second life

Second Life: Living in a Virtual World

Anne Pemberton Instructional Services Coordinator

Randall Library, University of North Carolina Wilmington

What is Second Life?

“Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its Residents … with … a Resident population of over 16,785,531(and growing) …” 1/17/09

What is Second Life?

“Residents come to the world from over 100 countries with concentrations in North America and the UK … 60% are men, 40% are women and they span in age from 18 - 85.”

It is NOT a “game”

http://www.secondlife.com/whatis

Where Did It Come From?

Linden Lab (http://lindenlab.com/) Founded in 1999 by Philip Rosedale Vision and Mission: “To connect us all

to an online world that advances the human condition.”

Based in San Francisco 200 employees worldwide

What Can You Do in SL?

Explore Meet People

Chat (IM) Talk (Voice now available) Make groups

Make and Spend $ Build Dance, fly, surf, sail ...

Who are you in SL?

Avatars

Virtual representation of yourself

You … as you in first life … or completely different

First Life:Anne

Pemberton

Second Life:Kirstie Merlin

First Life:Anne Pemberton

Second Life:Brooke Timeless

Animal Avatars knows

as “Furries

”

Population (as of 1/17/09)

Residents Logged-In During Last 7 Days: 522,526

Residents Logged-In During Last 14 Days: 673,827 Residents Logged-In During Last 30 Days: 940,855

Residents Logged-In During Last 60 Days: 1,444,530

Total Residents: 16,785,531

Is It Free?

Yes and No

Free to create an Avatar and explore (Basic Membership)

Lots of “freebies” Hair, skin, clothes

Is It Free?

Want to buy land? A house? (Premium membership: $10 a month)

250 - 320 Linden $ = 1 US $

Make money (Surveys, “camping,” greeter, etc.)

Over $1 million (US) typically spent in a 24 hour period

• The Origin of Second Life

• Duke University School of Nursing in SL

• Ohio University

Universities in Second Life

University of Texas (System)

Harvard University

New York University

San Diego State University

Stanford University

Top 20 Educational Locations

Re-Think Learning Spaces

Do you really need a building or chairs when you can meet on top of a mountain or discuss a topic while swimming in a lake?

Examples

Second Life Education Wiki

UNCW in SL?

ITSD We have an

island! SL Design

Team

UNCW Group in SL

Getting Started

System Requirements

http://secondlife.com

Create an Avatar Choose your name wisely You can be anyone or anything you want! Male/female, human/animal (fuzzy), robot You’ll learn how to change appearance

First stop: Orientation Island

Getting Help

Video Tutorials

Building Tutorial

Help Island

Ask Residents!

Let’s Go!

If there’s time and the computer cooperates!

Have to See to Believe

Machinima (making movies in Second Life)

http://www.bellsandspurs.com/

http://secondlife.com/community/videos.php

Questions?

Wednesday, Feb. 25, 4 - 5 p.m.

Second Life: Living in a Virtual World (Part II)

If you already have a Second Life avatar, this is the workshop for you! Take a tour of a variety of locations in SL you may not have seen before and share the locations you are excited about. Find other UNCW SL users and join the UNCW Second Life group! This workshop will happen in SL so you can be anywhere on or off campus to participate!

Please E-mail Anne Pemberton at pembertona@uncw.edu to register and provide your avatar name. She will “teleport” you to the workshop location at the start of the workshop.