July 9, 2008
Scholars Are Skeptical of Google's New Virtual World
Rumors that Google was working on a new virtual world have turned out to be true. The company unveiled this week its three-dimensional make-believe community called Lively, promoted in the video below.
Virtual-world scholars seem unimpressed by the project. The Terra Nova blog has assembled their comments. Aaron Delwiche, an assistant professor of communications at Trinity University, is disappointed that Lively does not allow people to create their own content, a feature of the virtual world Second Life. “Google has given us an impoverished space in which content can only be developed in-house or by ‘trusted developers,’” he writes.
Vili Lehdonvirta, a researcher at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, says this about Mr. Delwiche’s observation. “I don’t think it’s true that Second Life style dedicated tools for creating complex 3D content are a prerequisite for creativity and expression. People used to build pianos out of fish steaks and chessboards in Ultima Online,” he writes of the popular three-dimensional game. “Still, I agree that it would be really cool if Google came out with advanced content creation tools that are easy to use.” —Andrea L. Foster
Posted on Wednesday July 9, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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Researchers of virtual worlds? Wow, did not know such an area existed –
— Kyle David Jul 9, 05:21 PM #
Don’t think Google was trying to impress virtual worlds scholars with this.
Gotta start somewhere. Easier to use = more people likely to get on board. Once they are comfortable and want more, maybe then they move on to SL or whatever “Super Lively” Google comes up with beyond this.
— Jim Jul 9, 05:47 PM #
This seems to prove a theory I’ve carried around in a back pocket for a while now: that someone at the Chronicle of Higher Ed has stock, or some other material interest, in Linden Labs (the creators of Second Life).
The Chronicle is almost literally the only media outlet of any significance that reports on Second Life with any degree of seriousness; for those of us who work on higher education Web development, it’s become a joke. (See this blog post for more.)
So, lo and behold , Google comes out with a virtual world of its own— perhaps making those of us who are skeptics about virtual worlds think twice— and what does the Chronicle do? Run a negative article about it that emphasizes the ways Second Life is better.
There’s a conflict of interest here somewhere, guys. Watch out.
— Jason Pontius, White Whale Web Services Jul 9, 05:52 PM #
Interesting contrast from the article <a href=“http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/867353/lively_google_and_lively_ways_to_use.html”>Google Lively, Lively Uses for the New Virtual World.</a> I agree with the commenter, accessibility first…then innovation.
— Donna Jul 9, 06:38 PM #
IBM recently partnered with Linden Labs to transport avatars from Second Life to an open source virtual world platform. I think the significance is that big tech players like Google and IBM clearly see potential in virtual worlds.
— Lawrence G. Miller Jul 10, 08:00 AM #
The Chronicle should be commended for covering Second Life and related projects. College personnel and other educators are doing amazing things with these technologies. And it is only the beginning.
— Brad MacGowan Jul 10, 08:56 AM #
Not to be a stodgy, cranky skeptic..
..but what “amazing things” exactly are being “done” with these technologies?
This whole virtual world stuff is nothing more than a sophisticated way to piss away time.
Has any hungry person been fed by the “work” done in a virtual world? Has anything of significance or consequence EVER come out of it, or will ever?
Jason Pontius’ point seems well-taken, in this regard, although I’d put a more critical spin on it. The Chronicle IS promoting Second Life heavily (though perhaps just as fans)… but the attempts to make this “environment” sound consequential are bizarre.
If people want to piss away their lives on Facebook or Second Life or Grand Theft Auto or (my own personal time-vampire) Civilization, it’s their right, of course.
But don’t pretend that there will be any POSITIVE real world consequences. Most everything “virtual” at this point remains nothing more than distraction—worthy to be discusses as entertainment, perhaps, but not as “news.”
This might change in the future. But it might not.
— d Jul 10, 09:41 AM #
Innovate (http://innovateonline.info) will publish a special issue focusing on how innovative academics are using tools like Second Life in their teaching. See http://innovateonline.info/?view=special_issues for a description of the issue.
Best.
James L. Morrison
Editor-in-Chief
— James L. Morrison Jul 10, 11:28 AM #
For examples of how virtual worlds are being used in K12 and higher education visit the Immersive Education Initiative at http://ImmersiveEducation.org. Under the “VIDEOS” section you’ll also see just a few samples of how virtual worlds are useful tools for distance learning, creative expression, and collaboration. Under the “NEWS” section (toward the very bottom of the news) you’ll find related papers and publications as well. Here are the quick links
http://ImmersiveEducation.org
http://ImmersiveEducation.org/#VIDEOS
http://ImmersiveEducation.org/#NEWS
We’re in the very early stages of using virtual worlds for so-called serious work (such as education, scholarship, business collaboration and so forth), but the technology is clearly being used here and now and these tools are getting better and more useful every day. At the moment the Immersive Education Initiative has approximately 400 members, almost all of which are teachers, faculty, and researchers, and it’s growing at the rate of 2-3 new members every day. The majority of these members are using Immersive Education technology (such virtual worlds, simulators and game-based learning tools) today either as a teaching tool or for research, and those that aren’t yet using these tools are in the early stages of preparing to do so.
Aaron
—
Media Grid
Immersive Education
Personal page
— Aaron E. Walsh Jul 10, 11:48 AM #
Usefulness aside, why do all of the female residents of Lively look like those awful “Bratz” dolls? Just like Barbie, I doubt they’d be able to stand upright in real life.
— Cutlerlake Jul 10, 03:14 PM #
I would be happy to provide any “skeptics” with very good educational things being done in Second Life. There is some wierd stuff there, but what university would want to be judged only on what happens in one of its frat houses on a Saturday night?
— Brad MacGowan Jul 10, 08:19 PM #