Second Life Polska by Servicetek

OJAI, CA – Palomar Pomerado Health of San Diego, Calif. , plans to open a new, high-tech hospital in 2011, but according to Palomar’s chief technology officer, an IT-driven community outreach effort has already begun.
“We want to ‘break the mold’ on leveraging technology in the new facility, so it made sense to build a virtual model of the hospital online,” said Orlando Portale, Palomar’s CTO.

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Portale spoke here Thursday at the 2008 Physician-Computer Connection Symposium, an annual event put on by the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems. Palomar’s proposed brick-and-mortar facility, called Palomar Medical Center West, will have 600 beds, cover approximately 1.2 million square feet and cost almost $800 million. Portale said the hospital would teem with state-of-the-art technology, including operating suites with robotics technology and patient rooms that could be quickly reconfigured to meet the needs of a patient’s changing health status.

The new medical center’s online equivalent, termed “Virtual Palomar West,” has similar features, which anyone with Internet access can tour via the virtual world of Second Life.

A creation of San Francisco-based Linden Labs, Second Life has more than 14 million registered users, and Portale told his audience that creating a presence in the popular three-dimensional virtual world was an easy decision for the health system.

“Second Life is the leading metaverse platform,” Portale said. “We can simulate a model of the new hospital and offer people in the community a chance to see it before it is built, and we can also begin to simulate potential events in the virtual world.”

The “metaverse” is a term coined by writer Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel Snow Crash.

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It refers to a virtual world where humans interact with each other via avatars in a three-dimensional “metaphor” of the real world. Portale told the AMDIS audience that interaction with patients in public virtual worlds like Second Life – and in private virtual worlds and meeting spaces created by companies like Forterra Systems and Qwaq – would likely be a critical part of health systems’ outreach efforts in the future.

“Conceptual and virtual simulation in healthcare is not going to go away, but will probably grow,” he said.

Does metaverse have a future in healthcare? What are the advantages, and where would the disadvantages lie? E-mail your comments to Associate Editor Richard Pizzi at richard.pizzi@medtechpublishing.com.

Healthcare IT News

By  Richard Pizzi, Associate Editor

Gibson Island launched on Second Life

Rob Hughes Today, 10:29am

First major music manufacturer to establish itself within the virtual world

Gibson Guitar has announced the launch of Gibson Island on Second Life.com and has become the first major music manufacturer to establish an official home within the virtual world. The island was launched on Wednesday, July 16, 2008, with an exclusive live music performance by Bob Welch.

Second Life is a 3-D Virtual world entirely created by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown to host over 14 million inhabitants from around the globe. Visitors discover a vast digital continent, teaming with people in entertainment, other experiences and new opportunities. Millions of users launched Second Life five years ago along with Linden Labs and some of the world’s greatest musicians have already created their own avatars to explore the virtual capacity of Second Life. The virtual world is free to join and available for Mac, Windows and Linux computer platforms.

In tribute to the Gibson Les Paul guitar and musician, the Gibson Island is in the shape of the famous guitar body and rises up from the ocean in Second Life. The island will feature humbucker mountains, full theatres, mini-theatres and other areas resembling pickups and other aspects of a Gibson guitar.

As part of the launch, the 70s multi-platinum solo artist and former Fleetwood Mac vocalist/guitarist will perform in an exclusive concert with other Second Life musicians. Bob Welch’s avatar, Bob Welch Magic, will also appear on stage along with celebrity musicians Cypress Rosewood and Von Johin. The concert kicks off a series of concerts, which will be produced and performed only on the Gibson Island in Second Life over the period of a few months. Wednesday’s inaugural concert series is a first for the musical instrument manufacturing industry and features an entire day of exclusive performances on the Gibson Island.

The Gibson Island features various stages including mini-theatres featuring classic blues performances by Matt Murphy, Howlin’ Wolf and more.

A variety of movie screens scattered around the island provides exclusive audio content and experiences along with news and information sites.

Second Life

 residents will have the opportunity to experience some of the world’s most popular Gibson guitars for free. Over two-dozen high prim virtual Gibson models will be available throughout the Gibson Island only, allowing Second Life residents to own their dream guitar in this virtual world. The models will include Gibson’s Hound Dog Dobro Acoustic, Hummingbird Acoustic, Flying V, Slash Inspired By Les Paul, John Lennon Signature Les Paul, Les Paul Robot, SG Diablo, and Les Paul Classic models, among many others

Second Life Gibson avatars will have exclusive opportunities to own Gibson Gear, apparel and accessories virtually. Gibson Entertainment will provide exclusive produced videos and audio programming which will play on the movie screens throughout the 65,000 sq foot virtual island including celebrity interviews, music lessons, fun facts, company history, documentaries and performances. Visitors will be able to explore the island’s many areas on the Gibson Tour Trolley or simply fly or teleport through each location.

Features of the Gibson Island will include the Gibson Forest, where visitors can walk the path and learn about the woods that make Gibson guitars, Gibson Radio, playing music from Gibson artists along with live interviews, Gibson Rock and Roll Stage – a full sized concert stage for musical performances, the Gibson Custom Guitar Shop, Gibson guitar of the month boardwalk and much more.

To register and visit the Gibson Island, go to www.secondlife.com

Zastosowanie Second Life jako platformy biznesowej.
Second Life (SL) jeszcze raz. Tym razem dla biznesu.
Prezentacja pokazuje krok po kroku jak działa ten wirtualny świat:

tworzenia awatara (czyli swojej wirtualnej postaci, swojego drugiego ja),

funkcjonowanie “secondlifowych” społeczności,

funkcjonowanie ekonomii (kupno i sprzedaż działek, budynków, Linden Dolar…),
obecność firm i reklamodawców.

 Social interaction is enhanced rather than diminished by online interfaces, according to new research on the virtual program Second Life. Eryn Grant, a PhD student in Queensland University of Technology’s School of Humanities, recently completed a study which took an in-depth look at social order in emergent online environments.

In doing so, she said she had immersed herself inside the ‘game’ Second Life, an online social interface that allows people to interact socially and economically in a 3D virtual space. “I wanted to see how you go about being a functional member of Second Life, what the rules and norms were, and how they were put into place, and I did that by analysing conversations,” she said. People on Second Life communicate through their avatars using textual chat-like features, and can meet at dance clubs, join groups with common interests and have philosophical discussions about their virtual world. “There are not many places we go in the world where we are guaranteed social contact, in real life it is harder and less likely that you will go up to a stranger and start a conversation,” said Ms Grant. She said a major finding was that Second Life could act as an important tool in connecting strangers by making it easier for people to find a world in common. Ms Grant said she did not share the worry of some that increased online interaction would detract from traditional social skills. “One major thing which I found was that you cannot have this intense kind of web-based interface without real-life tools – if you can’t communicate to someone in real life, you won’t be able to do it online,” she said. “You have to be able to go into these settings and perform according to the social rules, which you need to have learned in real life. “I think this is where the world is heading; when you look at social interfaces, people are able to have quick and easy connections on platforms like Myspace, Facebook and Second Life. I think this is telling us we need to be and that we love to be social. “The research ended on a positive note demonstrating our social and communication skills are changing, but they are not being eroded. “I think it is like an extension of who we are as social beings, you go to work, see your family and log on to either Second Life, Facebook, Myspace and it is just about reaching out even more – who doesn’t want to feel connected after all?”

Adapted from materials provided by Queensland University of Technology.

Najnowsze badania socjologów nad wirtualnymi światami w rodzaju Second Life pokazują, że wirtualne kontakty społeczne rozwijają – a nie ograniczają – zdolność interakcji w prawdziwym świecie.

Do takich wniosków doszła Eryn Grant, badaczka z Queensland University of Technology. Spędziła ona wiele godzin w Second Life „zapoznając się z normami i zasadami tam panującymi oraz analizując przeprowadzane rozmowy [toczone w grze za pośrednictwem specjalnego, czatopodobnego interfejsu – przyp. red.]”.

Grant wyjaśniła: „Nie ma zbyt wielu miejsc na świecie, w których tak łatwo byłoby nawiązać kontakt, jak w Second Life. Normalnie nie możesz raczej podejść do kogoś obcego i rozpocząć z nim rozmowy”. Zdaniem badaczki wirtualny świat ułatwia ludziom znajdywanie osób o podobnych zainteresowaniach oraz pozwala na przełamywanie społecznych barier.

„Uważam, że do nawiązywania wirtualnych znajomości są potrzebne te same zdolności i narzędzia co w rzeczywistości. Jeśli nie potrafisz komunikować się z ludźmi w prawdziwym świecie, nie poradzisz sobie także w Internecie. Dlatego nie sądzę, aby Second Life ograniczało umiejętności społeczne” – stwierdziła Eryn Grant. Dodała, że popularność wirtualnych społeczności jest wynikiem prostej, ludzkiej potrzeby utrzymywania kontaktów z innymi jednostkami. Internet jedynie czyni ten proces szybszym i sprawniejszym.

Źródło: ScienceDaily.com

Tempo wzrostu liczby użytkowników metawersum Second Life w ostatnich miesiącach zmalało, a reklama, jaka temu wirtualnemu światu towarzyszyła w mediach, przycichła. Teraz, by zdobyć nowych użytkowników, dzieło studia Linden Lab zostanie przez firmę Volee przeniesione na urządzenia mobilne.

Volee znane było do tej pory z aplikacji pozwalających na streaming gier z PC na telefony komórkowe. Przygotowywana przez nich wersja klienta Second Life ma zawierać znaczną część funkcjonalności dostępnych dla edycji dla Windows czy Linuksa – możliwe będą poruszanie się po świecie, interakcja z otoczeniem i rozmowy.

Jesteśmy pewni, że First Life ™ działa w wyższej rozdzielczości.

Menedżer Linden Lab Chris Mahoney powiedział, że „dla Linden Lab ten ruch jest następnym etapem na drodze do poszerzenia grona odbiorców oraz poprawienia dostępności Second Life. To wspaniały sposób dla naszych użytkowników na pozostanie w kontakcie z przyjaciółmi lub własnym biznesem, gdziekolwiek by byli”.

Oczywiście nawet współczesne telefony 3G nie byłyby w stanie sprostać wymaganiom sprzętowym engine’u Second Life’a. Dlatego też obraz generowany jest na wersji dla komputerów PC, a następnie skalowany i kompresowany, tak by dopasować ilość przesyłanych danych do łącza. W chwili obecnej można zapisać się na uczestnictwo w testach wersji beta tej aplikacji.

źródło: Phonemag.com