I'm increasingly thinking that SL-style virtual worlds may never be mainstream in the way that web-based social networking is. I'm thinking most people will bypass that adoption phase and go straight to augmented reality.
I also think the successful future path for Second Life / Linden Labs is in interfacing somehow with Augmented Reality. (And the real path to absolute dominance for Facebook is to project into Augmented Reality, not retail. But that's another thought for another time.) I realize both of these ideas arguably miss at least part of the point of Second Life in that the SL avatar is an avatar -- you can hide behind it, and certainly some (prob. a lot of) people do that with their SL (or WoW) avatars. But what Facebook has taught me is the degree to which people are willing to *expose* themselves. Too, Augmented Reality is sort of dimensionally contextual (tessar-contextual?) in that people and places may look different depending on the network-identity of the person looking at them. So you can be different things to different people, depending on how they're connected to you. And if there's a gateway to VR from AR, you can be in virtual places that are connected to or overlayed onto LR [Literal Reality]. (I was going to call it 'RR' for 'Real Reality', but I don't want to pick a fight.) Up until recently I would have thought this level of augmented reality was years away, but I gather it's pretty much just not very well distributed yet, to paraphrase the Chairman. You can already be AugReal with an iPhone or Android phone; the Apps For That are as far away as people's imaginations, at this point. On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 9:26 AM, Pat Rapp <[email protected]> wrote: > Well, the user base has a lot to do with that. The learning curve for > facebook (and it’s games) is minimal. Second Life is still disorienting for > all but the most enthusiastic adopters. As immersive websites become more > prevalent, virtual worlds will become more mainstream. > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On > Behalf Of *David Henn > *Sent:* Wednesday, October 27, 2010 8:38 AM > > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: Av Rights > > > > At least one reason for this is that facebook and Zynga are making gobs of > money, whereas Second Life has seen its revenues plummet and has had to > close three of its endeavors. Money talks, and all. > > > David > > On Tue, 2010-10-26 at 23:06 -0500, Sal Armoniac wrote: > > Just goes to show you that Face Book is taken more seriously than Second > Life. ;) > > On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 7:08 PM, Pat Rapp <[email protected]> wrote: > > Interesting … > > > > http://bit.ly/8ZRbw5 > > > > “Under Italian law the virtual burglar's actions are considered "aggravated > entry" and can draw penalties of up to five years in prison.” > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On > Behalf Of *Alicia Henn > *Sent:* Friday, October 22, 2010 5:00 AM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Av Rights > > > > > > http://www.jmir.org/2010/3/e28/ > > This is an interesting article on rights for avatars. It seems > reasonable and yet ludicrous at the same time. My officemate and I have had > a great time expanding on it. - Alicia > > Get Your Paws off of My Pixels: Personal Identity and Avatars as Self > > Mark Alan Graber1,2, MD; Abraham David Graber3, BA > > *ABSTRACT* > > There is an astounding silence in the peer-reviewed literature regarding > what rights a person ought to expect to retain when being represented by an > avatar rather than a biological body. Before one can have meaningful ethical > discussions about informed consent in virtual worlds, avatar bodily > integrity, and so on, the status of avatars vis-à-vis the self must first be > decided. We argue that as another manifestation of the individual, an > individual’s avatar should have rights analogous to those of a biological > body. Our strategy will be to show that (1) possessing a physical body is > not a necessary condition for possessing rights; (2) rights are already > extended to representations of a person to which no biological consciousness > is attached; and (3) when imbued with intentionality, some prostheses become > “self.” We will then argue that avatars meet all of the conditions necessary > to be protected by rights similar to those enjoyed by a biological body. The > structure of our argument will take the form of a conditional. We will argue > that *if* a user considers an avatar an extension of the self, *then* the > avatar has rights analogous to the rights of the user. Finally, we will > discuss and resolve some of the objections to our position including > conflicts that may arise when more than one individual considers an avatar > to be part of the self. > > *(J Med Internet Res 2010;12(3):e28)* > doi:10.2196/jmir.1299 > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<r-spec%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en. > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<r-spec%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en. > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<r-spec%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<r-spec%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<r-spec%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en. > -- -- eric scoles | [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. 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