My husband Ted, a freelance illustrator, runs a successful Second Life
business selling Victorian and Old West men's clothing. Yes, virtual
vintage clothing for avatars. This hobby brings him $100–300 a month
(a real-money figure increasing every month). He loves making Second
Life recreations of historic buildings, such as a Scollay Square
(Boston) subway station or the Union League in Philadelphia. I too
have noticed that many of Second Life's environments are pretty devoid
of visitors most times, but Ted frequents areas intended for
historical role-play, places with names like Deadwood, Antiquity,
Caledon, and even New Mexico. These places hold special events that
draw in the avatars and often get lively in the evenings with people
acting out various historical situations.
While most museums, as far as I know, are experimenting only with
creating virtual environments in Second Life, I think there's a lot of
potential for creating experiences that would allow visitors, through
their avatars, to play with living in another time (ironically and
somewhat mind-bendingly, since we're talking about using very 21st-
century technology to do it). Historic societies and history museums
could create environments that replicate, say, a Spanish Colonial New
Mexican hacienda or a 19th-century tenement and allow users and
visitors to roleplay, perhaps with trained museum volunteers' avatars,
life in other eras and places.
Last month, an Illinois library system opened in Second Life "The Land
of Lincoln," an immersive educational experience complete with an
inaugural ball at which you could dance with Abe. (Read about it here: http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/northriverside/state_news/x377415250.)
I think this may be the direction to go in terms of creating a
Second Life presence for museums: let people explore virtually, from
anywhere in the world, environments and ways of life that are not
practical to recreate in real life.
The article Randy linked us to is nearly a year old, and Second Life
is still new. It has a lot of flaws for sure, but the jury's still out
on its usefulness to museums.
Jennifer Rae Atkins
Andrew Merriell & Associates Interpretive Planning & Design
7198 Old Santa Fe Trail | Santa Fe, NM 87505
v 505.982.3950 | f 505.820.6674 | www.merriell.com
On Mar 2, 2008, at 11:04 AM, Gayle wrote:
> I have never heard of Second Life anywhere but here.
> After much commotion on list, I decided to at least
> take a peak and see what all the squawking was about.
>
> I'm 55 I've got a 34-year old daughter and a 30-year
> old son. When I was Scout Leader for the 34-year
> old's Girl Scout Troop, we took the kids to the now
> defunct (maybe that says something in itself) Marine
> Land that was out here in California. We four Scout
> Leaders nobly wanted to give our girls exposure to
> some culture and an opportunity to learn something
> about marine life. Two memories stick out. First,
> all four the leaders an one of the Scouts was crapped
> on by a seagull--that's what the girls remember.
> Secondly, the girls couldn't have cared less about
> MarineLand because there were video games available,
> and all they wanted to do is play Ms. PacMan. That's
> what the leaders remember. Nobody really remembers
> the experience of Marine Land but for those two
> details, and the experience was largely for naught.
>
> My second child, being 4 years younger than the first,
> grew up incredibly addicted to video games (thanks to
> my dear sister who bought him one over my objections).
> Two weekends ago, I was there in NoCal spending the
> weekend with him in celebration of my granddaughter's
> 2nd birthday. Because of bad knees, I slept
> downstairs on the couch. I woke up a couple of times
> to see my 30-year old son, father of two, going nuts
> on video games on X-Box with a headset and graphics
> that beat the heck out of what you might find in Iraq.
> It was crazy.
>
> We spent time before I went home at Jack London
> Square. Time in nature. In large measure, my son,
> his 30-year old wife, and their eldest child were
> ready to say been there, done that within about 5
> minutes. Ok, it was nice, but it wasn't as exciting
> as a video game.
>
> So what does this have to do with Second Life? Second
> Life is going to appeal to kids in the age range of my
> kids (the 30-something crowd) and younger. These kids
> grew up with video games and, if they had a choice of
> going to a museum or playing with an alternate reality
> on a video game, they would take the video just about
> any time. They want constant stimulation--lights,
> bells, whistles. I'm sorry, you're not going to be
> able to stimulate them as effectively (and
> cost-effectively) on an alt-reality medium. Yes, you
> may make a presence, and the founders of Second Life
> richer, but you won't do anything to grow your base,
> and you certainly won't bring in a clientele that will
> sustain your museum.
>
> It's my belief that, if you move your presence to the
> fantasy world, you will doom the reality of your
> museum. If Second Life wants to sponsor your
> presence, at no cost to you, and to provide you with
> techie to help you sustain a presence--great. Maybe
> you'll reach somebody, and it wont cost you. But
> technology is expensive and technologists who can make
> technology work effectively are even more so--I work
> in IT so I've got a little background on this one.
>
> I would chance to guess that those are promoting
> Second Life here are the same folks who are stimulated
> by it. Unless you do quality market testing before
> making some sort of an investment, youre just throwing
> away your donors money, quite frankly. Those apt to
> sustain you through their contributions won't visit
> the site, and if the I Want It Know, Fast and Dazzling
> Crowd can see you for free on an Alt Reality Site,
> they're not going to go to your museum. It will be
> been there, done that
>
> Now if you personally want to invest your dollars and
> go play there, go for it. Just raise your right hand
> and admit "I am the Ultimate Video Game Jockey, and
> I'm Proud of It!"
>
> Them's my 2 cents on the matter. Now, if you can make
> a Nintendo WII version (like the one done about the
> aquarium that was recently released), you MAY be able
> to improve your visitation. That's a get-active kind
> of game that may inspire folks to move their butts and
> their hands into their pocketbooks to visit and/or
> purchase. In fact, I truly believe most aquariums and
> zoos should make that Nintendo WII game avaiable for
> sale at their institutions.
>
> I bought a new Mac at the end of the year. it's
> awesome with incredible graphics and such. But
> there's so much more to see and learn online than
> simply playing video games!
>
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