Architectural Design and Modelling
Second Life can be used to create fly-throughs of houses for sale,
prototype architectural designs, checking out hotels and other
accommodation before you book. Check out the facilities at a university
you are thinking of attending (including the dorm rooms if you are
thinking of living on campus).
Architecture Island
Founded in 2006 by Jon Brouchoud aka Keystone Bouchard in Second Life, Architecture Island (SLurl)
is designed to support the architectural community in Second Life. The
project has several aims including using Second Life as a professional
tool in architectural practices and researching and developing
strategies and best practices for architectural design in virtual
worlds.
Architecture Islands hosts a range of builds and creative spaces including:
- Studio Wikitecture - which is developing 3D wiki tools and strategies
- Crescendo Design's Headquarters
- RL Architects in Second Life Group Headquarters
- the
Reflexive Architecture Exhibit which explores a new language for
virtual worlds architecture which draws on the inherent opportunities
and characterists of the virtual space
- the Farnsworth
House in Second Life - a reproduction of the famous real life building
which includes historical information and a timeline of the project.
The islands also support the RL Architects in Second Life group which
supports a community of practice for architects, as well as a range of
inworld events and professional development opportunties.
For more information visit The Arch Blog, join the Architectue in Second Life Ning, watch the Architecture in Second Life Machinima on Youtube or view Architecture on the Double on Youtube - a machinima which records a collaborative building project by the RL Architecture Group.
Virtual Architectural Design Class
Montana State University's Creative Research Lab (CR Lab),
directed by architect Terry Beaubois (aka Tab Scott in Second Life), in
collaboration with the School of Architecture, utilized Second Life to
teach architecture classes and investigate novel methods for the design
of a sustainable community for the West Oakland revitalization project.
The student team worked both remotely and locally and met and worked
both in person and in Second Life to create designs for a new
sustainable suburb in West Oakland.
The Creative Research Lab owns two private islands where they conduct
our research into both architectural design and education in virtual
worlds. Lecturers can visit with students and monitor their projects,
and also collaborate with architects from around the world. CR Lab's
space in Second Life doesn't replace traditional architectural design
tools, but rather provides an immersive environment where participants
can develop collaboration skills with both colleagues and clients, and
a simple to use modelling environment.
Watch the First Life Second Life: Virtual Architectual Design video on Youtube, read an article about the project on CBS News, read read Architecture Principle Sustains SL Interest in the Metaverse Messenger or watch an interview with Terry Beaubois about his work in Second Life on PodTech.
Production of Architecture - Unreal Central Perspective
Production of Architecture - Unreal Central Perspective was a course
run by Tor Lindstrand and Palle Torsson at the Royal Institute of
Technology Stockholm in 2006. They established The Office (SLurl)
as home for the project and a space for the Lol Architects (the
students working in the course) to create, trial and collaborate.
The facilitators described the course as follows: "This
course examines the history, theory and practice of representation and
the production of architecture. We will see that projective systems
have affected our understanding of space through the evolution of media
such as painting, photography, film and computer generated imagery.
With the aid of 3D tools bundled into an pervasive on-line platform
called Second Life we will formulate limitations and possibilities for
the production of architecture."
For more information visit the Production of Architecture website, read the Production of Architecture Blog, visit the LOL Architects Wiki or view images from the project on Flickr.
S&P 500 Visualized in Second Life
Created by Leon Atkinson on Clear Ink Island (SLurl), the S&P 500 display was an immersive, 3D, real-time representation of the S&P 500 - Standard and Poor's world-renowned index of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy.
The display included a field of blocks, each representing a different
stock. Each block grews or shrank in height according to the market
value. As values go down, the column turned red. As values go up, the
column turned green. Blue columns haven't changed in price.
For more information read S&P500 Visualized in Second Life.
IBM's Real-time Display of Tennis Tournaments
Commencing in October 2006, IBM have been working on a proof of concept
for tracking real world data of actual tennis matches in Second Life.
Matches from the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon 2008 have
been displayed in Second Life, using data which has traditionally been
used to feed the tournament websites.
Most recently, IBM have created a mini-Wimbledon 2007 in Second Life,
which includes includes an RSS weather feed globe, a data-tracking
tennis court that appears to reproduces each shot, a tennis shop where
residents can get free tennis clothing and merchandise and a range of
videos and information about Wimbledon and IBM. Residents can visit
virtual Wimbledon on IBM 7 (SLurl).
For further information read the article (with videos) SMH: MashUp: Tennis in Second Life, watch a YouTube video - IBM Second Life Australian Open, read the article More Tennis in Second Life - Roland Garros or read the blog post Wimbledon in Second Life.
Distance and Flexible Education
Second Life provides an excellent platform for flexible delivery and
online education. Students and facilitators can come together in-world
to share information and resources via slides, audio and video,
engaging in discussions, presentations, group projects and explorations.
Cyber One: Law in the Court of Public Opinion
Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society
presented a course on the creation and delivery of persuasive argument
in the new integrated media space constituted by the Internet and other
new technologies in 2007. The course uses Web 2.0 tools such as wikis
and blogs and extension students meet in Second Life on Berkman Island (SLurl).
During the course, the class held mock trials in-world, including one based on the real life situation of Josh Wolf who was jailed for refusing to turn over videotapes he recorded during a street demonstration. Watch a YouTube video about the mock trial.
For further information watch the course introduction on the YouTube video - Harvard Extension School in Second Life, or a tour of the Harvard Extension School in Second Life on blip.tv or get more information on the website - CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public Opinion.
Second Life Writing: ENG104 at Ball State University
Sarah Robbins
(Intellagirl Tully in Second Life) of Ball State University used Second
Life to teach an English class focussed on writing for academic
research in 2006. The course was a hybrid course with at least half of
the class time spent online, based at the Middletown Sim, which is sponsored by Ball State's Center for Media Design Educational Environments. Visitors were welcome to observe the class.
English 104 applied the fundamentals of rhetoric to the research
process, introducing students to methods of research. The many
communities of Second Life provided students with rich opportunites for
observation, research and interaction with other cultures, as well as
many interview subjects for use in their writing.
Read more in the article Ball State students immersed in virtual world to study cultures or on the class website ENG104 in Second Life.
Source: http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/educationaluses_page1#architectural
