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Interview – Estelle Parnall, Blue Mars Fashionista

August 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Blue Mars is a virtual world that continues to evolve, somewhat under the radar for a lot of people. Over the past week it has announced pricing changes that reflect a change in approach from one of establishment to one of consolidation.

Australian designer Estelle Parnall is based in northern Victoria and she obviously sees some opportunities in Blue Mars, shifting most of her focus from Second Life to there in recent months. I used that as an excuse to delve into Blue Mars a little more whilst profiling an interesting Australian who creates some notable content.

Interview

The interview below was done over a month ago, so Estelle has now successfully opened her full presence in Blue Mars, in addition to an art gallery (pictured left).

Lowell: What made you decide to leave SL?

Estelle: I havent actually left SL, I still have my shops on half a sim and a small number of satellites, but I suppose I have halted development since about October last year. In the months previous to this I think the market fell considerably (if my sales were anything to go by, but I am sure I wasnt alone). The clothing market in SL is saturated and the freebie culture certainly wasnt assisting the market to be viable.

Lowell: What attracted you to Blue Mars?

Estelle: I was attracted to the superior graphics, and the concept of quality control. The idea of getting in as an early adopter also appealed to me. Since being there a while I can say as a clothing designer that the clothes I can make in Blue Mars are far superior to that I could make in Second Life. No horrible templates or prim skirts, or ill-fitting sculpts……you have greater freedom with your virtual pallette.

Lowell: How has your experience been in Blue Mars so far?

Estelle: On the whole I can say I have really enjoyed it. Learning new 3D skills has been challenging but enjoyable.

Lowell: What limitations have you run into that you’d like to see resolved, and on the other side of the coin, what’s working better for you?

Estelle: There are a number of bugs that need resolution,, and of course the ones that rate most highly for me concern the fit of clothes. But I feel confident that Avatar Reality is working with us to resolve these issues.

Lowell: What are your plans for the coming 6-12 months?

Estelle: I am developing my own city which I hope to release in the next week or so which will showcase my designs and will include an Art Gallery. After that I hope to just improve my skills, create more content and become a major merchant.

More than fashion

From email discussions I’ve had with Estelle over the past month, it’s obvious Blue Mars are very focused on maintaining a happy foundation community. There’s certainly momentum there as well, no doubt helped by both the real and perceived challenges Second Life has at present. In Estelle’s case, her work in Blue Mars has delivered a content creation role for the Martian Boneyards project by TERC, a scientific collaboration game funded by the National Science Project (US). It’s these sort of projects that provide the real indications that the diversification of education in virtual worlds is on the increase. OpenSim growth is a key part of the equation, but environments like Blue Mars are gaining a footing too.

Now if only some real interoperability standards were on the near horizon…

Filed Under: Australian News, Fashion, Profile, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: , ,

Have your say on the internet filter: it’s delayed but not forgotten

July 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Sorry, this is really for Australian readers only: a large number of Australian media sites are running a common poll on the proposed internet filter. Sure, it’s a very simple question, and there’ll no doubt be some debate over its wording, but it really has one intention: to get a idea of wider community perceptions of the issue. The majority of the tech community are arguably against the filter, but it goes without saying that’s a specialised cohort of people.

So if you have an opinion, or have family / friends to whom tech primarily means the microwave they heat their cup of tea up in, then put in your two cents worth.

Click on the poll image above or go here to have your say.

Filed Under: Australian News, Politics, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: , ,

Susa Bubble: saving the art from censorship

June 23, 2010 by 2 Comments

You may have seen a story on New World Notes today about the removal of an installation from the 7th birthday celebrations for Second Life.

First, some context. The installation is titled Susa Bubble, and it looks like this:

(You can check it out for yourself in-world or you can view a higher-res pic here)

The creator, Rose Borchovski sums up the issue from her perspective:

The Kiss has been returned to me from the SL7B sims where Linden is celebrating Secondlife. I quote “The images on your build are in violation of our general rating, to be clear: Nudity is not allowed at art events with a general maturity rating.”
I would like to point out and educate Linden Lab that most of classic and contemporary art is based upon nudity. Not because of Sex, but because of the beauty and the vulnerability of the human body, the human body we all share and look at in the bathroom mirror in the early morning.

The story of Susa is a sweet but savage story, told in image and text, sound and installation. It is about our dark inside, but also shows how vulnerable and lonely we all can be. My art shows a naked body, but it is not about nudity or sex.

Art being shown at a public art event of Linden means pretty pictures that bring aesthetic pleasure void of all critical thinking. Culture must be “safe” / sterile, no matter how free of content that makes it. As implemented by LL, “Community Standards” means content so content less that no viewer has even a remote chance of being caused to think about anything, to question any of their values or assumptions. Safe in SL means safe from thought.

When I protested against it in the group chat I was shut out .I was told not to discuss it in SL7B Group Chat “because this isn’t the place” — because NO place is the place to discuss it — because we don’t even want to think or let others think about the ideas we don’t want to think about

The worst part of censorship is not that which is censored, but the climate of self-censorship it imposes on all artists. Art is about having a voice. Art is about thinking differently and about thinking from fresh perspectives. When artists are not allowed to have a voice, culture is not allowed to progress.
When I hide my susas nakedness, I have stopped telling her story.

Nothing is more resistant to authoritarian control than a naked body. Control & conformity require uniforms. Nudity is too wild and uncontrolled. When you know my Susa Bubble story you can see it isn’t really even about “nudity” but that just suggests how powerful the forces for thinking-avoidance-at-all-costs are. Better to censor the world than risk allowing in a question that could topple the status quo. Authority does not like questions. Authority does not like creativity. Authority does not like art. Authority does not like nudity.

I did not bring my installation to the celebration to publicize myself, I make in art in SL because I want to share my Susa story and touch people

Greetings Rose Borchovski

Take another look at the picture above and then explain to me how it really qualifies as nudity? And remember, Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon has had his own art exhibited in Second Life. Sure, there needs to be some boundaries around what is acceptable but is it just me that finds that boundary to be just a little tight?

If you clicked on the SLURL above you will have ended up on the University of Western Australia sim which is now hosting the installation. Jayjay Zifanwe from UWA loved the installation and offered to host it, not in protest but in admiration of the work.

Which is the sort of collaborative attitiude Linden Lab could have adopted in their dealings with Rose Borchovski.

On top of everything else the Lab have been involved in over the past week – did this need to occur?

The final word belongs to Rose:

“It would be wonderful to take this oppertunity to have a fresh look at art and Second Life and what it means to Linden, to have so many artist creating”

Filed Under: Art, Australian News, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: , ,

Government and virtual worlds: Australia on the catch-up

May 25, 2010 by 3 Comments

The issue of virtual worlds getting on a government’s policy agenda is something we’ve examined pretty closely, and like most of you reading this, it can get frustrating sometimes seeing the pace at which change is occurring.

In recent days I was again struck on the world leadership role the United States Government are taking in regards to virtual worlds. This report by Dawn Lim at Nextgov showcases beautifully both the depth and breadth of work going on across a range of US Government departments, including the cross-agency vGov portal which is currently under development.

The contrast with Australian government departments is fairly stark. Educators and artists are certainly leading the way, but things get pretty sparse beyond that. In the e-health sphere, there is only limited awareness of the potential of virtual worlds and there’s certainly no active strategy to incorporate them into developing standards.

That said, the Government 2.0 Taskforce report commissioned by the Australian Government does hold some promise. You can read the Government’s full response to the report here, but the standout recommendation for me is 4.4, which states:

Agencies should support employee-initiated, innovative Government 2.0- based proposals that create, or support, greater engagement and participation with their customers, citizens and/or communities of interest in different aspects of the agency’s work. They should create a culture that gives their staff an opportunity to experiment and develop new opportunities for engagement from their own initiative, rewarding those especially who create new engagement/participation tools or methods that can quickly be absorbed into the mainstream practice that lifts the performance of the department or agency.

That’s the open invitation for Australian Government Departments to start innovating, and the US Government example is certainly one worth exploring for its applicability here. In that example, it was the usual story of small groups or individuals advocating for change and driving that change with minimal budget support. Government Departments here obviously don’t have the critical mass that their US counterparts do, but the very nature of virtual worlds means that’s not a significant roadblock.

The main barriers still seem to be awareness and a reliance on stereotypes to inform decision-making. Only those handful of people working within the system will be able to change that, although fighting against short-term political prerogatives isn’t easy at the best of times, let alone in the midst of a heated debate over internet filtering.

Over to you: are you aware of governmental initiatives underway that may help in shaping policy agendas in the medium term?

Filed Under: Australian News, Op-ed, Politics, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: ,

Body image study: last chance for participation

May 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Back in January we promoted a study being undertaken by Doctorate student Jon-Paul Cacioli on body image in virtual worlds (the study participants need to be aged 18 or over and be male). Click here for the survey link

The response over recent months has been good be Jon-Paul needs a few more people to take part in the survey:

We have introduced an amazon gift voucher of $100 which will be randomly drawn from all participants who entered after data analysis is complete. If individuals have already entered prior to the prize they can email me at jcaci@deakin.edu.au and I will add them to the draw.

Thanks for your help

So why not jump in and assist in developing the body of knowledge in an area we all know fairly well – the results could be interesting to say the least.

Filed Under: Australian News, Education, Non-Profit, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: ,

Immersion and the Conceptual Hump

May 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I’m obviously biased in my assessment of Tateru Nino: she is a contributing writer for this publication and I’m already convinced she’s one of the world’s best virtual worlds observers.

Articles like this one are why I believe that. It’s a superb piece on immersion and how that can be hard to achieve until those first few frustrating hours of getting to know a virtual environment are overcome: the Conceptual Hump. Take a few minutes to read the whole thing, and appreciate my frustration at not being able to command more of Tateru’s time 😉

Speaking of which – a book review from Tateru is incoming in the next few days. If there’s something you’d like her or I to review, do drop us a line.

Filed Under: Australian News, Op-ed, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: ,

UWA Art Competition: April Winners

May 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The relentless creative behemoth that is the University of Western Australia’s 3D Art & Design Challenge continues its journey, with another large number of entries and interesting judging results. The full results can be read below, but the other noteworthy aspects are the creation of the UWA-BOSL Amphitheatre, a space “dedicated for not-for-profit Art, Education & Charity events”, the creation of a Science and Art competition in partnership with some Italian academics, and the selection of UWA’s Second Life presence as one of 100 treasures for a book to published as part of the UWA’s centenary celebrations.

I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it a lot more times, the UWA presence in Second Life would have to be one of the most dynamic, inclusive and expansive virtual worlds projects around. The yearly judging on the art competition is going to be one large challenge and it’s a privilege to be involved.

Also, Iono Allen has created a great machinima showcasing all the April winners:

For the dedicated, here’s the full announcement of the April winners:

Julez torments IMAGINE! Lili pips Nyx at the line: April Winners of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge

A chilling work where a demon captures your soul, by Julez Odigaunt has taken the top IMAGINE Arts prize ($L5,000) for the April round of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge. The piece, JULIA’S MAGIC MIRROR – DEMON, beat out an amazing field of 67 international artists, including past IMAGINE winner Glyph Graves who took out 2nd prize with his incredible immersive work, ORGANIC RECURVE. Meanwhile in the FLAGSHIP building design challenge Lili Field’s EYE OF THE BEHOLDER managed to stop an unprecedented 5th win for Nyx Breen, whose UWA AxS Lab was pipped at the post into 2nd place.

Going one better than her runners-up prize in the March round, Julia said, “What a great honor! I was quite shocked. The initial Mirror was inspired by a dark yet whimsical gypsy circus which Atomic Gaffer built. Then i decided to go darker, more haunting and it is the exact reaction that I aimed for that folks received when they interacted with the mirror. Thank you UWA for this wonderful honor and acknowledgment.”

Following the announcements yesterday at the traditional winners announcement party at the UWA SIM, Lili was shocked at her win, and the ever gracious Nyx said, “Once again UWA is an exciting wonderful experience all should partake in. To the artist and builders a wonderful job.”

Two-thirds into the year long challenge, the judging panel had a very tough time of it with amazing pieces across the board. Sharni Azalee, whose piece, THE ABYSS, won the non-scripted prize said, “A woman’s handbag, the mystifying abyss, where the bravest of men fear to tread. I was honored to receive the award for non scripted exhibit and overjoyed that so many men took the challenge and entered the dark realms of a woman’s handbag 😉 it’s ok, we wont make u carry them :). Thank you to all at UWA, your support and encouragement has allowed me to find a place that I can express myself in a way I never knew possible.”

“I would like to thank the Academy… oh sorry. wrong award. I’m humbled and thankful and now I’m motivated to try to top this work.”. said the Wizard Gynoid, ever the joker in romping her way to the Honourable Mention Prize for Synchronicity with her piece ANIMATED E8,

Italian artist Gleman Jun (Honourable Mention : 10 SECONDS OF SL), on the other hand was philosophical, “Creation becomes art only when it meets the recognition by those who appreciate it. Wining this prize means discovering that one has taken the right path towards the realization of oneself.”

Samara Borkotron and Gumby Roffo were the winners of the$L4,000 Casey Prize (artworks representing an aspect of Western Australia) for March and for April, while The People’s Choice Award was won by the effervescent Miso Susanowa, and her LADY WITH FAN. “I am very honored that my Lady, who danced into my world, pleases so many people as she did me when I saw her first in a single prim. I am also honored to be among such great artists and the wonderful and heartening work and support of Jayjay, Quadrapop and the UWA for all artists.”

Other winners include Ivy Lane, Daco Monday, Maya Paris and Glamorama Flux (whose work ART ATTACK was the first ever piece she has had on display)

Some other exciting developments with the UWA presence were announce at the awards ceremony. First of all, the Universiy of Western Australia in RL celebrates its centenerary in 2011. For this 100 year anniversary, a special hard cover glossy book is being produced called ‘UWA’s 100 Treasures’ and the ‘UWA presence in Second Life’ has been selected to be one of those treasures!

Also on the 8th of May 2010, the UWA-BOSL Amphitheatre. a space dedicated for not-for-profit Art, Education & Charity events was officially launched. Built by Patch Thibaud, this beautiful new venue has been set up jointly by Best of Second Life (BOSL) and the Unversity of Western Australia (UWA) as part of UWA’s and BOSL’s aims of community service and support of Education and the Arts.

This space will be available free of charge for anyone wanting to organize such events.

Taralyn Gravois has been appointed as Director of the UWA-BOSL Amphitheatre. She has run a 4 SIM theatre in the past, and has a deep love and respect for the arts. In RL she was an award winning television producer for more than a decade. Anyone wanting to run events at the theatre, please contact her.

A partnership has also been formed between UWA, Second Physics and SL Art and Experience Italy for a Science & Art Competition for which registrations close on the 12th of May. The Competition aims to create artworks that communicate scientific concepts, with this first edition devoted to Physics. This is very important to UWA, as the UWA’s SL project is led by the School of Physics. Anyone interested in taking part do send registrations to Majorie Fargis by the 12th of May. Professor Franco Fabbri (RL), a Visiting Scientist at CERN who works on elementary particles, is one of the key people behind this effort.

The University of Western Australia would like to thank the Cultural Precinct at the University of Western Australia, ShedworX.com, the Casey Family of Western Australia, www.etshirts.com, MidnightRain Glas, Sasun Steinbeck, Galea Yates, Tranguloid Trefoil, Lowell Cremorne & Phillip Vought for their continued support of the UWA3D Art & Design Challenge

WINNERS OF THE APRIL ROUND OF THE UWA 3D ART & DESIGN CHALLENGE

IMAGINE CHALLENGE – 3D ART

Imagine Challenge 1st Prize: ($L5,000 + Custom T-Shirt)
JULIA’S MAGIC MIRROR – DEMON by Julez Odigaunt

Imagine Challenge 2nd Prize: ($L1,250)
ORGANIC RECURVE by Glyph Graves

Best Non-Scripted Entry: ($L1,250 + Custom T-Shirt)
THE ABYSS by Sharni Azalee

FLAGSHIP CHALLENGE – BUILDING DESIGN
Flagship Challenge 1st Prize : ($L5,000)
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER by Lilli Field

Flagship Challenge 2nd Prize : ($L1,250)
AxS GALLERY by Nyx Breen

Honourable Mention Prize for GATEWAY TO THE SOUL (L$500)
10 SECONDS OF SL by Gleman Jun

Honourable Mention Prize for SYNCHRONICITY (L$500)
ANIMATED E8 by The Wizard Gynoid

Honourable Mention Prize for CHARITY (L$500)
HELPING HANDS by Ivy Lane

Honourable Mention Prize for COLOUR (L$500)
LUCE E COLORI by Daco Monday

Honourable Mention Prize for TEXTURE & INTERACTION (L$500)
NIGHT BIRD by Maya Paris

THE ANTON MESMER Honourable Mention Prize (L$500)
ART ATTACK by Glamorama Flux

CASEY PRIZE – MARCH (L$4,000)
JUXTAPOSED by Samara Borkotro

CASEY PRIZE – APRIL (L$4,000)
ROUND HOUSE by Gumby Roff

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD (L$500):
LADY WITH FAN by Miso Susanowa

Filed Under: Art, Australian News, Virtual Worlds Tagged With:

ME/CFS Awareness Art Exhibition

May 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment

In late March we profiled some work being done by Australians in regards to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).

That work has continued, with the launch of an art exhibition occurring this Wednesday May 12th, 6-8pm SL time (11am – 1pm Thursday 13th AEST).

All the works exhibited are by people living with ME/CFS. To have a closer look for yourself, here’s where to go or you can view some pictures of the exhibition space here.

The picture leading this post is an example of the excellent work on show, so take the time to visit if you can.

Filed Under: Art, Australian News, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: ,

UWA Art: March winners and a three-year continuation

April 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The University of Western Australia continues its 3D Art and Design Challenge, announcing the March winners. All those details are replicated in full below thanks to the indefatigable Jayjay Zifanwe and the UWA in SL blog.

What’s even more impressive is the announcement that the UWA have agreed to fund the monthly competition for a further three years, to the tune of a million Linden dollars per year for art and half a million for machinima. That equates to around US$6000 per year on top of maintaining the UWA presence, which is certainly a demonstration of confidence by the University. It also extends the life of the competition to August 2013, ensuring exposure of a lot of artists over that time.

Onto the March winners:

Fuschia & Flivelwitz snatch IMAGINE, Breen machine chugs on: March Winners of UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge

For the very first time, a collaborative work has taken the top IMAGINE Arts prize for the March round of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge. The enchanting and enveloping HEATH, created by Fuschia Nightfire & Flivelwitz Alsop held off a very strong field of 55 works from artists all across SL in taking the $L5,000 first prize. Meanwhile in the FLAGSHIP building design challenge, no one seems capable of supooing Nyx Breen who has now won 4 of the 7 to FLASHIP prizes as this yearlong competition has crossed into month 8!

First time entrant, Flivelwitz and veteran Fuschia were thrilled and stunned to have taken the top gong. “Well i suspected we had won something! but not this”, said Fuschia, while Flivelwitz when asked to comment said “It is exciting to be the first to win in a collaboration at the UWA”.

The top 3 in fact were very close, and for the first time ever, a joint 2nd prize was awarded to Julez Odigaunt & Kolor Fall for their incredible works, JULIA’S WILTING HEART SHRINE & OCEANS OF LIGHT.

“Its such an honor that UWA appreciated Julia’s Wilting Heart Shrine. It is a very personal piece and I am glad it was well received. I would like to thank Ulrich Lionheart, the author of the poem. His words are so powerful and full of emotion – purely expressing what I was feeling at the time – it inspired me to create a shrine that allowed me to expose the mindset I was in at the time. It was quite healing” said Julez.

With Nyx’s back to back to back win in March to go with his October win taking his tally to 4, seems it will take some doing to dislodge Nyx who has declared that he will have one FLAGSHIP build submitted each month for the rest of the competition. It is going to take some doing to stop Nyx from having more than half of the entries that will come under consideration for the Grand Prize!

Following the announcements yesterday at the traditional winners announcement party at the UWA SIM, Nyx said, ” I would like to state that outside of developing some wonderful friendships in Second Life, that nothing has been as enjoyable as participating in an event that has truly global and groundbreaking results as the UWA Flagship Challenge. UWA has taken a small art show and made it a must see destination in the Cyber world and an event that if missed in Second Life, then one doesn’t understand the true potential of what was envisioned as the purpose of Second Life… creativity shared across a medium that brings us all closer.Great Job UWA, JJ & Quad and all that help make this possible.”

The best non-scripted entry was BLOOM GLOW by Gumby Roffo, another vetran of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge, while Sharni Azalee’s FOREST OF DREAMS was voted top for the PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD!

The Artist Book Prize, being awarded for the final time, went to Miranda Mhia work, STANDING ROOM ONLY. UWA would like to thank Juanita Deharo, Victor Vezina and Juko Temple for making this award possible.

Other winners include Sundog Branner, Ichiko Miles, Gleman Jun, Betty Tureand and Nish Mip. Full list below.

Some other exciting things were also mentioned during the awards ceremony. First of all, UWA played host both in SL & RL to the Big Kahuna himself M Linden, who for the very first time in any universe was displaying his wonderful artworks. These can still be seen at a permanent exhibition within at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery which is on one of the 5 UWA SIMS.

This space has been listed as an SL destination for the Arts, which is the 2nd location within the UWA SIMS designated as an SL destination for the Arts, the other one being UWA’s Art & Design Challenge platform.

You can hear M Linden’s speech and watch some of the wonderful machinima created for the event on the UWA in Second Life Blog.

The next wonderful thing, is because of all the good news and publicity surrounding the machinima, the art & design competition and M’s show, UWA have been given funding for the Arts & Machinima for a further 3 years following then end of this current cycle in August 2010. The funding have received will allow UWA to provide L$1,000,000 per year for Art Challenges and L$500,000 for Machinima.

Also mentioned was the work of Lili Field, an Australian RL architect who has recreated UWA’s School of Business Building. A replica created based on the original buidling plans of an incredible award winning build at UWA .

IMAGINE CHALLENGE – 3D ART

Imagine Challenge 1st Prize: ($L5,000 + Custom T-Shirt)
HEATH by Flivelwitz Alsop & Fuschia Nightfire
Imagine Challenge 2nd Prize: ($L1,250) JOINT
OCEANS OF LIGHT by Kolor Fall/Patrick Faith
JULIA’S WILTING HEART SHRINE by Julez Odigaunt
Best Non-Scripted Entry: ($L1,250 + Custom T-Shirt)
BLOOM GLOW by Sledge Roffo

Casey WA Cultural Prize 1st Prize (L$4,000)

TBA

FLAGSHIP CHALLENGE – BUILDING DESIGN
Flagship Challenge 1st Prize : ($L5,000)
AxS GALLERY by Nyx Breen (4th time winner)

Honourable Mention Prize for ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES (L$500)
PRIMATAR’S LOVE: THE EVOLUTION by Gleman Jun

THE ANTON MESMER Honourable Mention Prize (L$500)
KINETIC-ART ELLIPTIC THREADS by Sundog Branner

Honourable Mention Prize for ARTISTRY (L$500):
HERA’S LYRE by Ichiko Miles

Honourable Mention Prize for TEXTURE & ATMOSPHERE (L$500):
BUTTERFLY HOUSE by Nish Mip – submitted for the FLAGSHIP Challenge

ARTIST BOOK PRIZE – 1st Prize (L$2,000):
STANDING ROOM ONLY – Miranda Mhia

ARTIST BOOK PRIZE – Honourable Mention (L$500):

WOMEN ARE AFRICAS HOPE – Betty Tureand

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD (L$500):

FOREST OF DREAMS by Sharni Azalee

Filed Under: Art, Australian News, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: ,

Educators and Second Life: local research

April 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Between August 2009 and February this year, Holmesglen’s Kenneth Rankin (SL: Ken001 Silverfall) undertook some research in Second Life as part of his Master of Education studies at the University of Southern Queensland.

It’s a fascinating snapshot on the state of play in regards to educators and Second Life, and includes some substantive recommendations for the future that may generate some debate. More on that later, but first the data:

Research context

After reading some of the results, I took the opportunity of contacting Kenneth, to ask him for some background and clarification of specific results:

TMJ: When was the research undertaken, with whom was it conducted, what was the sample size and the overarching research methodology?

KR:

· Data was collected during Nov 2009 via a web based questionnaire on SurveyMonkey.
· 79 persons responded, but 14 did not fully complete the survey. Analysis was conducted on data collected from 65 persons.
· The survey was undertaken only by educators who had at least one avatar in Second Life.
· Background: The technology adoption cycle, described by Rogers, shows the adoption of technology in various phases of adopters. First are the Innovators, then the Early Adopters, the Early Majority, the Late majority and finally the Laggards. Most technologies will enter mainstream use only if they can cross ‘the chasm’ between the Early Adopters and the Early Majority. Second life has been predicted to remain in the Early Adopters phase until 2013 when it is expected transition into the Early Majority phase.
· The main question to be answered by this research was “what can be learned from the experiences of the Second Life Early Adopters to facilitate the move into the Early Majority phase?”
· The topic was: “The collection and analysis of avatar experiences in order to provide conduct and appearance guidelines for educators adopting Second Life”.
· The research was a cross-sectional, qualitative, non-experimental design. The survey consisted of 29 questions with a mix of open and closed questions.

TMJ: Were there any results that surprised you?

KR:

· 38% of educators have no real-world code of conduct.
· 74% of educators have no real-world appearance code.
· The main reason to lose the ‘newbie’ look was originally thought to be as a deterrent to ‘griefers’. It was found that people lose the ‘newbie’ look in order to increase credibility and to display experience.
· Female avatars appear to be the target of more griefing incidents than males and are specifically targeted for sexual griefing. 17 males reported 6 non-sexual incidents and zero sexual incidents (35%), while 48 females reported 23 non-sexual incidents and 9 sexual incidents (66%). This was a surprise in an environment that was expected to be female friendly and gender neutral.

The full results

· The respondents were 74% female, average age just over 47, mainly from Nth America (54%) then Asia/Pacific (31%) and Europe (15%)
· Highly experienced group with more than half having over 3 years of Second life experience.
70% of educators use multiple avatars (accounts).

Recommendation: Educators should aim to have a single purpose for each of their avatars. The most common singularity of purpose is to provide for a private avatar and a professional avatar.

62% of employers provide a real-world code of conduct (CoC)  for employees

23% of employers have extended their RW CoC into SL

6% of employers have an SL CoC

43% of employees believe that a CoC is required in SL and 43% believe that it is not required.

26% of employers provide a real-world appearance code for employees

6% of employers have extended that RW AC into SL

5% of employers have an SL AC

8% of employees believe that an SL AC is required and 89% believe that it is not required.

Recommendation: The Early Majority will look for greater structure and guidance in SL than that required by the Early Adopters. A CoC and an AC should be considered as facilitation factors to assist more educators to adopt SL.

Recommendation: Educators should not be dissuaded from the adoption of alternative forms and appearances for their avatar. Appearance, however, does need to be appropriate for the educational context, especially when representing an organisation.

Recommendation: Each avatar should have in their inventory, a collection of appearances or outfits that are appropriate to their range of educational contexts and functions.

89% of respondents chose human form in Second Life

6% represent themselves in the opposite gender.

44% have some form of name relationship with their avatar

79% have some form of appearance relationship with their avatar

Recommendation: Care should be exercised when selecting the name of the avatar at the account creation stage, as this is one of the few aspects of the avatar that cannot be changed later

66% of avatars have lost the newbie look within 1 month.

The main reason to lose the newbie look is to increase credibility and to display experience.

12% of avatar profiles provide enough information to identify the RW person

40% of avatar profiles provide enough information to identify the RW place of work

53% of avatar profiles provide enough information to identify the person’s RW position or role

Recommendation: Educators should exercise discretion with the information provided through the avatar’s profile. This information should be checked against the purpose of the avatar, the code of conduct and the privacy guidelines of the employer.

Of the critical incidents reported, 58% were of a positive nature and 38% were of a negative nature.

Recommendation: Educators need to be made aware of the ‘big 6’ SL community standards, the range of positive and negative incidents that can occur in SL and how to manage these incidents. Educators also need to be aware that griefing of a sexual nature does exist and appears to be specifically targeted at female avatars.

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This research provides a great deal of insight into the educator demographic in Second Life. A lot of the results aren’t surprising, but as a whole they do provide some fascinating launch points for further discussion. So over to you: whether you’re an educator or not, what stands out for you in the results? Do you agree or disagree with the recommendations put forward?

A big thanks for Lindy McKeown for the heads-up.

Filed Under: Australian News, Education, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: ,

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