/ UWA AND SECOND LIFE

Yesterday, Friday 02/10/09 UWA launched its campus on second life! I managed to get an invite and attended the lecture. I must say I was a bit taken aback with the enthusiasm and the time and effort put into it by UWA.

Here is a brief introduction from the UWA's website.

"The University of Western Australia will be launched in Second Life soon and residents of the popular 3D internet virtual world will be able to walk around campus, attend lectures and enter a competition to design the University's Second Life cultural precinct.
The real launch will be simultaneous with the virtual one - and carried out by UWA Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Robson.
Second Life enables residents to interact through avatars, or virtual representations of themselves. They live in Second Life as they would in the real community, carrying out business transactions, socialising, working - and going to uni.
Besides being a marketing tool to attract future students who may live too far away to visit UWA in reality, the Second Life campus has an educational edge.
Professor Wade Halvorson of UWA's School of Business and Professor Mark Pegrum of the Graduate School of Education use Second Life as a teaching tool. Paul Bourke, Senior Research Fellow at the University's West Australian Supercomputer Program (WASP) is using the 3D interactive world as part of his Collaborative Visualisation research.
The launch of the UWA Second Life campus is the culmination of two years' work by Manager of the School of Physics Jay Jay Jegathesan and Honourary Research Fellow Dr Chris Thorne. "

Some very crappy pictures taken of the launch using my shitty 2 megapixel iPhone camera.

At the virtual launch there were people from Canada, China, Thailand and even Sweden.

Here are a few snap shots of the UWA campus on second life. Note most of the pictures depict the real life campus.

Places you can teleport to on UWA campus in SL

Hackett Hall

Sunken Gardens



And here are the pictures of the virtual campus! Note the larger than life imagery and design implemented. Further goes to prove the nature of virtual architecture in second life.
COPYING REAL LIFE IS BORING!
RESEARCH! INVESTIGATE! COLLABORATE! COMMUNICATE! BUILD!

The enchanted forest

St. Basila with UWA genius

3D Visualisation Research

Oh and these structures aren’t built only by UWA staff/students. People from all over the world have had an input in the scripting/design/organising!
I am also attaching an audio for anyone out there who wants to perhaps listen to the launch speech.(I dunt think many would be interested in doing so, but just putting it out there)