By Dr. Anthony R.

Curtis
Mass Communication Department
University of North Carolina at Pembroke

Why and How To Get Started in a Virtual World

The johnboat bobbed peacefully on the gentle chop
as he gazed sleepily across the low swells of
Stone's harbor at the old saltbox fishing cabin in the
distance. Thinking he needed some stimulation to
get his blood stirring on this lazy afternoon, Stone
reached in his pocket and took out a small plywood
cube. Setting it on the seat plank, he lifted his hand
and pointed at the block. The cube glowed blue with
eerie electricity for a brief moment and then the
scene around him shifted dramatically.
The waves morphed into a vast expanse of hot
burning sand on a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The
fishing cabin dissolved into an old silo near a
windmill and some dilapidated rusty metal buildings. Stone imagined beads of sweat
under his hatband. He sensed heat underfoot. Feeling stifled by the desert environment,
Stone pointed again at the cube, which glowed for a moment and the scene shifted.
The porthole was a round riveted steel window.
Through it, Stone was looking out at a magnificent
triumph of human engineering the International
Space Station orbiting high in a dusky midnight sky.
He thought he could see wispy cloud tops far below
on the virtual world.

Seemingly real
A virtual world is an imaginary place synthesized
inside a computer where individuals looking at the
monitor can feel as if they are in a real world or a fantasy world.
Today, the virtual worlds that people inhabit and where they interact are threedimensional graphical environments on the Internet.
The residents are graphical avatars visible to each
other.
An avatar like Stone is the on-screen representation
of a person in a virtual world.
An individual user experiences telepresence a
sense of being present somewhere with other
people and objects.

People add what they need and want to the virtual environment by creating all sorts of
objects such as other avatars, clothing, buildings, vehicles, landscapes, utensils,
technological gadgets and objets dart.

How can this be?

The software that creates a virtual world simulates
real-world physical rules such as gravity, topography,
locomotion, real-time actions, and communication.
Communication can include keyboard text, voice
and other sounds, visible and audible gestures,
graphics and icons, and a sense of touch and
balance.
Locomotion can include walking, riding, flying and
teleporting. Avatars travel between buildings, towns, regions and even other worlds for
education, business or leisure activities.
Topography can include dry land, oceans, mountains, valleys, lakes, moons, planets
and other forms limited only by the imagination.

Social media
We like to say human beings are social animals. We enjoy working together in
communities or organized groups. A virtual world is a sophisticated high-level form of
social media where a wide variety of social behaviors are on display.
People interact with one another in a virtual world by
networking their computer systems together and sharing
the synthetic space.
Virtual worlds are collaborative Internet spaces where inworld residents create communities and interact on-screen
via their 3D graphical avatar representatives.
Multiple avatars appearing and acting together represent
life and its social relationships. They act under direct
control of the real-life persons behind the keyboards.

Metaverse
Neal Stephenson, in his 1992 science fiction novel Snow
Crash, invented the words metaverse and avatar.
The word metaverse joins the words "meta" and "universe.

Stephenson described a metaverse as a fictional three-dimensional virtual world

created inside internetworked computers where humans, represented on-screen by
avatars, interact with each other in a non-physically-existing space that is a metaphor of
the real world.
Today there are more than 100 virtual worlds on the Internet. Most widely used is
Second Life with more than 22 million residents (see also, below: Alternative Virtual Worlds).

Second Life is a three-dimensional virtual-reality world developed by Linden Research,

Inc. (a.k.a. Linden Lab), a San Francisco company, and born on the Internet in 2003.
Its a social environment where people learn, work, earn, shop, explore and play
together.

The viewer
A software application known as the Second Life Viewer, modeled after a Web browser,
enables people all over the real world to log into the virtual world and interact with each
other in real time through their avatars, providing an extraordinarily advanced level of
social networking.
Linden Labs Internet servers provide the computer-simulated environment, which users
inhabit. They interact with the environment via their on-screen avatar representatives.
An avatar in Second Life is referred to as a resident. Residents refer to the Linden Lab
virtual world casually as The Grid.
The Second Life Viewer, which is a free download on the Internet, enables residents to
interact with each other through their avatars, providing social networking combined
with general aspects of a metaverse.
Social relationships are represented by three-dimensional graphical characterizations of
multiple users appearing together.

Where did it come from?

Second Life was inspired mainly by Stephenson's cyberpunk literary movement and the
novel Snow Crash.
Linden Lab's goal is to create a world like the metaverse described by Stephenson a
general-purpose user-defined virtual place in which people interact, learn, teach,
explore, serve, work, shop, play, conduct business and communicate in a variety of
ways about myriad things.

Who's there?
Second Life (SL) is the best-known virtual world at this time with more than 22 million
residents. That means some 22 million accounts have been registered and
membership is growing by thousands per month.
Of the total, about a million persons are considered active residents logging in weekly or
more frequently. Others log into Second Life less frequently.
About one-quarter of the membership accounts are
alternative avatars. An alt is an additional, second
avatar that is not the first character for which a user
signed up. Residents who have alts use them either
to be a different person from time to time or to act as
two or more people in Second Life at the same time.
One example is the use of one or more alts as
models in a photo shoot.
In real life (RL), Second Life residents are male and
female from all walks of life in nearly 100 countries
in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America. About 40 percent
are from the U.S. and 60 percent from other nations.
They are young and old with their RL ages ranging from 13 into the 90s. The youngest
RL age permitted on the grid is 13. (See also, below, a description of age ranges and the SL
general, moderate and adult ratings.)

What's it like?
Second Life is a social environment where people experience telepresence. It gives a
user the impression, as realistically as possible, of being in a place interacting with
people and objects.
Communication in SL includes public and private keyboard text, voice and other sounds,
and visible and audible gestures.

Residents can display still images, videos, graphics and icons. They have a sense of
touch and balance.
Locomotion in SL includes walking, riding, flying and teleporting. Avatars travel between
buildings, towns and regions for education, business and leisure activities. There are
cars, trucks, trains, planes, ships, rockets, horses and a wide variety of means of
transportation.
The Second life topography and architecture includes mountains, valleys, lakes,
meadows, oceans, city neighborhoods, apartment buildings, suburban houses, college
campuses, museums, libraries, galleries, shopping malls, farms, ranches and numerous
other forms limited only by the imagination.
The weather includes sun, rain, snow, wind and
other conditions with climates including hot deserts,
humid forests, ocean floors, snowy mountaintops,
grassy pastures, rain forests, savannas, gardens,
parks and other settings.

How sociable is it?

Residents meet other residents, socialize, explore
together, shop together, build things together, play together, participate in individual and
group activities, undertake manufacturing and commercial wholesale and retail activities,
create and trade their virtual property and services.
Its also possible to get away from it all, to have time to reflect, to be alone while
exploring and enjoying Second Life.
It's very much like existing in real life (RL), but with the added ability to fly, teleport,
create and do whatever you can imagine.
It's best to remember that real people from RL are behind the keyboards when you
interact with avatars in Second Life. They can and often do bring their own personal
social, psychological and economic baggage into Second Life. Be just as alert to others
in Second Life as you would be with other people in real life.

Is it a game?
Second Life is not a game. It does not have rules, points, scores, winners, losers, levels,
an end-strategy, or most of the other characteristics of games.
It is a semi-structured virtual environment where characters involve themselves in social
networking activities for the purpose of personal empowerment and enjoyment.

Do I need money to be a resident?

The basic membership in SL is free. Most users are operating with free accounts.
Registration is free. The viewer is free. The avatar is free. Time logged on is free,
except for connection and usage fees you pay your Internet service provider.
Most necessary goods such as changes of clothing, jewelry, skins, hair, cars, etc.
can be obtained in-world for free. At the same time, a wide variety of goods and
services also can be purchased.

What is a premium account?

While most users are on free accounts, there also is
an advanced paid level of membership called
premium, which costs about US$6-$10 a month and
gives a resident the right to buy and hold land.
Specifically, it costs $9.95 if paid monthly or $7.40 a
month if paid quarterly or $6 a month if paid for a
year.
In addition to the right to buy and hold land, a premium account resident receives a free
house on a small plot of land, a sign-up bonus of L$1,000 plus a continuing L$300 per
week stipend, and access to more comprehensive user support.
Note: when you register for your Second Life account, you do not have to give them a
credit card number or PayPal number, unless you wish to.
Why might you wish to? Only if you want a premium membership so you can own land.
However, it's best to be in SL for at least a short time to look around before deciding to
become a premium member to buy land.
You can upgrade to premium member at any time later.

Linden dollars
The virtual currency in SL is the linden dollar referred to as lindens or L$.
Linden dollars are exchangeable for U.S. dollars (US$) in a marketplace consisting of
residents, Linden Lab and RL companies. Linden dollars can be purchased in-world or
in RL and transferred into SL. They can be sold for U.S. dollars.
The current exchange rate is around US$4 = L$1000.
You are not required to buy or hold any linden dollars.

Jobs in Second Life

In addition to purchasing linden dollars, you also could take a job in SL and be paid
linden dollars for your work efforts.
There are lots of ways to earn money in SL and new ways are being created every day.
Here are a few:

Unskilled jobs include dancer, model, shop attendant, greeter, bouncer and
security agent. Employers are shops, clubs and dance halls.

Skilled jobs requiring some knowledge and/or experience, and the ability to sell
your services to others, include builder, modeler, texturer, scripter, animator,
fashion clothing designer, architect, home builder, furniture designer, weaponeer,
vehicle designer, event host, DJ, stand-up comedian, trivia event host, salesman,
and many others. Think of what can you do in RL that you could do in SL?

Freelancers are part-time news reporters and

feature writers, broadcasters, disc jockeys,
public relations and advertising professionals,
lawyers, economists, counselors and
therapists.

Entertainers start nightclubs and festival

parks and all sorts of performance venues.

Professionals are full-time news reporters

and feature writers who work for SL
newspapers and magazines, broadcasters
and disc jockeys who work for SL TV and
radio stations, professionals in public
relations and advertising who work for agencies and survey research firms, and
lawyers, economists, counselors and therapists who run their own service firms
in SL.

Entrepreneurs include developers who put up malls and business offices to rent
space to other businesspersons, land barons who actually are real estate agents,
linden dollar brokers, and organizers of groups, associations and companies.

Manufacturers make money from their virtual building skills by creating content
and selling it to others for resale. Anything that can be made in SL or made
outside and brought into SL can be sold: objects, clothes, scripts, animations,
textures, vehicles, buildings, plants, skins, hair, and on and on.

Retailers make money by selling goods to other residents. For instance, objects,
clothes, scripts, animations, textures, etc.

Contractors hire themselves out to do work for other residents.

Teachers teach someone something for money basic skills, intermediate skills,
advanced skills, or how to build or script or get the most out of living inside SL.
They teach either one-on-one or else host an educational event, which instructs
several residents about how to use Second Life.

Some useful Web pages

Second Life

http://secondlife.com

SL quick start guide

http://secondlife.com/support/quickstart/basic

Download the viewer

http://secondlife.com/support/downloads

Free registration

https://join.secondlife.com

Free avatars

https://join.secondlife.com

Computer capabilities

http://secondlife.com/support/system-requirements/

Destination guide

http://secondlife.com/destinations

Events calendar

http://secondlife.com/community/events/

Marketplace

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/

Community in SL

http://secondlife.com/community/

Buying land

http://secondlife.com/land/

LindeX market data

http://secondlife.com/statistics/economy-market.php

World map

http://maps.secondlife.com/

SL educator resources

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Second_Life_Education/Resources

SL education FAQs

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Second_Life_Education/FAQs

SL education brochure

http://tinyurl.com/2euqtnb

Success stories

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Second_Life_Education/Success_Stories

Academic organizations http://edudirectory.secondlife.com/

Terms of service

http://secondlife.com/corporate/tos.php

Community standards

http://secondlife.com/corporate/cs.php

Being creative

http://secondlife.com/whatis/create/

How to build in SL

http://tinyurl.com/2g9p9ll

Machinima how-to

http://tinyurl.com/2corfqt

Photography how-to

http://tinyurl.com/2dr69ex

Shopping in Second Life

Marketing is alive and well in SL. Shopping for any kind of goods you could imagine is
one of the most frequently stated best features of SL. Therefore, as you might imagine,
even a person with a free account still may feel a need for money to buy virtual stuff.
Most any of the clothing, tools, vehicles or other objects that you might wish to acquire
while you are in Second Life is likely to be readily available free. Freebie stores and
warehouses are everywhere.

10

However, there is a flourishing retail economy with many pretty, handy, useful things to
buy. Those are paid for with linden dollars, which you can purchase at any time as
desired.
To be an in-world consumer, you can buy 1,000 linden dollars for about 4 U.S. dollars.
Or you could earn money from a job in SL. Either way, shopping is fun and cheap.
Virtual goods also can be purchased outside of Second Life on the Web at Marketplace
and transferred instantly into SL (see the list of Web pages, above).

How to get started in the virtual world

To have the best experience with your computer, check out Linden Lab's computer
capabilities page (see the list of Web pages, above).
Next, sign up for a free Second Life account (see the list of Web pages, above).
When creating your free account, you will be asked
to select a username name for your avatar and a
password for your account.
Be sure to choose a name you like and can be
proud of because the name you choose will be the
name you have in-world. You can't change it later.

There are age limits

While registering your new account you will give
Linden Lab your birthdate and some information so
they can verify your age. They are very careful
about keeping children and teens under 18 out of the adult regions of the SL grid.
Adult residents of Second Life age 18 and up can access the entire SL grid. They can
move freely through tens of thousands of regions with content rated general, moderate
or adult.
On the other hand, residents age 16-17 have access only to the several thousand
regions rated general, which contain content appropriate for all ages. They are not able
to enter regions labeled moderate or adult.
Residents age 13-15 are restricted to general lands operated by their sponsoring school
or institution and are not able to enter any other regions.
There is no access to the SL grid for persons under 13. There is no maximum age limit
(see, below: Where Should You Be in the Virtual World).

11

Select your personal agent

Pick your first avatar. There are six female and six male figures for you to choose from
(See the list of Web pages, above).
Like most everybody else, you undoubtedly will
change the look of your avatar later after you
become comfortable in-world. You can change your
skin, hair, eyes, clothes, and other attachments.
Everybody does.

Open your portal to the virtual world

Run the viewer and log in with your new avatar
account to start exploring the Second Life world.
When you log in to Second Life for the first time, you
will land on Orientation Island.
It is designed to guide new residents often
referred to as newbies through Second Life's
controls and features. If you spend time on
Orientation Island learning how to navigate and use Second Life, you'll have a much
more rewarding experience later.
There's also a Help Island where residents can learn anything about SL they want to
know. The island has information kiosks on a wide variety of topics, building and
scripting tutorials, a demo area, a gallery, a Freebie Store and a sandbox where you
can practice building if you wish.

Whats a sandbox?
You can create things anywhere in Second Life where you have permission to build.
That could be your own land, someone else's land with permission, or a public sandbox.
In a sandbox you can build freely. There are many across the SL world.
After you leave your first Orientation Island and Help Island, if you would like to return
some time later to learn more, you would visit the Public Orientation Island or the Public
Help Island.
Those Islands are identical to the original Orientation Island and Help Island you visited
during your first login. However, they're open to the public.

12

If you get lost or confused while navigating around Second Life, ask someone for help.
Most experienced residents are happy to help new arrivals. After all, everyone needed
help at one time or another.
SL residents often say their favorite activities are exploring, shopping and building.

The uses for virtual worlds are limited only by the imagination. They are social
communities where people share knowledge and undertake new experiences. They
allow for business and commerce, education and training, self-help and service to
others.

Educationally, virtual learning environments present myriad opportunities for

instruction. Virtual simulations engage students in learning activities that might be
difficult in real life due to physical constraints, time schedules, cost and location.
The persistence of a virtual world encourages continuing social interaction, which
in turn supports educational collaboration. Second Life and other worlds offer
options for study in collaboration with businesses. For instance, being able to
attend a presentation in a virtual world from home or from the workplace can put
students more at ease promoting greater participation.
Instructors can customize simulations to meet differing student needs. Virtual
worlds can ease the evaluation of student work and the delivery of feedback.
Many educational institutions are deploying classrooms for discussion sections in
worlds like Second Life. For example, simulations where students practice
classroom design and teaching methods.
Language instruction is a popular educational use for Second Life.

13

Virtual worlds are widely used to train corporate employees. In addition,

university business schools have used simulations in Second Life to produce
very realistic experiences (For more, see below: Using virtual worlds for education).

Medically, virtual worlds are used to create a safe comfortable environment

where hospitalized children, for instance, can broaden their horizons and interact
with others beyond the usual restrictions of their illnesses.
People of any age with disabilities benefit from the emotional freedom of leaving
their disabilities behind as their avatars take up the kinds of activities that are
accessible to healthy people, such as walking,
running, dancing, gardening, sailing, fishing,
swimming, surfing, flying, skiing, even
socializing, forming relationships and
avoiding the stigma which others might attach
to their disabilities.

Psychologically, users in virtual worlds can

be more comfortable with activities in which
they might be embarrassed or reluctant in
real life.
By becoming familiar with social skills in the virtual world through their avatars,
users may be more capable of making smooth transitions to similar real world
social interactions.

Commercially, businesses compete in Second Life just as they do in the real

world. Many companies now incorporate virtual worlds in their business plans,
particularly as a new form of marketing, advertising and public relations.
Using virtual worlds also gives companies opportunity to gauge customer
reaction and receive feedback, which can be crucial to the development of a
product. They allow businesses to listen closely to potential customers,
gathering their feedback for application to product design and marketing plans.
Virtual worlds can be used to create a gathering place where businesses can
stage internal meetings and manage external events. They bring 3D
synchronous collaboration online to conferences, exhibitions, trade shows and
more.

Escaping reality, virtual worlds work well. They can be very entertaining.
Whether dancing, watching movies, playing sports games or rollicking in a
snowball fight, people love to participate in virtual world events.

14

Using virtual worlds for education

Educators are moving rapidly into the virtual space. Virtual high schools and colleges
are enrolling thousands of students.
Currently involved educationally with the virtual world Second Life are some 800-1,000
colleges, universities, libraries and library systems, museums, educational organizations
such as NMC, ISTE, NECC, AECT, Eduserv, ALA, Global Kids, OLN, Sloan and many
more.
Just a few examples from among the many well-known universities and educational
institutions using Second Life, in addition to the University of North Carolina at
Pembroke, include UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Wilmington, NC State, East
Carolina, Duke, Elon, South Carolina, Clemson, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisville,
Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Penn State, Iowa State,
Ohio State, Ohio University, Notre Dame, Texas,
Texas A&M, Air Force Air University, Clemson,
Tulane, Cincinnati, Denver, Idaho, Washington,
Dallas, Wright State, Hawaii, Queensland, Oxford,
Liverpool, and on and on.
Here's one particular example. Imagining ways to
improve teaching and research at all of its
institutions, the University of Texas System,
composed of nine universities and six health centers,
purchased 49 islands in the online world Second
Life. The Texas System is allowing administrators,
faculty members, researchers and students to build
educational facilities of their own conception on the virtual real estate.

Virtual courses are blossoming

The number of e-learning courses now being taught in Second Life by colleges and
universities around the world has grown into the thousands.
There are complete courses delivered entirely in SL as well as auxiliary content for
hybrid courses and research sites in support of traditional classrooms.
Many middle school and high school teachers who had been observing the educational
activity and yearning for access to the virtual environment during the time the Second
Life main grid was limited to persons 18 and older have prepared new virtual facilities
for their students.
Beginning in January 2011, persons 13-17 years old were permitted to enter G-rated
areas on the Second Life grid to participate in appropriate educational and other
institutional activities.

15

Virtual worlds are not dry and boring

Frequently we hear "boring" and "dry" when students talk about their experiences in
traditional face-to-face real-world classrooms. These digital natives have been raised on
the Internet and interactive games, and have expectations that are not met entirely by
the current "skill and drill" system of learning in a traditional classroom.

They bring to class new and different attitudes toward education, along with their
broad array of technological skills.
They ask for more than the traditional lecture format.
They want authentic interactive educational experiences, like those they have
found on the Internet and in video games.
They are not looking for an easier path. On the contrary, they want greater
cognitive challenges.

A virtual world like Second Life provides a flexible platform for educators interested in
distance learning, computer supported cooperative
and collaborative work, simulations, faculty and staff
development workshops, colloquia and symposia,
and new media studies.
In fact, its adaptable for instruction in just about any
discipline.
It's not difficult to create a safe environment in
Second Life to enhance experiential learning,
allowing individual students to practice skills,
conduct research, simulate the real world, try new
ideas, and learn from their mistakes.
Teaching and learning in the virtual world can be an international, intercultural
experience.
As reported above, among the millions of Second Life residents are people hailing from
nearly 100 countries on the continents of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America
and South America. Residents are about 60 percent from the U.S. and 40 percent from
other countries.
Students and educators can work together in Second Life from anywhere in the world
as part of this globally networked virtual classroom environment.
Most disciplines can imagine teaching spaces for their content in the virtual world. Using
Second Life as a supplement to traditional classroom environments provides new
opportunities for enriching an existing curriculum.

16

Second Life is a very open place. Residents are free to explore a broad diversity of
creative pursuits.
The openness has fostered some amazing content. Linden Lab works to preserve that
openness while at the same time ensuring individual residents can engage in a manner
most suited to their needs and interests.
By enabling a resident to exercise control over her or his experience, Second Life is an
open environment with each resident able to tailor the experience in such a way as to
exercise discretion with certain content when it is appropriate to do so.
This does not affect the kinds of content that are permitted in Second Life, just how they
can be accessed, and by whom.
Land in SL is marked either general or moderate or adult. Those ratings are something
like the ratings used by the movie and television industries to denote the ageappropriateness of behavior, language and creations.

Second Life Ratings General vs. Moderate vs. Adult

Second Life is a world of regions rated for persons of different ages.
Adult residents of Second Life age 18 and up can access the entire SL grid. They can
move freely through tens of thousands of regions with content rated general, moderate
or adult.
On the other hand, residents age 16-17 have access only to the several thousand SL
regions rated general, which contain content appropriate for all ages.

17

They are not able to enter regions labeled moderate or adult.

Residents age 13-15 are restricted to general lands operated by their sponsoring school
or institution and are not able to enter any other regions.
There is no access to the SL grid for persons under 13.
Linden Research Inc. Linden Lab, the company that creates Second Life on the
Internet is very careful about which regions of the Second Life grid are available to
children and teens.
They also are very careful about helping residents exercise control over their
experiences. Any resident is able to exercise discretion over content seen, visited or
used.

How old are you?

When you establish an account with Linden Lab, you have to reveal your birthdate and
sometimes other information so they can verify your age.
If you are under 18 and in a moderate or adult region, you
can count on virtually any resident you encounter turning
you in to the age police.
They will pounce on you so fast it will make your head spin,
and you may not ever be allowed back on the grid after
that.

Do the rules stifle personal creativity?

Not really. Second Life is a very open place. Residents are free to explore a broad
diversity of creative pursuits.
The openness has fostered some amazing content. Linden Lab works to preserve that
openness while at the same time ensuring individual residents can engage in a manner
most suited to their needs and interests.
By enabling a resident to exercise control over her or his experience, Second Life is an
open environment with each resident able to tailor the experience in such a way as to
allow her or him to exercise discretion with certain content when it is appropriate to do
so.
This does not affect the kinds of content that are permitted in Second Life, just how they
can be accessed, and by whom.

18

General vs. Moderate vs. Adult

Any land in SL is marked either general or moderate or adult. Those grades are similar
to the ratings used to indicate the age-appropriateness of behavior and language in
video games, TV and movies.
General areas are free from sexually explicit language or behavior, swearing and other
forms of aggressive language, violent behavior and imagery, and horrific materials.
General regions are areas where you're free to say and do things that you would feel
comfortable doing in front of your grandmother or a grade school class.
There are thousands of general areas in Second Life because adults often seek an
experience free of moderate or adult content.
A region of Second Life may be general if it does not have content or activity that's
sexually explicit, violent or depicts nudity. Sexually-oriented objects may not be located
or sold in general regions.
Moderate areas allow ordinary non-sexual nonviolent adult language and behavior. That's a lowercase A in adult, not the same as in the adult regions
described below. Moderate regions accommodate
most of the activities that are common in Second
Life.
For instance, social and dance clubs and bars that
do not promote sexual conduct, stores and malls,
galleries, music venues, beaches and parks, and
other spaces for socializing, creating, and learning
all can have a moderate designation so long as they
don't host publicly promoted sexual or violent
activities.
While exploring a moderate region, it should not be surprising to come across a couple
lounging on a picnic blanket, snuggling by a blazing fire, cuddling on a faraway beach,
hugging in a dress shop, kissing on a dance floor, or even walking or flying hand-inhand.
Residents in moderate spaces should expect to see a variety of themes and content.
For instance, stores might sell a range of content that includes some sexy clothing or
objects. Dance clubs can feature "burlesque" acts so long as they don't promote overt
sexual conduct.

19

Residents and visitors in moderate areas are free to engage in most activities and
language.
On the other hand, explicit adult content such as intimate touching must be kept private
"behind closed doors," as they say, or in adult regions.
Residents of moderate regions do not expect to see the performance of overt sexual
activities or violence.
Explicit adult language should be spoken only in a private Instant Message (IM) and not
in open chat.
After all, open chat can be overheard by anyone within 20 meters of the speaker...as if
you were standing in the open talking to everyone around you.
On the other hand, IM is private conversation heard by no one other than the residents
speaking to each other...like a private phone call.
If you can't decide whether your activity or content is allowed in a general region, then
it's probably best kept to a moderate region.
Adult areas allow sexually explicit, or intensely
violent displays and activities, or depictions of illicit
drug use.
Linden Lab has created a special-use adult
continent, called Zindra, which is a mainland
alternative where adult content and activities must
be located. Adult-rated land is not found anywhere
else on the SL grid.
Only age-verified residents over 18 who overtly elect
to go there may travel into the adult land.
Adult activities include:

Representations of intensely violent acts,

whether or not photo-realistic for example, depicting death, torture,
dismemberment or other severe bodily harm;
Photo-realistic nudity photo-realistic means that an image either is or cannot be
distinguished from a photograph;
Expressly sexually themed content, spaces or activities, whether or not photorealistic sexually themed is broadly defined to include any sexually oriented
activities and conduct.

20

Note: When a new Second Life account is registered, the default is general and
moderate only. Any SL resident wishing to visit an adult region must take specific overt
steps for age verification to gain access or even to receive adult search results.

Second Life is not the only virtual world. In fact, there are more than 100 communities
in computer-simulated 3D virtual environments on the Internet with names like Blue
Mars, IMVU, InWorldz, Jokaydia, Kaneva, Moove, OSGrid, Twinity, World of Warcraft,
and many others.
Users inhabit each of the many virtual worlds and interact with one another through their
on-screen avatars, which use and create objects. The worlds appear either like the real
world or else fantasy worlds.
Most simulate gravity, topography, locomotion, real-time actions and communication in
the forms of text, icons, gestures, emoticons, voice and other sounds.
Usually an avatar can travel between buildings, towns, or even worlds for pleasure or
business.

Lists of virtual worlds

It's difficult to track all of them as new worlds appear online from time to time and old
worlds fail and go dark. Here are some lists of virtual worlds:

http://arianeb.com/more3Dworlds.htm
http://data.govloop.com/dataset/List-of-Virtual-Worlds/d7tp-2pbh
http://www.girlgamezone.com/virtual-worlds.html
http://www.secondlifeupdate.com/uncategorized/top-9-online-virtual-3d-worlds/

Examples of virtual worlds that have failed include There, Vivaty, Cybertown, Novoking,
Amazing Worlds, Prototerra and Google Lively.

21

OpenSim
OpenSimulator is an open source project made possible by the voluntary time and
energy put forth by community members.
OpenSimulator is a bare bones server of 3D on the Web used to create a virtual
environment similar to Second Life.
OpenSim worlds can be accessed with regular SL viewers.
OpenSim allows developers to customize their
worlds using the technologies they feel work best.
There are scores of OpenSimulator virtual worlds.
Many are free to use and their owners welcome new
users.
The OpenSim grid list:
http://opensimulator.org/wiki/OpenSim:Grids

Hypergrid
HyperGrid enables avatars from one OpenSim grid
to visit another OpenSim grid without having to
register a different user account on the destination grid.
The avatar teleports from a starting grid to a destination grid in a way similar to a regular
teleport, except that it actually leaves its home grid and arrives as a guest at the
destination.
The avatar carries its inventory of possessions with it.
Details on the Hypergrid: http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Hypergrid

ReactionGrid
There are many OpenSim regions laid out on a map with grids at specific coordinates.
ReactionGrid is an example of an OpenSim grid.
Information on ReactionGrid: http://reactiongrid.com

22

So now you know about these imaginary places synthesized by your computer where
you can experience telepresence and feel as if you are in another world.
To an educator, the sprawling Second Life simulation is rich with opportunities for
experimentation and instruction.
Second Life is a cutting edge tool for educational collaboration, distance learning,
lesson simulation, online program delivery, professional training, new media studies,
and inexpensive resource development. Its useful as a platform for virtual classrooms,
laboratories, libraries, museums, studios and galleries, for research into new concepts,
and for real-time communication among multiple participants from nearly all cultures.
With nearly 100 countries represented from all corners of the globe, students and
teachers can come together in Second Life from anywhere as part of a globally
networked virtual classroom environment. It can be used for full course delivery or as a
hybrid supplement to traditional classroom environments providing opportunity for
enriching an existing curriculum.
SL offers opportunity for using simulations to prepare for real-world experiences in a
safe environment -- to enhance experiential learning, allow individuals to practice skills,
conduct research, try out new ideas, learn from their mistakes. It seems to have almost
unlimited potential. In fact, as a platform for innovation, Second Life is limited only by
the imagination.
And this brilliant tool is not just for educators. Professionals in business, medicine and
health, counseling and rehabilitation, law, architecture, engineering, entertainment and
most other fields of endeavor can cultivate simulated learning experiences as well as
foster concrete real-life outcomes in a virtual world.
Come see for yourself.
Revised 2010-12-28