These are the slides from the presentation I gave at The Wharton School's Tech-Fast on August 5th, 2011 on the history of virtual worlds, best practices, different options, and the future.
2. Before We Start (We Move Really Fast): Definitions & Questions Sim(ulator), Region, 16 acres... 4 by 4. 256x256m.65,536sqm. Eight Football Fields. Rez (from Tron, 1982): Resolution; making something.Avatar: Hindu Deity; Ultima IV; BBS; Social Media; SLVirtual Reality: (coined by Jaron Lanier) “Almost” Reality Who here knows they have an avatar? Abstract concept of Avatar? Our concept of the Avatar? What makes an avatar?
3. What is the Magic Circle? The Regular Rules Do Not Apply
5. Who are you? Timothy Allen University of PennsylvaniaClass of 1996 School of Arts & SciencesIndividualized Major:Combined Psychology &Computer Science ...and now...
6. Who are you? Timothy Allen Wharton Computing Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) ...and virtually...
7. Who are you? FlipperPA PeregrineFounding Member,Second Life Community Convention SLBoutique.com
8. Who are you? FlipperPA PeregrineFounding Member,Second Life Community Convention SLBoutique.com OCCASIONAL BANANA
9. Who are you? FlipperPA PeregrineFounding Member,Second Life Community Convention SLBoutique.com STILL THIN ROCK STAR
10. The point being... THE AVATAR Ultimate Blank Canvas Self Expression UnleashedA Path to Freedom Safe, Anonymous SelfExploration
12. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:1975 to 1980: All in the Mind Colossal Cave Adventure, Zork & MUDs: Text & ImaginationMUD: Multi-User Dungeon
13. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:1980 through 1990: @ is for @vatar! Rogue / Hack / NetHack: The Genesis of Visual Representation
14. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds: 1990: MOO Bring Persistence; "Not a Game" MOO: Mud, Object-Oriented; Permanently Stored Objects
15. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:1993: Virtual Places & the Web Revolution Virtual Web Pages; Start of Graphical Revolution
16. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:1993: The Palace Social Chat: A Virtual Comic Strip, “2.5 Dimensions”
17. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:1993: WorldsChat Space Station Actual 3-Dimensional Perspective
18. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:1994: ActiveWorlds The Dawn of UGC: User Generated Content, “E-Motes”
19. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds: 1999-2002: Linden Lab Founded; Second Life The Dawn of UGC: User Generated Content, “E-Motes”
20. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:July, 2003: The Tax Revolt Doing the logical thing, SL Residents set themselves onfire to protest the “prim tax.”
21. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:November 14th, 2003: IP Rights Linden Lab grants rights of creations to the creator;covered in SlashDot; FlipperPA Peregrine is born.
22. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:BTW, this WAS before YouTube, Facebook,Flickr, Digg, Twitter & more had traction; infact, SL's users became their early adopters!
23. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:December, 2003: Avalon & Rivers Run Red London based Rivers Run Red opens the Avalon region; the design and branding firm soon brings Adidas, the BBC,Hermann Miller, Avril Lavigne, and more to virtual worlds.
24. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:January, 2004: Land and Prim Limits Land “bought” from Linden Lab; more land meant moreprimitives, which meant more detailed content. Fullsimulators (16 acres of space as 1 CPU) begin being sold.
25. A Brief History of Avatars & Virtual Worlds:January, 2004: The Crompco Virtual Station Crompco Corporation becomes the first company to useSecond Life for corporate training; reduced time ofapprenticeship cycle from nine months to six.
26. Concepts of virtual space... are *almost* always public. Virtual Starwood == The Shining.Private Space == “Security”...hehe Like privacy in Facebook, Twitter,or the Web, does it really exist?
35. 2007: Peak of the Positive HypeNBC, CBS, and CSI: New York
36. SLCC 2007: 1000 attendees, lots ofpress, and time for us to retire!
37. The Fallout: Hype Swings Both Ways Companies didn't engage the SL community. Companies believed their brands were cool enough, peoplewould come flocking to their locations. A community of creative minds isn't easily wooed by marketers.Successful examples: Coca-Cola, Pontiac, IBM, Cisco, IntelBusts: too many to list... but American Apparel was the first.
38. Simon Stevens: Breaking the Rules Independent Disability Issues Consultant • Cerebral palsy affect speech,balance, hand control • Author of "Normality", a playabout his experiences inmainstream education • Passion, commitment anddetermination
39. Simon Stevens: Breaking the Rules Founder of Wheelies Dance Club in Second Life • All are welcome! • Fun support center for those with disability issues • Some disabled choose to create avatars with disabilities • Some choose to walk, dance, and fly • ...and some...
40. Simon Stevens: Breaking the Rules ...and some... CHOOSE TO BUILDAWESOME ROCKETPOWERED WHEELCHAIRS THAT CANDANCE AND FLY!
69. ...and in conclusion... Unleash your imaginationDo research, but break the rules Avoid the hype Rapid development, embrace change...and most importantly, ENGAGE!