INTRODUCTION
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. The timeline for Second Life begins in the year 1999, when the founder of Linden Lab, Philip Rosedale began developing computer hardware to allow people to immerse themselves into a virtual reality world. After a lot of work, planning and prototyping, Second Life was launched on June 23, 2003.
As the years passed, Second Life began receiving a lot of media attention and managed to boast itself in a cover story on 'Business Week,' featuring a member's avatar, who at that time became the poster child for Second Life.
Today, Second Life’s virtual land mass would be roughly twice the size of Hong Kong. In Q3 2010 alone, over 750,000 unique Residents from around the globe spent more than 105 million hours experiencing Second Life while exchanging more than $150 million worth of Linden dollars in its economy.
As the years passed, Second Life began receiving a lot of media attention and managed to boast itself in a cover story on 'Business Week,' featuring a member's avatar, who at that time became the poster child for Second Life.
Today, Second Life’s virtual land mass would be roughly twice the size of Hong Kong. In Q3 2010 alone, over 750,000 unique Residents from around the globe spent more than 105 million hours experiencing Second Life while exchanging more than $150 million worth of Linden dollars in its economy.
WHAT EXACTLY IS SECOND LIFE?
Second Life is an online virtual world that can be run via a number of free client programs or "viewers". These viewers enable Second Life users to interact with each other through avatars, also known as Residents in Second Life terminology. Residents can explore the world of Second Life, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual or group activities, and create and trade virtual properties and services with one another.
Built into the software is a three-dimensional modelling tool based on simple geometric shapes that allows residents to build virtual objects. These virtual objects together creates the world that residents in Second Life interact with.
Built into the software is a three-dimensional modelling tool based on simple geometric shapes that allows residents to build virtual objects. These virtual objects together creates the world that residents in Second Life interact with.
THINGS YOU PROBABLY DON'T NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SECOND LIFE
- Second Life was originally named LindenWorld. The name was changed before Beta testing to give a more descriptive and creative feel.
- A day in Second Life is 4 hours long, with 3 hours of daytime and 1 hour of night. Many other quirks of the sun and moon: The sun orbits the SL world and travels faster during night, the moon is always ful.
- The sun and moon are often given custom textures for U.S. Holidays. Examples of such are the sun being replaced with a heart and the moon with a silhouette of a couple kissing for Valentine's Day.
- The hippo is the un-official-official mascot of Second Life.
- The hand logo and symbol throughout Second Life is actually found throughout our real-life civilizations as well. In many cultures, a mysterious hand symbol can be found strewn about paintings and other art forms. One example is "The Hand of Fatima" from Islamic culture. Links and references to such things were once present on the Second Life website.
- You can change the zoom-level of the mini-map by right clicking it. There are three levels you can zoom in at, as well as being able to "stop tracking".
SECOND LIFE FOR EDUCATION
Second Life is used as a platform for education by many institutions, such as colleges, universities and libraries. There are over one hundred regions used for education covering subjects such as Chemistry and Computer Science. Many educators prefer using Second Life as a means for education since it is more personal than traditional distance learning.
Economic pressures from budget cuts and rising cost of education continue to mount. While students are obliged to pay higher tuition fees, share resources and even drop classes, teachers are looking for better ways to educate without the economic constraints. Second Life supports the ongoing mission to deliver world class education.
Virtual worlds solve many challenges faced by educational institutions. Today many universities and colleges are either augmenting their current curriculum within the virtual world or they are holding classes within the virtual world.
Second Life creates the opportuny of field trips from the comfort of your home, students and teachers can visit places of interest related to their fields of study and even more, they can visit places that can't be visited in the real world, such as the inside of a computer or device.
Economic pressures from budget cuts and rising cost of education continue to mount. While students are obliged to pay higher tuition fees, share resources and even drop classes, teachers are looking for better ways to educate without the economic constraints. Second Life supports the ongoing mission to deliver world class education.
Virtual worlds solve many challenges faced by educational institutions. Today many universities and colleges are either augmenting their current curriculum within the virtual world or they are holding classes within the virtual world.
Second Life creates the opportuny of field trips from the comfort of your home, students and teachers can visit places of interest related to their fields of study and even more, they can visit places that can't be visited in the real world, such as the inside of a computer or device.