I’ve been reflecting back on how 2011 has been for Second Life. I didn’t make any predictions for the year, but on reflection, I believe it was a good year for Second Life. Perhaps the best year for Second Life that I can recall for quite some time.
Via dwellonit.taterunino.net

“If you’re watching TV and you hear a helicopter in your surround sound,” says Santiago Alfaro, a grad student at MIT’s media lab. “Wouldn’t it be cool to just turn around and be able to see that helicopter as it goes into the screen?” Sure would. And Alfaro has realized that idea, in his thesis project, Surround Vision.
Via www.fastcompany.com

A source for free downloads of many original creations for you to use on your virtual world grid. Royalty free textures. Use any way you want.
Via www.lindakellie.com

Open Wonderland — an open source, Java-based alternative to OpenSim — is now available on a tablet. According to WonderSchool, a subsidiary of Germany’s THINSIA, clients can now access the platform on an iPad by having their user session streamed to the device.
Via www.hypergridbusiness.com

Doctors in a domed laboratory in Canada are designing a virtual world where they hope to one day treat traumatized children with colorful avatars using toy-like medical gadgets.Sensory stimulation could be used to make a burn victim feel she is encased in a block of ice. Three-dimensional images of a child’s bedroom at home could make him forget he is in a hospital.”You could take a child suffering from burns and put him in a polar environment, crossing the threshold of reality , to dull his pain,” said Patrick Dube, who is leading a team of medics from Montreal’s Sainte-Justine hospital and software engineers at the Society for Arts and Technology . “We know that cognitive illusions have an effect on the perception of pain,” he said. At the Satosphere, in an 18-meter-wide dome, the team has set up a hospital room, or ” living lab” , to try out new treatment ideas.
Via timesofindia.indiatimes.com

2010 will be the year to change it all! No wait, I mean 2011 will be the year to change it all! Darnit. OK, 2012, help us! You’re our only hope.While picking stocks or guessing baseball playoff scores is probably more lucrative, in our little corner of the world, we enjoy nothing more than predicting the rocky future for our favorite hobby.But between studio closures, surprise indie hits, and million-dollar investments, nothing is certain in entertainment trends, which is why we have so much fun throwing out educated guesses. Which game will topple World of Warcraft? Which studio will be shunned and ridiculed for a stupid decision?
Via massively.joystiq.com

Could augmented reality be the one missing piece of the learning puzzle? If you’ve been in a classroom recently, you may have noticed that children have different approaches when it comes to learning. They take in most information through three senses: Visual (eyes), Auditory (ears), and Kinesthetic (touch). However, most children who prefer learning kinesthetically miss out on most of the information in school and perform poorly. How can educators better cater to these differences to create an environment where every student thrives?
Via blog.daqri.com

In my mind, 30-day trials for massive multiplayer games are perfect. It gives me a lot of the time I need to get into a game, plum its depths, and then formulate a reason to never …
Via www.flesheatingzipper.com

With the Unity 3.5 developer preview being made available to the public yesterday, I set out to try the new Unity to Flash exporter.
Via blog.almostlogical.com

From Hypergrid Business:
“Kitely became the second commercial OpenSim grid to roll out Vivox voice today. Boston-based Vivox Inc. is currently the gold standard of in-world voice, used in Second Life, EVE Online, EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies, DC Universe Online and in many other massively online multiplayer games. The company reported 60 million users as of October of this year. Kitely activated Vivox voice earlier today, after a couple of weeks of negotiations with the virtual voice company.”
(Here’s our own take on Kitely back in March this year)

Via www.hypergridbusiness.com