NMC Campus Observer

Interview With a Werewolf

CDB Barkley (aka Alan Levine) : Jun 1, 2006 02:16pm

Today in Second Life, I met up with a hairy, not really scary avatar named Seb Basiat. Okay, don’t let his appearance fool you–Seb is quite friendly and outgoing. Actually we did our audio interview yesterday via iChat; we were unable to meet up on Campus because Second Life was down due to upgrades. But we went back for some photos today to complete the session.

Studio NMC Interview with Seb Basiat

Seb here checks out the Library.

In the interview, Seb describes his positive experience in meeting other Second Life citizens, having spent quite a bit of time there the last few weeks. He frequents the visitors center, where all the newbie avatars land, and described and atmosphere of extreme helpfulness, no matter how new one is to this place. “I’ve met total strangers, in the strangest locations, who will stop and take a moment to answer any questions… and they answer in a very helpful way. I was expecting a little more mischief!”

Seb describes his interactions of strong informal learning, of one-one-one where people will share tips on how to move about, optimize the program settings, etc. “one topic leads to another and another, and I found I picked up on a lot of skills I might not have learned on my own.”

It was on the Second Life discussion boards where Seb found an expert named Starax who makes a fantastic magic wand, so Seb visited his store where he found his furry avatar.

“I am not as scary as I look!”

On the NMC Campus, Seb is very intrigued by the spaces and their design. “In the Library are many small features you may not notice, you may not to know to look for, for example, the way the walls change colors depending on how many people are nearby– fantastic little features that suggest someone put a lot of time and effort and talent into these spaces… All of these features help make it feel like a real place.”

Seb is interested in the possibilities of using this virtual place to do some experiments in the design of some real buildings being planned on his campus. “We have CAD drawings of the plans, and maybe with some tool liike Sketchup, we can visiualize the new spaces before they are actually built in real life, and I can encourage my faculty to come and explore.”

We walked outside to discuss this topic as we looked at the NMC Campus model that was built by the designers from the Electric Sheep Company:

CDB Barkley and Seb Basiat talk about space design while looking at the NMC Campus model that was built first when the island was just a flat green square.

Seb described some other Second Life venues he was visited where public presentations have taken place, and noticed that the format is rather familiar, a solitary speaker shows some visuals, and the audience sites in structured seating areas. At the same time, some conventions are broken as participants begin to fly around the room saying, “Seats! We don’t need no stinking seats!”.

Seb is interested in the use of Second Life for collaboration and meetings between remote participants, and sees them as potentially more active and engaged than using a telephone, where the computer becomes a distraction. He even projects it might be a way to hold office hours.

And if you see a dark furry werewolf walking around NMC Campus, don’t be alarmed. He is very friendly and will want to share what he has learned with you.

Story filed under: Audio / Video,Studio NMC

See all stories by CDB Barkley (aka Alan Levine)