Congressional Hearing on Virtual Worlds Simulcast in Second Life

By Cheryl Pellerin

Participation in Internet-based virtual worlds is growing planetwide, and citizens (called avatars) from Second Life, one of the popular multiverses, have started showing up in real life - most recently in the chambers of the U.S. House of Representatives.

A House telecommunications and Internet subcommittee heard testimony April 1 from several experts, including Second Life founder Philip Rosedale, during an information-gathering session on virtual worlds.

The hearing was streamed live into a three-dimensional (3-D) model of the House hearing room in Second Life, and a gathering of in-world residents watched the proceedings from their seats. Massachusetts Democrat Representative Edward Markey, the subcommittee chairman, presided over both meetings - in person in Washington and as an avatar in Second Life.

"If we want to foster the best of what this medium has to offer," Markey said, "we must consider the policies that will be conducive to such growth. These include upgrading our broadband infrastructure and speed, fostering openness and innovation in our Internet policies and ensuring that we bridge digital divides in our country so that all Americans can benefit."

"The Second Life grid is the next step in the fulfillment of the Internet's promise, where people create and consume content and interact with each other in a 3-D environment," Rosedale, chief executive of Linden Lab, the company that runs Second Life, told the subcommittee.

"The potential for commerce, education, entertainment and other interaction in a 3-D environment filled with other people," he added, "is far greater than in the flat and isolated two-dimensional world of the World Wide Web."

Also in the Second Life audience were avatars belonging to journalists; to Second Life board member Mitchell Kapor, who founded Lotus Development Corporation; and to representatives of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has had an island in Second Life since early 2007. (See "U.S. Government Presence Grows in Second Life Online World." ( http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2007/May/20070508163536lcnirellep0.2645075.html ))

Living Second Life

Second Life opened in 2003, created by Linden Lab, a San Francisco-based company that Rosedale founded in 1999 to create a new form of shared experience. Its residents own and build the virtual world's digital infrastructure, including homes, vehicles, nightclubs, stores, landscapes, clothing, games, islands, schools, companies, government organizations, libraries and more.

Anyone can sign up for a free membership by registering with Second Life and creating an avatar - a member's persona in the virtual world. This virtual world, says Linden Lab, teems with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. It even has an economy based on Linden dollars - about 265 Lindens to the U.S. dollar.

Today in Second Life there are 6 million registered users: 50,000 to 60,000 are online or "in-world" at any one time, and 900,000 have been in-world during the past 30 days. The users are from more than 100 real-life countries and more than 70 percent of users are from outside the United States.

In-World Applications

A broad range of educational, scientific, nonprofit, cultural and governmental groups have embraced virtual worlds, including Second Life.

Susan Tenby, senior manager for community development for TechSoup, a San Francisco-based organization that provides technology services for nonprofits, testified that Second Life "has rapidly emerged as the leading virtual world for nonprofits around the world," and cited some examples of Second Life-based nonprofit-hosted activities:

. A humanitarian aid worker recently returned from Sudan describes the plight of Sudanese refugees to an international audience;

. Patrons bid on shimmering gowns during a fundraising gala and silent auction for cancer research; and

. Teenagers create sets, costumes and lighting to shoot an educational video about child soldiers in Uganda.

Even governments use Second Life as a base to engage an international audience. Maldives was the first nation to open a virtual embassy in Second Life, and several nations, including Sweden, also have established diplomatic representation.

In the United States, the University of Southern California (USC) Center on Public Diplomacy's Virtual World Project explores new ways to practice public diplomacy in Second Life.

The center has worked with the U.S. State Department to host in-world International Information Program initiatives such as a Virtual Vibe Jazz Fest and, for the Second Life Educators group, a program on "Accessibility in the 3-D Environment: Virtual Worlds and People with Disabilities," both in 2007.

Second Life sits at the intersection of three deeply significant trends, said Larry Johnson, chief executive of the New Media Consortium, a nonprofit association of more than 250 colleges, universities and museums that focuses on emerging technologies.

"The first trend is an increasing focus on people as the organizing principle of the network," he said, "which has been fueled by hundreds of social networking applications, the anytime, anywhere access of wireless networks, and the clear desire of people to connect seamlessly in real time via these networks."

The second trend is the increasing ability of computing and communication devices to represent data and information visually across three dimensions and distribute the information in real time. The third is allowing users to generate content.

"At its core," Johnson said, "a platform like Second Life is a social space, and it is that platform's success in meeting the need of people to come together that has driven its success and popularity."

More information about the USC Center on Public Diplomac ( http://uscpublicdiplomacy.com/index.php )y and its Second Life programs ( http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/virtualworlds/dos ) is available at the center's Web site. More information about Linden Lab ( http://lindenlab.com/ ) is available on the organization's Web site.

(USINFO is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Source: U.S. Department of State

judythpiazza@newsblaze.com

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