Thursday, June 21, 2012

What on earth is Second Life????



Figure 1: Second Life Logo

Second Life is a 3D world where everyone you see is  a real person and every place you visit is built by people just like you and me.

Second Life is an online virtual world. It was developed by Linden Lab and was launched in 2003. Residents can use a number of client applications, or Viewers, to connect with each other through avatars in this virtual world. The world, known as grid, can be explored by thee residents to meet other residents, participate in events and more. It can also be used as a trading place. After reaching top popularity in the late 2000s, it has declined in popularity.

Second Life has a 3D modeling tool which is based on simple geometric shapes which allow residents to build virtual objects. It also has a procedural scripting language, Linden Scripting Language or LSL. This language can be used to add interactivity to objects, such as sending emails, dancing, and more.

Never in my life I have resisted something as much as I resisted Second Life. Using Second Life is an essential part for this module and it is compulsory, meaning it cannot be avoided. Personally, I do not see any point of learning this language as I cannot see myself making any use of this knowledge. After all, this product is decreasing its popularity. Personally I do not think that this will help me find a better job and I find it an utter waste of time.

However, my opinion does not count and I still have to work on it. Next week I will continue by explaining the interface of Second Life and how to navigate around.


Figure 2: Residents as Avatars hanging out

My question about this is how useful such a virtual world is. Talking to some of my colleagues, while working with some of the largest casinos in the world, I noticed that some of the casinos actually have a similar environment for their players. Players in such casinos choose an avatar to play 3 Dimensional poker for example. It might not be that boring after all......


Figure 3: An Avatar in a Live Casino environment

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