Color by Numbers

There are many different ways to navigate spaces in SL from walking to flying to teleporting and with all of these large spaces sometimes it can get overwhelming and disorientating. Some people like to use maps, but I personally do not want to have an extra window open as I find the SL interface cramped as it is, so I (described in an earlier post) put all of the text/ures on the IML region facing one direction. Unfortunately this led to issues when trying to fly quickly across the campus as most can't read and fly very well. What I wanted was the SPACE itself to communicate to the user WHERE they were located. All of the regions in SL have coordinates Zero to 255 for coordinates X, Y, Z.. just like the color code Zero to 255 for R,G,B...SO... I jumped into the Linden Scripting Language to write my first piece of code and so far it seems to have worked very well. It takes the objects coordinates and translates it into RGB code and now you can say oh I must be near the gallery space because it's yellow...... bzzzrp

Envisioning Information

New Projects on IML Island:

The Tufte Tunnel - Tufte's book 'Envisioning Information' has been wonderful to absorb in it's paper and ink format, but is now put into virtual book form thanks to Thinc Book 2.0. Textures or Snapshots can be loaded into this blank book and creates easily flippable pages. However, we now have a large 3d space in which to navigate and Professor Steve Anderson has requested a tunnel that can be flown through to be made.

the fly through
audio scripting explaining the Tufte Tunnel Concepts will be added later.

Customization

Linden Labs provides the framework and users create and modify the content. This includes the aesthetic of the IML region, the spider legs I replaced my regular avatar legs with, to the screens streaming in media. I am standing with Nicolas Decatur (avatar) who is the designer of the screens we are going to using in the Panopticon for Steve Anderson's class. I need 16 of these screens and buying, modifying, and setting up each of these is quite tedious. I Love designing in Second Life, but sometimes you just can't get past repetitive tasks...Unless.... you meet the creator of said objects and request a solution. Here Nicolas charged me flat cost of 4500 Linden dollars (usually 300 but I need at least 16) to provide the same object, but instead made the object copyable. This will save me a lot of work in the long run. bzzzrp

Restructuring

IML in SL has been under massive construction mostly out of changes required from knowledge gained by the process of customizing the region for specific purposes. The two major activities on the Island have been the use of the 3D representations of the class syllabus' for the 101 and 505 class and the Gone Gitmo Project.

















Above are the Gone Gitmo Project and the 101 syllabus towering out from the region area below. The black cube you are seeing is the entire region enclosed by video screens facing inward. The land was completely flattened for this purpose and all screens pushed to the edges.
The Gone Gitmo Project is our first main project to be showcased here on IML in SL and is a recreation of Guantanamo Bay along with an area for streaming video and discussion.
Peggy Weil is the leader of this project and information can be found here.
Tech Soup also wrote an article.
Machinima Reporter Bernhard Drax posts a video on YouTube.


BuhBuhKuh Fairchild who was one the main programmer for the Gone Gitmo project was extremely helpful in teaching me how to set up correct permissions for our Island to make this project possible.

Day of Event


















Panopticon
Steve Anderson in the process of breaking up there lecture and publishing it across several formats including youtube ended class with Streaming simultaneously projecting video into Second Life and controlling an avatar. The panopticon currently has 16 boxes one for each week of class that has embedded class content in it. This is a constant work in progress as class content is added constantly. New video screens are being added to facilitate multiple video streams.


















Prim Water
In our...ok..MY attempt to remove all of the physical trappings of real life in SL has resulted in the water level being lowered. The water level at 50 was nice, but it made half the sim unusable as it was too dark to do anything. I (pictured below) purchased prim water which lets us separate the levels, but still allows us to travel down below easily.



















Lower Level
This area is currently being used to store works in progress by Honors students. This space is a quarter of the Island.

















Presentation Area
A quarter of the main floor of the IML Island is for presentations and events. Currently in this area is Anne Friedberg's 'The Virtual Window' with the book also being a link to outside information.

Scouting - Public Displays

There are now several hundred educational organizations using Second Life ranging from small non profits to large Universities with an expanding knowledge base. The tools they use to range from straight forward chat and Voice with other citizens to static notecards and displays to completely scripted areas for interaction. The following is some images from other educational areas within SL and how we are incorporating them into the IML region and pedagogy.

Here is a traditional presentation area with video screen and seats at the Berkman Campus.














Here is a large area of the same style at the NMC Campus. Chats are often common in such situations, but is still many receiving information from one and usually not vice versa.















Here are the Group Conference Facility developed by the Terra Incognita Group and Decka Mah. It has a facilitator in the Center controlling the surrounding 'pods' which break off and have separate discussions. When called back the facilitator can rearrange the groups and give feedback through note cards that are dropped in boxes. The IML has purchased one of these and is setting it up in the open classroom area of the campus.















Static Information

Here is a gallery display/example at the NMC of how to build in steps only using visual cues. The Ivory Tower of Prims which is an amazing place to learn how to build has similar displays, but has note card stations everywhere to provide additional reference.














Berkman has a public Sandbox with Giant Billboards showing how to construct different types of prims. This a great reference for those trying to make complex objects.















Scripted, Interactive, and Abstract

NMC Audio Installation with the Source and Content changing depending on your location.














The Port is highly influential on the future design of the IML Campus. Keeping far away from the recreational trends that abound in SL, the port displays information through a somehwhat abstract, but complex set of interactions.

Free Modulation

SL gets a lot of press about the economic aspects and how everyone is out to make their millions. That is not the case and as shown at Freebie Planet by Gamesband you can get almost anything for $L0. Here I am scouting for furniture for our soon to be discussion area.














Sometimes it's not organized neatly and a lot of the boxes have completely unrelated items, but that's fun too because you just might need that gigantic panda avatar sometime in the near future.















Here I am taking a look at the hundred+ pieces of free furniture. The ones that were kept had two qualities... 1) modular: chatting is still a main form of information exchange in SL and avatars like to see each other so seating needs to have the ability to rearrange easily 2) script orbs for sitting - most residents will be new and this just makes it easier.















IML's new discussion area... I'm thinking of switching to the pink though....hmmm..

Navigation

When you get lost in RL you usually the Sun or Stars is the first place I look for orientation... however in SL this doesn't help and landmarks don't either usually because everything has the ability to change in an instant. The Map is great, but for people new to SL sometimes that is something that isn't looked at right away. SO.. I decided to make all of the textures (currently book covers of our class readings) face North. This will give our virtual residents a reference point in our virtual campus.

Notecards

In SL you will be learning absorbing a lot of information and you will need a way to have it on record for later retrieval. Notecards are at times going to be your best friend. In SL notecards can store plain text, but also can hold other information such as landmarks and textures. This greatly reduces the amount of items you have to send to residents. I am currently creating a notecard that contains a URL to our program and landmarks around the IML campus so that in case a teleporter is not near you may have quick access to these locations.

Here is a video by SL Guru Torley on how to create a notecard. I highly suggest you subscribe to their channel because Torley lives in SL and is a valuable resource.

Walking Billboard

As I was giving a tutorial to an IML staff member on how to build it became clear that not everyone is familiar with navigating a 3d space, let alone a 3rd person view of an avatar trying to manipulate a 3d object. A puppet controlling a puppet scenario and the Master being unable to see anything. SO.. How can this situation be simplified? Instead of making the avatar try and move an object externally I started to experiment with making the Avatar the Object. Second Life is a 3D space and therefore information should be shared and used in a three dimensional manner.

Here is a list of all the places on your avatar where you can attach an object.


















I live in Los Angeles and you run into a lot of people who are walking promotion, but you usually have to engage in some type of interaction outside of just seeing them to get any information. I wanted to make my avatar resemble the media blimps.

Here is a sandwich board (attached to chest and spine) showing todays readings.





























attaching the first of many video screens











































Here I am with every body part attached to a video screen. The objects overlap, but the objects can be resized and repositioned to reduce clutter.

The Distance

I like the video screens blocking out artificially created nature and the intense amount of stimuli that it creates, BUT...as a permanent campus environment it might not always be necessary or healthy. When I had a demo of the holodeck the creator said that the giant spaceship was brought into the sim as a scene...so possibly the video immersion could also be brought in as a scene and recalled again if needed. Here was the test using a rock and torch.















Both objects are in the far corner of the Sim and their positions were saved and rezzed back in successfully. Only problem is that I could not control the holodeck from this distance, but it's good to know that I can put the entire region into a holodeck scene. The current layout is basically a sketch and with the holodeck I will be able to have many layouts available to be displayed at a moments notice.

Multiple Video Streams

After I tested out video streams and spread it out over the entire region and blocking out the artificial sunlight I started working on multiple video streams. This is proving to be a challenge that might require some scripting. The media player is free your library and it works quite well. However, the video comes from a URL under the media preferences and only one URL is allowed per parcel. I tried dividing up a corner into a separate parcel and assigning it a different URL... this worked...BUT EVERY SCREEN in the sim changed to the new URL and than back when I walked out of the corner parcel. Inspection shows that the media player looks for a standard channel number which is dependent upon where your Avatar is located and not where the media player is..hmmm....errr...

Green Line shows the parcel division. On one side the glitch video I created.














On the other side of the line both video screens change to a clip by 'The Vanishing'.















Going to the campus area above...the whole area was covered in 'The Vanishing'.

Retraction , Immersion , and Teaching

A new IMLer joins us in our space right after getting off orientation island and here I am giving them a tutorial on how to build. This included how to create an object, how to edit it, how to link them, and how to texture them.















Here the cubes have just been textured with a fur carpet. Should go well with the purple pumps.















Having a visitor to the Island provided some valuable feedback. IT'S TOO SPREAD OUT!! Especially for someone new to the controls of SL and the camera angles. To navigate an entire region is a little tricky at first. I have not started with a simple cube in the center and will build outward. This makes the layout modular and easily expandable, plus someone new to the island can get a quick look just by spinning around. Here is the start of this idea with the Holodeck, screening area, and sandbox all easily reachable from the center.















I figured out how to finally add streaming video to our island. Here is an entire corner of the region, sky and all, that is covered in video players.















I remember being very inspired by Jennifer Steinkamp's large video installations such as this one here.

Holodeck Scensters....

IML Island now has a holodeck and I purchased the classic Star Trek Shell $L500 to make it all the more obvious. However, people need to be able to make original environments for it and the following is my first attempt.

Step 1: Genesis - start out on the holodeck with only a shell.














Step 2: Touch the Rezzer and select - Build - Inner Shell.
This is a generic environment with set dimensions that can be modified.














Step 3: Edit Textures.
Here I used one of my previous uploaded textures and added it to the walls. All of the wall prims are linked so all of them were changed at once.














Step 4: Decorate Scene
Add objects and animations to your scene. Right now I am just placing a few Library items, but much more complicated environments can be created.














Step 5: Drag and Drop 'AVRS Positioner' script -
Onto every object in the scene. A message will show up saying 'position saved'. This tells the Rezzer where to put each object upon loading. I was not able to add a script to the tree and will need to find a solution.









Step 6: Take Objects into Inventory
Once you have applied the AVRS script. Make sure to keep your objects organized as many will have the same name. I created a new folder called 'Hamlet' and dragged each item into it once it was taken back into my Inventory.






Step 7: Build a Crate
Touch the Rezzer and select Build - New Crate. The box below will appear.














Step 8: Load Crate
Right click the Crate and select Edit. Select the Content Tab. Drag the objects for you scene into the Contents Folder. It will take a moment, but one by one they will appears.













Step 9: Take Crate - Give to Rezzer
Take the loaded crate into your inventory. Now drag it onto the Rezzer. The Rezzer will light up and Reset. Your new scene is almost ready.













Step 10: New Scene added
Touch the Rezzer and Select Scenes - and poof! your new scene (Hamlet) should be added to the list available environments. Tying in the chat window 'list programs' will display it in the available programs as well.















Step 11: Load New Scene
New scene is displayed. Only problem is that tree, but a simple move can fix that for now.