Sunday, November 15, 2009

Mixed Reality Events

Mixed Reality Events= RL + SL participation

I have been exploring "mixed reality" events in Second Life......where face-to-face (Real Life "RL") meetings join with participants in Second Life (SL) such that "Mixed Reality" events comprise RL+SL participation. I have discovered that this remote access makes it feasible for those in geographically disbursed locations to access events in RL and have a "voice" in the conversation. I will outline 3 experiences I've explored in the venue of mixed reality events:

1) Recently, I joined in a SL discussion as Linden Labs unveiled their beta "enterprise" version of Second Life (see:
http://lindenlab.com/pressroom/releases/04_11_09 ) intended for organizations wanting to add SL "behind-the-fire-wall". At this mixed reality event, the CEO of Linden Labs spoke in California to a RL audience and it was streamed into SL at various locations. I was "inworld" at Rockliffe University listening to the press conference while interacting with others in the SL environment as we explored the implications for organizations.
According to www.massively.com: "Already, 14 organizations are participating in the beta program for Second Life Enterprise. This list includes: IBM, Northrop Grumman, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, DefenseWeb Technologies, Case Western Reserve University, The New Media Consortium, among others." (see: http://tinyurl.com/yjdwkxv)

2) Educause: this ev
ent took place in RL in Denver, Colorado, but I joined in the conversation in SL at the Montclair University campus & heard AJ Kelton conduct the Virtual Worlds Constituent Group meeting in real time.


(see: http://virtualworldsedu.info/educause/educause2009.html for a written transcript and additional photos). Others joined in the discussion from Heritage Key as well.



3) Texas A&M University's Second Life User's Group meeting: I joined the others who were present in RL in College Station, Texas, while I was "present" in Second Life and could hear my colleagues' comments on their experiences with student learning in this virtual environment.




So, what did I learn from these 3 meetups? I see that SL is a viable option for distance learning, group meetings and virtual conferences!! The ROI: increased "presence" in distance learning experiences, savings in travel time, travel expenses, and greater attendance and diversity of participants from geographically disbursed locations. It's a win-win solution!


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