What follows is a private post written November 16 in response to a tweet regarding second life. The news story on KFOR last night generated some additional discussion regarding second life and I made a pretty bold statement, “this is the future of education” and I would argue much of everything else so I thought I would finally come clean regarding my thoughts. Some of what follows is conjecture and some fact.
Virtual Reality (Second life, IMVU, etc.) has crossed my radar more & more with legit value and realistic and purposeful uses to the users. I’m not talking promotional social media (i.e. twitter, etc.) but true value for both ends of an interaction/transaction. My statements that this is the future is based on a variety of resources including Gartner but to me it just simply seems intuitive to current tech evolution. Yep, its been around much like many of the social applications we have had at our disposal for the last ten years but what makes it unique, it is still here and continues to grow in size (anyone still have a xanga account?). Perhaps it was a bit early to the game but with many of the tech breakthroughs and improvements and cultural shifts to be more accepting of virtual worlds (during some recent interviews with prospective employees two separate candidates mentioned they like to play World of Warcraft as a hobby and, hey, if Mr. T can be a spokesperson…) I believe now is the time… or at least the near future.
Random thoughts:
Do you really think the future is all about text based social tools? Personally I would love it if I could stop typing! Youtube and other video providers continue to grow (I personally plan to use more video in 2010) and Google is experimenting with 3d video, we are seeing breakthrughts in 3d browsing and Google (once again) is experimenting with 3d browsers and others are creating browser overlays which allow for 3d walkthroughs on websites even if they aren’t set up as a 3d site (I took a walk through OKState.edu a while back and can assure you it was actually more enjoyable than traditinoal browsing), etc.
Holographic technology is currently being used in the medical profession and…. Disney. Yep, they are creating vitural reality theme parks, “5 floors of cutting-edge technology, virtual reality and 3D encounters fueled by Disney innovation and imagination.” By the way, do you remember the professor who gave, “the last lecture”? He was a prof at Carnigie Mellon (visit the Human-Computer Interaction Inst) and this was his area of expertise which he writes about it in his book.
A report estimate there are more than 1,400 US companies (including IBM and our Federal Government to name a few) which are using second life for collaborative meetings. Ebay, Gap, Barns and Noble, Amazon, etc. are currently experimenting with 3D/virtual shopping, etc. whcih you can use right now if you download the software.
Augmented reality applications are hitting the iphone as well as voice translations to different language (again, visit Carnigie Mellon for this one) so speaking a different language isn’t a problem. Theoretically I can engage in conversation with someone from anywhere in the world who speaks any language.
Bottom line, tech is stronger and more realistic/life like (think video games three years ago and what we have available today) and offers a greater ability to physically engage online. To this I add, don’t think Second Life today, think Second Life in three years. I would love to meet many of you face to face and will admit it isn’t the norm for many and can feel a bit klunky… just like facebook and other social media tools weren’t our norm five years ago and were a bit klunky.
Avatar. Need I say more? Okay, I will. Movies often are predictive of culture shift
Harvard, Yale, MIT, more than 300 other universities including Oklahoma State University and a number of local grade schools are using virtual reality to teach.
For me, I’m teaching part of my social media class in it next semester
Links of interest
http://search.spacetime.com/#/hl=en&n=0&q=bill%20handy%20osu&i=google_web
Hit me with your best arguement.