Christian Orthodoxy and Sexual Purity – A Second Life seminar

An interesting announcement came to my attention today from the organisers of a ninety minute seminar. It’s being held by the UK-based University of Plymouth at 6am Friday morning Australian Eastern time. The full details as announced:

Fathers Johann Barak and Joshua Tuchs (these are SL avatar names), who in RL are two Eastern Orthodox priests in USA, together with Presbytera Anna Hirschel (again, SL name–she is also in RL Eastern Orthodox and based in USA) will be holding a 60-90 minute seminar at our SIM in Second Life® this Thursday, 1 May 2008, at 1:00 PM PDT/SLT = 9 PM BST (GMT+1) about ‘Sexual Purity and Healthy Relationships: A Christian Orthodox Perspective for the 21st Century’.

The event will take place at the University of Plymouth Sexual Health SIM.

Our three speakers will be holding an open discussion along the lines of this video – we will be showing a short segment of it in-world at the start of the seminar. They will be responding live to your questions in-world. Fr Johann Barak, Fr Joshua Tuchs, and Presbytera Anna Hirschel believe that Orthodox Christianity has a strong and very important and practical message for the whole world, especially these days with the very recent announcement of the US CDC that 1 in every 4 American teenage girls has a sexually-transmitted infection (HPV) that can lead later in life to cervical cancer (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7290088.stm).

About us:

The University of Plymouth Sexual Health SIM in Second Life® is a novel Sexual Health Public Education and Outreach project funded by Education UK Island .

The combination of sex and religion always makes for interesting debates so if 6am isn’t too early for you, this one may be well worth a visit.

Hands-free options to increase sexual expression in virtual worlds?

Terra Nova has a short discussion on the recent demonstration of hands-free avatar movement in Second Life and it implications for sexual activity in virtual worlds.

Sex play in virtual worlds is a favourite sensationalist topic for media outlets but as the Terra Nova discussion illustrates, it’s one of the many issues the wider population haven’t even begun to consider for its impact.

‘The Blue Book: A Consumer Guide to Virtual Worlds’ released

The Association of Virtual Worlds has released a free publication for download called ‘The Blue Book: A Consumer Guide to Virtual Worlds’.

You can get it here and it comes in at 41 pages. The bulk of that is a listing of the more than 250 virtual worlds launched or in development. Lists like these already exist, but the relatively new Association is committed to keeping it updated and its format is useful – although a full online version would be a great future addition.

The publication’s release isn’t all about altruism – there’s plenty of links to the Association and virtual news website iViNNiE – the same site that touts itself as the ‘Number One Virtual Worlds News Network’. I think there’d be a site or twenty with greater traffic and equal output and commitment to quality that may disagree with that claim. That said, the guide is a commendable addition to virtual world information out there.

Australia Council announces ‘MMUVE it!’

Hot on the heels of Babelswarm, the Australia Council has announced its next opportunity for virtual world artists: MMUVE it!

Like the previous funding, it’s available for three artists but this time the platform has been widened to any virtual world:

“With more than 73 million participants in MMUVE’s such as EverQuest, Second Life and World of Warcraft, and the recent introduction of motion-sensitive controllers such as the Nintendo Wiimote, there is great scope to develop innovative artworks in a highly networked environment that incorporates body movement and its relationship to real and virtual environments.”

There’s 30 thousand dollars on offer for development of “an inter-disciplinary artwork engaging the human body in a MMUVE of their choice.”

All the details are here.

The expectation of the successful applicants is that they ensure there’s cross-over between their virtual world creation and real world participation by the public – the Australia Council calls it “developing public exhibition opportunities”.

Applications close on May 16, 2008 and only Australian citizens or permanent residents need apply.

vBusiness expo gains momentum

Clever Zebra are holding their vBusiness Expo later this week.

35 speakers are confirmed from organisations such as Gartner, Forrester Research and IBM, with the key focus being “what is the practical purpose of virtual worlds?”.

Registration is free and there’s still places available. We’ll bring you key debates and issues as they occur.

Babelswarm Revisited

As we’ve previously mentioned, Babelswarm is a fascinating installation developed by writer Justin Clemens, visual artist Christopher Dodds and musician/artist Adam Nash – all from Australia.

I did a walk through Friday evening and grabbed some pictures though the impact of it is well and truly best experienced in-world.

We’ve also featured a video walkthrough in this week’s Weekend Whimsy

Check it out in-world.

A year ago on The Metaverse Journal

We interviewed one of Australia’s most controversial Second Life residents, LukeConnell Vandeverre, who runs the World Stock Exchange (which has now been out of action for close to three months).

Murdoch University Island in Second Life

Veteran Australian Second Life resident and Murdoch University Library staff member Kathryn Greenhill, has created a very interesting video of Murdoch University’s presence in Second Life. It covers the management, ongoing activities and challenges that running an island in Second Life involves.

Murdoch University 2008

Another good reason to have a look is that the island is closed to the general public.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Report: over 100 youth-oriented virtual worlds

Virtual Worlds Management have released a report showing more than a hundred youth-oriented worlds are either live or in development. The data was compiled from their own news site and a full list is viewable including links to further information.

Seeing such a list further emphasises the faith business has in the virtual world platform but given that it’s still early days for virtual worlds, I’d expect a significant number on that list to struggle to gain a significant foothold in the face of such widespread competition.

Babelswarm – Australia Council launches Second Life art project

An Australia Council project that was initially announced nearly a year ago, has come to fruition.

Babelswarm is the final product of writer Justin Clemens, visual artist Christopher Dodds and musician/artist Adam Nash and it’s being launched this evening at 5.30pm, Friday 11th April. It’s a simultaneous launch in Second Life and in Lismore, NSW at the Lismore Regional Gallery.

The Australia Council describes Babelswarm:

The installation, a metaphor for the Tower of Babel, uses voice recognition software that converts the spoken word of real and virtual participants into 3-D letterform images in an evolving tower of words. The artwork is a simultaneous installation in Second Life and in a real world gallery, where visitors can be involved directly in its creation via a computer interface.

Babelswarm installation

The Australia Council’s chairman, former QANTAS CEO James Strong, is upbeat about the use of Second Life for artists and the Australia Council’s support of such endeavours: “Virtual worlds like Second Life are fast becoming mainstream platforms for artistic interaction; we are keen to provide pathways for artists to continue to innovate in these rich digital environments. The Australia Council supports artist residencies in many places in the real world; it is only natural for us to help artists explore the creative possibilities of residencies in virtual worlds.”

The Lismore Regional Gallery is located at 131 Molesworth Street, Lismore, NSW. The exhibition will run until April 23, 2008. The Babelswarm blog has much more detail of the installation.

Check it out in-world

(Pictures: Babelswarm, 2008)

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