Come to the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life on Friday August 26 to learn about the "Abyss Observatory," a virtual ocean science museum created by Yan Lauria. The meeting will start at 8:30am PST at the Plush Nonprofit Commons amphitheater (teleport link.)
Known in the real world as Hajime Nishimura of the Data Research Center for Marine-Earth Sciences in Japan, Yan has been working on the Abyss Observatory as a labor of love of the past year. He has been continually adding to the exhibit spaces over the year, so every visit I encounter something new.
To visit the museum, point your Second Life avatar over to the Second Earth 3 sim (teleport link.) There's a lot to see and do, so plan accordingly. Among the main sections of the museum:
- Marine Life & Human in the Sea: a coral reef eco-system (picture), reef bar, manned submersibles
- Journey into the Deep: a deep sea lab, ocean floor diorama
- Observation and Simulation: NOAA ship Okeanos, various scientific measurement tools and vehicles
- Sunken City and Fantasy Zone: fictional undersea vehicles including Jules Verne's "Nautilus"
I love the experience of donning your Scuba gear and slowly submerging your avatar into the water as the ocean envelops you. I'm deathly afraid of the deep sea, so this is the closest I'm going to come to ocean exploration. The whales, sharks, and fish swimming around you are enchanting, as you sink deeper and deeper into the exhibit spaces.
Come on Friday at 8:30am learn how Yan created the Abyss Observatory, along with his collaborators, and what is coming next for this delightful educational sim.
