Betterverse: Nonprofits in the Virtual World

Learn about Archeology Island on ScienceSim at this Friday's NPC Meeting

Ms. Marion Smeltzer of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania will be at this Friday's Nonprofit Commons to talk about the sim she built called Archeology Island on the ScienceSim (opensim) virtual platform. Previously housed on the Second Life platform, Archeology Island was moved after Linden Lab recinded the education / nonprofit rate for land rentals.

Archaeology Island consists of virtualizations of archaeological sites investigated by faculty members in the IUP , including a Monongahela Village, a Roman site in Cyprus, an underwater shipwreck, a Maya site in Belize , and the Laurel Hill /Brown farm, was the site of an antebellum community of former slaves. Come find out how these recreations are being used to further research and education at IUP.

Learn all about it this Friday, April 6, starting at 8:30am PT at the Plush Nonprofit Commons amphitheater. 

Global Kids Teens Talk about Climate Change and e-Waste in Second Life (video)

 

My friend Daria told me at the Digital Media and Learning conference last week that Global Kids has finished three episodes of the youth-run Second Life talk show "Let's Talk Sustainability."  "Let's Talk Sustainability" supports teens to develop expertise regarding sustainability, online broadcasting, and virtual world construction through producing a virtual talk show. LTS features interviews with STEM-related professionals, pre-produced videos, and audience activities. Each show is designed to introduce audiences to what they can do to live in a more sustainable world. 

You can watch on YouTube the climate change and e-waste shows now.

Students in Indonesia Learning Biology through Virtual Fish Dissection (video)

 

Educator Ines Ogura has been doing some really innovative educational projects in Second Life with her young students in Indonesia.  Here's her latest machinima video showing how she has integrated Second Life, web-based interactive activities, and real life science activities to teach her students about fish biology.  Virtual dissection looks much more appealing to me than the real thing!

Check out more of her videos on Ines' Youtube Channel and her website for more information about her teaching.

Help Save the International Spaceflight Museum in Second Life [UPDATED]

The International Spaceflight Museum in Second Life was one of the first places to really ignite my passion for virtual worlds, as places where real education and public engagement can occur.  A gigantic rocket park, your avatar can fly around getting an in-depth and otherwise impossible view of dozens of current and historic spacecraft.  Basically it's a virtual Disneyland for space nerds.

Sadly, the Spaceflight Museum vanished from SL sometime in January because they didn't have the funds to continue to pay the virtual land costs that Linden Lab charges.  But good news! On the ISM official blog, they recently reported that they are going to be able to re-open their sims in SL very soon because of a very generous anonymous donor.  However they aren't out of the woods yet.

If you would like to support this historic and still very relevant museum in Second Life, consider going to their website to donate, contributing via PayPal to ismuseum@gmail.com, or by “paying” L$ in SecondLife to AyeEss Emms, the avatar that is used to manage ISM’s land owning account.  I'm going to do just that myself.

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UPDATE Feb 27 2012:  According to New World Notes, the ISM has been saved from the wrecking block by an anonymous donor!

 

Join Global Kids' Youth-run Talk Show on Sustainability on January 13

Daria at Global Kids sents out an invitation to join a group of teen leaders in Second Life who are creating their own talk show in environmental sustainability issues on Friday January 13. "Let's Talk Sustainability" supports teens to develop expertise regarding sustainability, online broadcasting, and virtual world construction. Global Kids youth in New York City combined this expertise to produce talk shows that will feature interviews with STEM-related professionals, pre-produced videos, and audience activities. Each show is designed to introduce audiences to what they can do to live in a more sustainable world. 

The next and last two shows of this season: 

• 5pm ET Climate Change - What is the science of climate change?  Are there solutions to climate change that we can take action on now, or is it too late?

• 5:30pm ET Electronic Waste - What is e-waste and why is it the United States' biggest export?  What are the global consequences of e-waste, particularly for developing countries?

To be a part of the audience, head to the New Media Consortium Convention Center at this teleport link.  And before you go, fill out this form http://tinyurl.com/68ozchq.  

Dramatic Machinima on Virtual Marathon for Medical Research

 

Hamlet at New World Notes pointed me to this remarkable machinima video that dramatizes a virtual marathon organized by the group IMRIC to raise funds for several worthwhile medical research projects.  I love the rich quality of the filmmaking, the use of voiceover, music, and atmospherics that draw the viewer in.  And the connection to Albert Einstein is very well done.

I hope they publish the figures about how much was raised afterwards.  I'm not a big fan of using virtual worlds for fundraising efforts like this, in comparison to other forms of fundraising.  But creative efforts like this can certainly raise the profile of important research and researchers working on finding cures for these terrible diseases and afflictions.

By the way, if you were inspired, it's not too late to donate.  Head to the IMRIC site for more info.

Einstein Says: Sponsor a Scientist Avatar to Fund Medical Research!

 

I love love this machinima starring Albert Einstein to advertise this  virtual marathon for science research on December 11. Sponsored by the Institute for Medical Research Israel Canada, this is essentially an innovative way to get people to pony up $25 or more to support different strains of medical research, from Alzheimers Disease to visual impairment. 

In a surprising bit of versimillitude, according to New World Notes, the sponsors got the permission from the estate of Albert Einstein to use his likeness for this appeal.

Each cause is personified by different avatars of specific researchers working on a cure of that particular disorder. This is a nice way of humanizing the search for cures and treatments, rather than faceless institutions.  You literally get to see the researcher's avatars racing around a track and root for your favorite cause to win. The winning avatar apparently gets a larger share of the research money, while the other groups get the remainder. 

While I am in general not bullish on the use of virtual platforms for fundraising, at least compared to other online and offline mechanisms, this sounds like a smart use of the technology.  I hope this is a big success!

(Hat tip to NWN)

Attend the Tech Museum's "Tech Test Zone" on November 15 in San Jose or Virtually [updated]

We are excited to announce that the Tech Museum is organizing a conference on the latest interactive technologies on November 15 called "The Tech Test Zone: Interfaces for the New Decade." The event will bring together "the most innovative developers of new interactive technologies" in The Tech Museum's newest gallery. Learn about and demo cutting-edge interfaces such as:

• Augmented Reality
• Deformable Surfaces
• Eye Tracking
• Gestural Interfaces
• Gigapixel Images
• Motion Sensing
• Multi-touch
• Natural User Interfaces
• RFID
• Smart Museum Systems
• Tablet Computers
• Ubiquitous Media

Looks like a really neat event for anyone trying to keep up with the latest in interactive tech. You can attend in person at their San Jose, California location or virtually via a number of different web-based and virtual platforms.

To register head to their registration portal today, since space is limited.  In-person registration is $125 and virtual participation is free!

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UPDATED 11/9: Organizer Robert Ketner sent us the locations of where you can watch the event online: 

• Main video and audio stream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-tech-virtual
• The Tech 2 in Second Life (tentative) http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Tech%202/131/128/33
• Reaction Grid Jibe location http://reactiongrid.com/unity3d/expo/ (Hosted by John "Pathfinder" Lester and Reaction Grid team.)

Other locations will be added on the conference page.

Fashion Institute Awards Virtual Land to Nine Science Groups.... wait, what?

The Abyss ocean science museum in Second Life

The Fashion Research Institute announced on November 1 that they have awarded "regions" of virtual land in the virtual world to nine nonprofit, research and educational institutions.  The land will be hosted on the Science Sim virtual world, built on the OpenSimulator platform, an open-source version of Second Life.

The nine awardees are:

• The Abyss Observatory
• The Cyprus University of Technology
• The EdLab Group Foundation
• The Honor Engine
• The Oregon L5 Society
• Meta-Institute for Computational Astrophysics
• Preferred Family Healthcare
• Science Circle
• BIO-SE project (Biological Interactive Objects for Science Education)

Looks like quite a variety of science-focused institutions represented, including scientist networks, health care services, and a virtual ocean science museum.  

The "virtual land grant" is comprised of four regions, which can support 100,000 primitive units, a substantial amount of space for these groups to prototype new projects, hold meetings, and allow their staff and members to build.  The grant will last for nine months from September 2011 to June 2012.

Sounds like a great opportunity for the institutions receiving the "land grants."

But it's unclear why the Fashion Research Institute is involved, since their aim from their website is to develop "innovative design & merchandising solutions for the apparel industry."  Perhaps they are taking a very wide-reaching approach to their research on the applications of virtual worlds for different sectors?  Or perhaps there is some other science and technology connection that is not so apparent?  We'll approach them for comment later.

See the full announcement and more info about each of these organizations on the official release.

Audience Members Wanted for Teen Talk Show on Sustainability Issues October 28

My friend Daria at Global Kids send out news that they are getting their teens set to produce their first virtual talk show on environmental issues called "Let's Talk Sustainability."  Their first talk show, which will focus on food justice issues, will be next Friday October 28, at 4:30pm EST, and they need audience members!  

According to Daria the goal of the show is:

to support teens to develop expertise regarding sustainability, online broadcasting, and virtual world construction. Global Kids youth in New York City combined this expertise to produce talk shows that will feature interviews with STEM-related professionals, pre-produced videos, and audience activities. Each show is designed to introduce audiences to what they can do to live in a more sustainable world.

Just look at how cute those teens are! If you would like to participate and support this innovative program, please fill out this form and then teleport over to the talk show studio (teleport link). Should be informative and fun, if I know Global Kids and their teens.