vin.

Throughout all of this are multiple places to sit and pass the time, from benches to blankets to tree houses and, of course, the various locations where wine might be enjoyed. And, needless to say (again!), the entire setting is highly photogenic and rich in detail.

Pour Up Winery & Vineyard, July 2026

Congratulations to Mach and Pour Up Winery and Vineyard on reaching five years – and I raise my glass to many more years to come!

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A Look at the SL Mobile Learning Centre in Second Life

The Mobile Learning Centre: general information boards

As a part of a wider effort involving creators from across Second Life, Linden Lab has, since later 2025, been developing and deploying experiences optimised for SL Mobile and geared to helping (primarily) those new to Second Life who come in via Mobile to gain familiarity with using the application.

One such experience in the Mobile Learning Centre, aimed at helping brand new users to Second Life understand some of the basics of the application – although it could just as easily help existing users who have never used SL Mobile to do the same as well. As such, it is something I’ve been meaning to cover for a while.

Like tutorial experiences current and past, the Learning Centre takes a familiar route of taking users through a series of lessons. However, and unlike many past tutorials of this nature it avoids trying to teach someone everything they might need to know – how to move, how to communicate, how to teleport, how to use L$, and so on. Part of this may well because some capabilities are not available to SL Mobile = building, inventory, etc., – but there is also the fact that by keeping things to a minimum and not including things like chat (which is possible in SL, mobile, obviously), the Learning Centre avoids overwhelming a new user with a large volume of things to learn and remember all at once; although it does provide the means to demonstrate some additional capabilities, which I’ll come to.

The Mobile Learning Centre is one of the SL Mobile Experiences seen when logging-in to the App, and accessed by tapping the GO button.

Available from the selection of experiences displayed when logging-in to SL Mobile, The Mobile Learning Centre is the work of the SL Studios team, and developed in consultation with the Marketing and Growth team.

The aim was to take what had been used in past in-world tutorial environments and offer something that would be usable, informative and carries an element of fun. The entire experience is set aboard a space vessel of some description and involves moving through various rooms where learning activities are to be found.

Everything is based around the collection of large stars along the way. These both open intervening doors between corridors and rooms and also form a “side quest”: collect enough stars and you’ll help the commander of the space ship, one Captain Rilo, regain control of his vessel, which he and his diminutive crew have apparently lost (perhaps not the most encouraging thing to hear when you’re aboard said vessel!).

After tapping the GO button for the experience in the App, users are delivered to a start point where the above mechanics are broadly explained, and the first directions on movement are presented. It is here that, obviously, one of the most important elements of a tutorial like this is to first be encountered: the signage.

Outside of the informational signs at the Landing Point (seen at the top of this article), the majority of the signage is graphics only – no words, and presented in a manner that is easy to understand. Panels are also limited in number at each station along the way which also helps avoid a sense of information overload.

A lot of the learning effort is given over to gaining familiarity with using SL Mobile’s joystick for movement – and this is worthwhile; the joystick can be small for stubby fingers and, depending on the device being used highly responsive (on my 8-inch tablet sliding the joystick can result in my avatar zooming around), so practice makes perfect.

The Mobile Learning Centre: instructional signage

Part of this practice involves some climbing and walking along elevated walkways, encouraging patience and care in using the joystick. Within another, aquarium-like room, there is a lesson in learning to fly.

Along the way there is a showcase of one-world locations (although no teleports to them), a trip through the space ship’s bridge area to earn the thanks of Captain Rilo (if you’ve collected the required stars), and a final sort-of social space / teleport room where people can relax or use the teleport portal to continue their explorations or access the Mobile Showcase and / or Destination Guide (and, in the case of established users, their Landmarks) within the Mobile App, or play something of a game.

The stars needed to access the various rooms and to help Captain Rilo can be found along the corridors and walkways and within the rooms themselves. They are gathered by passing through them. Each room requires the collection of a set number of the correctly coloured stars, and care has been taken to make sure there are more stars of a given colour available than are needed to open a specific door, so if one proves to be difficult for someone to obtain, there are alternatives.

In terms of helping Captain Rilo, this is optional and pretty basic. It can be skipped by only focusing on getting the stars to the various learning rooms, but the trip to the bridge to earn his thanks is a bit of an interesting side bar to getting around. It also potentially helps new users gain their first SL Mobile achievement – walking 250 metres (in fact, walk around enough, and you’ll get the 1 km achievement!).

The Mobile Learning Centre: elevated walkway

There is also more of a game to be found at the end of the main “learning loop” (so to speak) and within the portal room: collect enough red stars and a trap door in the floor will open up allowing users to drop through into a series of stacked chambers, each one containing both stars of all colours and floors of hexagonal floor segments.

The idea here is to move around each chamber as quickly as possible, collecting the stars by colliding with them and avoiding floor panels which may vanish from under you. A failure with the latter means falling down to the next chamber, where the process repeats. Falling through to a final chamber presents a “star path” winding back up to the gallery overlooking the portal room.

The Learning Centre: portal to the Welcome Hub and instructions on accessing experiences and the Destination Guide

Within the portal room and the galleried level above it, are chairs and tables. The former are actually interactive and can be sat on (and under updates made mid-2026, will display the pose dialogue box, allowing users to adjust their sit position). Signage to one side of the space indicates this – but I couldn’t help but feel placing it closer to the lower floor seating might be better.

The Welcome Hub teleport portal will drop those using it into the Community Exhibition, which should allow new starters learn more about Second Life, and close to one of the Hub’s teleport boards. Here again is an opportunity for possible confusion, given the Hub is more geared to using the Desktop viewer. Given this, setting the Landing Point from the Learning Centre is a good move, but some indication that elements of the Hub do reference capabilities more suited to the viewer might be a little helpful.

In this regard, perhaps a dedicated landing area for those teleporting from the Mobile Learning Centre? This could even include a teleport back there for those who may have access the portal from there prematurely. Of course, there are helpers with the Hub who can provide assistance, but a little pointer wouldn’t go amiss overall.

The Mobile Learning Centre: finding Rilo

It is possible that some might feel the Mobile Learning Centre doesn’t cover enough essentials – what about communication, for example? Not a single lesson on using chat or Voice. However, SL Mobile’s UI is somewhat intuitive in this regard, and there are sufficient on-screen icons to encourage tapping and trying, so I don’t see this as much of a shortfall in things.

There’s also the problem of where exactly do you draw the line of direct exposition? If you include chat, what about IMs? If you include chat and IMs, what about Group chat? If you include Group chat, what about… – and so on. This is often where learning systems for SL fall down; yes it is complex, yes there is a lot to learn – but it doesn’t necessarily have to all be learned in a single pass, even with something as basic as SL Mobile. Simply put, piling everything and the kitchen sink into a tutorial system can end up being as off-putting as not having any learning experience at all and simply expecting users to get on with it.

The Mobile Learning Centre – destinations showcase (albeit without location names or teleports)

In this latter regard, I understand from those at the Lab discussing the Mobile Learning Centre, that this is borne out from the feedback gathering by the data team: the experience is the strongest performing of those thus far set-up, gaining largely positive feedback from users passing through it who are subsequently surveyed.

For my part, I found the experience pleasant and easy to follow. The niggle noted above vis-à-vis the Welcome Hub is just that: a niggle; it doesn’t detract from the Mobile Learning Centre in any way (well, the Hub isn’t part of the Centre, so…). Yes, the “side quest” with Captain Rilo is a tad twee, but that’s nothing to really rail against, and as noted already, it can be avoided.

Mobile Learning Centre: approaching the teleport room

If you do opt to pay a visit, I strongly recommend you only so so using SL Mobile rather than the Desktop viewer – hence no SLurls in this article!

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