Week Eight

This week was the beginning of the group project and the topic of accessibility in Second Life. It's interesting to hear others' take on what this means. Being in the disabilities and accessibility field, I've become rather set in how I see it; more an audience expanding feature with benefits to many than a micro fix to accommodate a few. The question always seems to come up about how could anyone with sensory disabilities benefit from using a 3-D environment? Good question. Legally and ethically, if you're offering a course, everyone should be able to take it. The real question is how do you know they don't want to experience it? Blind and deaf people partake in, and want to experience, visually and audio based entertainment like anyone else, so why not something like Second Life?

Week Seven

Got into a Group for the final project assignment. Hopefully we'll be doing it about accessibility, just haven't narrowed it down to a single issue. Maybe accessibility in Second Life? One of the journal articles I read, stated "virtual worlds are not accessible". I contacted the President of Virtual Abilities about doing part of our annual conference in Second Life at their island. She agreed and is giving me more info about the various formats our presenters can use. Hope this pans out.

Week Six

Had a fun week exploring new sims, with an emphasis on role-playing. The first 2 I went to (Avillion and Tombstone) were not for me. I couldn't attend the planned events because of the time difference and I wasn't that into the scene of the sim. I then went to ROMA and took the role playing event offered me, that of following a run away assistant to the chief librarian of ROMA. Got around the city, took a boat trip, and raced the Chariots. Also looked at some ruins and was able to see how the building changed through the centuries. Great site! I'm going back.

Week Five

This week I spent most of my time exploring new sims and looking at how they are laid out. The detail range is very wide spread with some being very good (photo realistic) to simple (less lag time). This lag time is becoming a consideration for my evaluations as I'm finding it can make exploring rather difficult. I also took the time to change my outfit as I was beginning to see people who looked just like me at the various sites. The role playing sites were interesting, I'm finding the change of clothing required is more involved than I had imagined.

Week Four

I had another out of body experience in SL after Monday's class. During the t-shirt exercise, I lost my body, everything except my hair and shoes. It was very strange. Luckily for me, my partners, Pu and Molokai, tried to help and gave me some pointers on dressing (ha-ha). Catherine stayed with me for almost 2 hours, getting assistance from LindaB (I think she may have been from Finland) who ultimately got me back together. Having the two avatars discussing how I should look was an experience I will never forget. I can't thank Catherine enough for sticking it out and waiting until I was complete again. Learning about how the avatars are put together and things I need to be aware of, was worth the entire evening.

Week Three

Building things is something I didn't expect to enjoy in SL. I've had enough problems just getting around but I've narrowed it down to internet lag and an old mouse. Now the construction begins, what a great way to do it with accurate precision measurements and close-up camera controls. My only issue seems to be with the texture mode and how to apply it the way I want it to look.

I was lucky to find partners for the group project (actually, they found me) and learn new avenues to SL. They're much more advanced in the social aspects of Second Life and I got to see another side I hadn't before by myself. The socialization is a key component to finding out about what is possible. Just the few communication tips I got from talking with my partners, helped me in exploring new areas.

Week: Two

I went through the building videos and found the whole idea very interesting. The videos were good with the instructors clear about what was going on. I really liked the idea of displaying my photos using the box and putting everything in my inventory for future use...just need to find a gallery or two. My next build will be some sort of travel appliance, maybe a bicycle or motorcycle; just need to figure how to make it go (must be some script for movement). I also found an app for creating objects which I'll look into this weekend. I went to some different places over the last few days but am still not sure about what to do once I get there.