Sumru Kumar, Tommy McCabe, Mike Stramandinoli, Allyson Warren

Life as a New ComerIt is extremely easy to identify a “newbie” on

second lifeMany experienced users are more than willing

to assist a user who appears to be lost or struggling

Orientation island is key to learn how to learn the basics of Second Life

As more time is spent exploring second life, users gain more in-depth knowledge regarding capabilities and functionality of the site as well as the potential the site holds

Life as a New Comer (cont.)Met many people of different cultures and

backgroundsOne particular example:

Played soccer with someone in Mexico and ended up having a conversation in English and Spanish about the World Cup

Amazing how Second Life allows you to have conversations such as this one with people you don’t know

HindrancesProgress was hindered by computers/internet

connections that were too slow to operate Second Life

Although the tutorial was extremely helpful, it slowed down the process of actually integrating into the Second Life world

Second Life was slow because of the number of usersCauses frustration as we had to log off and very little

progress was madeLack of money to spend made it difficult to fully

integrate into Second Life

HelpsInformation found on the Internet was helpful

in discussing potential of the site and helpful uses

Orientation Island was particularly useful, although it was hard to leave when you felt like you were ready to leave

Socializing with other new comers helped to initially learn the tools of Second Life

Advice and assistance from other Second Life users was a vital part in learning more in-depth aspects of Second Life

Explorations and AdventuresSeeing major companies such as Dell and

IBM made Second Life more appealingThere were many locations that we found to

be politically and socially offensiveIt was interesting to visit locations that were

raising money for charities in real lifeRandomly exploring allowed us to meet

individuals from other social networksThis fact adds to the small world getting

smaller idea

Benefits to using Second LifeSocial networking opportunitiesCan be used to escape the pressures of the real

worldReal identity can be concealed, you can define

the identity of your avatarMany large scale companies are beginning to

use Second LifeNetworking for possible job opportunitiesOpportunities within businesses to hold

meetings with people that may be a distance away

Platform for Online CommunityIf improvements are made, has the potential

to take over other social networking platformsAllows people to connect and look how they

want to be perceivedshows what some people hide inside rather than

Facebook, MySpace, etc. where pictures are displayed and identity is not concealed

connects people that could have never connected in the real world because of differences in real life, but their similarities in Second Life connected them in a new way

Culture on Second LifeBecause Second Life is a fairly new world,

the culture is still developingWe did not find a culture that jumped out

because each location in second life really has its own culture as each country in the world has its own culture

Depending on where you travel within Second Life culture is different as are the individuals you encounter along your routes

Commerce of Second LifeBusinesses can use Second Life as advertisement

for real world products and brandsOpportunities for an online business community

with virtual reality are endlessBecause many users are so immersed in Second

Life and willing to spend money, many real world businesses can actually sell products and services on Second Life

The fact that some companies pay for land in Second Life shows its value as a social networking entity

Work on a Cyber TeamWorking on a cyber team within an academic

environment was great as today's business world is global with team members operating in different time zones across the globe

Due to the fact that team members were located in different areas, we had to rely on Second Life, email, instant messaging, and cell phones to communicateRelying on these types of technology makes it

difficult to work as a cyber group because everyone has a different approach to using this technology

Work on a Cyber Team (cont.)With the time constraints of the project, it was

difficult to adjust to this kind of working environment so quickly

Once the communication was established, all the members of the team had to work hard to ensure the communication was kept

With today’s technology, a cyber team has the potential to be more efficient than physically meetingAllows for more individual work on different sections,

but it is more difficult to bring all the sections together as a cyber team cannot meet in one physical location to pull everything together

Reuters News ServiceFacilities allow users to

read news feeds for real and second life worlds

The auditorium allows users to view presentations and interviews

Key information and statistics on Second Life

Advertisements for real world products such as the 2008 Acura MDX

Ideas for Improvements of Reuters News Service

Real time stock ticker across front of building

News feed screens on exterior of building

Live news cast on screens exterior of building

Access to travel and weather conditions

User friendly controls for playing presentations and interviews

Book IslandThis location is actually very interesting it

allows visitors to actually purchase books that are available with in the system.

There are several “stores” in Book Island those stores carry different books, that can be downloaded and bought

This location is a successful and effective use of Second Life, because it brings the virtual world and the real world together.

Book IslandGoing through book Island was fairly simpleBook Island has a large number of stores that

offers books, each location has a different genre. The Island was pretty empty maybe 2 other

avatars present on the Island. Apparently people don’t like to read in the virtual world either.

The layout was nice, and not as empty as other Islands, Like Dell Island.

There was a book mall, which was two stories and had different types of books. (slide 3, is the view from inside the mall on the second floor)

Book Island

Book Island

Book Island

Blue Fusion Jazz ClubA place to socialize,

meet, and dance with other people

An Art gallery features an avatars work in Second Life

A bar and stage for karaoke and music.

Beowulf IslandA place to see sneak

peaks and trailers for the movie

A place to customize your avatar’s clothing with t-shirts featuring the motion picture

A theme inspired island for everyone