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Beyond Broadcast Conference: High Order Bit: Second Life

87 views · Published 19 March 2014 · 13:21 · Indexed 18 October 2026

Channel: GBH Forum Network · 2014 · Education

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Throughout the Beyond Broadcast conference there have been fleeting glimpses of a replica of the Beyond Broadcast conference: a virtual Ames Courtroom filled with virtual people. This replica conference is taking place in Second Life; a world where every character is controlled by a real person. All objects, buildings, trees, cars and light poles are also created by users. John Lester, working for the creators of Second Life, Linden Lab, explained the founding principle behind Second Life. John says, "We [at Linden] don't want to make content, we want to give people tools to make their dreams and shape their world." Every resident (Linden's term for user,) has a powerful 3d modeling kit and scripting language, which enables them to build their fantasy. Lester further describes iSecond Life/i as a, "Waking dream environment   not completely surreal or mundane, but smack dab in the middle." He illustrates this point with a slide of a concert taking place inside Second Life. The musicians are streaming their live (real world) music into a virtual club; the band member's avatars play their instruments to a virtual crowd. John points out that there is something cohesive about a bunch of people hanging out in a club listening to music, but, he says, you realize something is up when a member of the crowd seamlessly hovers into the air. Second Life is set apart from most online games and simulations in that residents retain intellectual property rights to all their virtual creations. Some residents release their creations as open source, while others retain their rights and make money off their work. Residents earn L$ (Linden dollars), which can be converted to $US on Second Life's currency exchange. The exchange works just like a real market, where residents post offers to buy and sell money. Residents can even resell their Second Life creations back into the real world.

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