Virtual worlds, Second Life, and the Metaverse as a whole are very immersive experiences. This is because they immerse the user much more than an older type of medium such as just reading a book which leaves a lot open to the reader for interpretation. With something like Second Life, it is much more visual. Much more hands-on. The user can be whoever they want, whatever they want, however they want, whenever they want. It’s hard to beat the amount of freedom the user has to immerse themselves in this experience. In my opinion, the only thing keeping this from being a 100% realistic, fully immersive experience would be the fact that you can’t physically walk in the world of Second Life with your physical body and physically touch the items in it. A VR headset could be used to give the user the impression they are in the world and physically interacting with everything, but I would say that’s as close as we are going to get for now. Second Life is truly amazing. You can go into this digital world and get a job, build a house, sell the house, rent property, provide services for other users, you name it!
Even graphic novels are much more immersive than just reading a standard novel. The graphic novel paints pictures for the reader and helps them feel more like they are right there inside the story with the characters. Hence, an immersive experience.
My experience with virtual worlds is still pretty limited. I have some experience with it on the internet, in video games, and a little bit of time on Second Life now, but there is still so much I don’t know or understand about the metaverse. I must say that I am very excited to learn more about it. I’m only 33 years old right now. I can’t even imagine what our technology is going to be 40 years from now. It’s mind boggling to even think about.
First and foremost, “Watchmen” was the first of its kind. It stood out from the crowd in an exemplary fashion. It put other comic books to shame. The writer, Alan Moore, took a more non-traditional approach to writing it. For starters, the storyline doesn’t take place in a fictional city like most other comics do. It takes place in New York city. Also, this story was portrayed as more realistic. While it is still loaded with physical impossibilities, the comic had a more real feel to it due to its setting, timeline, and character personalities. You would also find that the Watchmen graphic novel didn’t look like it fit in on a typical comic rack. The front cover would seem much more boring than that of a traditional comic book. These factors definitely made it unique.
It’s been several years since I have seen the 2009 film adaptation, but I do remember owning it when I was a kid. I can recall the first time I watched it and what my reaction to it was. I could tell right from the beginning that something about this superhero story was vastly different from any other superhero story I had ever seen or read before that. There was just something about how it was filmed that made all other superhero movies seem like corny fiction but this, this was real.
I’ll start off by saying that I recently caught the travel bug and fantasize of the idea of being able to travel the world and getting paid to do it. This is my newfound dream. I hope someday that I am able to have a job where I work remotely so that I may start to travel the world and zig zag across every country and continent to explore and experience all of the different foods, cultures, peoples, traditions, and history. I want to document it all create content online about all of it, therefore establishing a brand as a world traveler that educates others. I want to blog, vlog, write articles, and make lots of YouTube videos about all of my travels.
While this is only a dream, if I am able to accomplish this one day, I would hopefully be able to incorporate the virtual world into all of this and create an AR app that others could use if they begin to travel the world and experience my experiences through the app. They could use it to find and take part in the same activities that I did or to find good services that I have used and reviewed. It would basically be an interactive AR travel app. They could also use it to learn about the history of different locations. I basically want to be a younger, more hip, more modern version of Rick Steves!
I have read through several other immersive engagement proposals and looked for connections and similarities between them and my own. I appreciate the symbolic value of the objects that Kathryn wishes to create. I feel that the reward of her gold star at the end of the hero’s quest is very comparable to my holo-projector that will display a college diploma on it.
On the other hand, Danielle’s drawing tablet item compares more to my video editing workstation I wish to place in the world. I am also hoping that this object can help them consider if it is something they would be interested in learning more about at Peninsula College. Adobe Premiere Pro can be a pretty intimidating application from first glance, but it looks sleek. I’m hoping that potential new students seeing editing taking place using the software on the virtual workstation will inspire them to look into it more.
I also drew a connection between my holo-projector item and James’ map scroll. These items share something in common. They will be handheld items that can be picked up by the users’ avatars and interacted with. I am a little intimidated by attempting to create these objects given my lack of experience with 3D design and Second Life, but am more than willing to give it a shot!
The premise of my project will consist of the development of two different objects to be placed in the SL world. One will be a monitor that shows the video editing process in Adobe Premiere Pro and another will be a handheld holo-projector that displays either a rotating college degree or an open book. The fundamental purpose of these items is to drive students find interest in the video production and as a call to action to inspire them to attend Peninsula College.
2. Audience and Market
The intended user would be a potential new student at Peninsula College. We hope to use our digital environment on the Hero’s Journey to entice them to become students here. This audience would probably enjoy something that is interesting, comedic, and technological. We will have plenty of competition, however. There are plenty of other schools, organizations, and companies that have established a strong presence in the virtual world.
3. Medium, Platform, and Genre
We will be using the platform Second Life to develop and place these items. This platform consists of a virtual world where users can fully customize their avatars, purchase and rent property, and even get a job. It is a third-person virtual experience.
4. Narrative and Gaming Elements
There are narrative elements contained in this project. The Hero’s Journey is a completely narrative concept. It is the basis for most stories told and has been for a very long time. I hope to be very encouraging and inspirational in my approach when creating these items. There are some gaming elements already on the Hero’s Journey pathway, however, mine will be more interactive and persuasive. I can’t think of a win or lose scenario with my objects, other than a win when persuading someone to attend Peninsula College.
5. User’s Role and Point of View (POV)
The user will take on the role of an aspiring student on this pathway. They will be looking for direction in their life, in their education, and in their own personal Hero’s Journey. Therefore, ultimately they will be taking on the role of the “hero”.
6. Characters
The nonplayer characters consist mostly of animals from what I have seen. I did read something about a parrot that helps you on the journey but I don’t believe I actually encountered him. I have seen other birds, wolves, and whales. They make the virtual environment feel more welcoming and attractive. They also give it a more lively presence which will entice users to explore deeper into it.
7. Structure and Interface
The starting point of the user’s experience will be Step 0 of the Hero’s Journey. This is the beginning of the path and the user is welcomed with some free gifts and information here. They will then progress through the twelve steps of the Hero’s Journey and then proceed onto the Pathway Café where they can see the different guided educational pathways. They will be able to stay on task and know they are going in the right direction because of the signs that have been placed.
8. Storyworld and Sub-settings
Our world appears to be on an island paradise that sees all different seasons and climates in the different regions of the island. These resemble the different obstacles we encounter when we are on our own personal Hero’s journey.
9. User Engagement
The storytelling aspect of the experience is what will keep the user engaged. They will want to make it to the end to feel the sense of accomplishment that comes along with completing any type of interactive story element. By the end of this experience, the user will have hopefully made it to the end of the pathway, decided what area of study they are wanting to focus on, and chosen to enroll at Peninsula College to do so.
10. Overall Look and Sound
For the monitor at the video editing station, I will be using videos. 2 different videos, one for each monitor. One will be of the editing workspace in Premiere Pro, while the other will be of the program monitor. As far as the holo-projector object goes, I will use an image of the text book or college degree and try to build a 3D element out of it.
11. Interactive Scavenger Hunt
I would like to make it so if the user finds my holo-projector, not only will it turn on and display the rotating object, but it will also transport them to my bubble. Using the holo-projector again will transport them back to the hero’s pathway. (Not sure if this is doable or not, but I like the idea of it.)
12. Marketing of the Hero’s Journey
The project could be marketed through the college’s website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and even Second Life itself. I feel that at this stage it wouldn’t hurt to have mentorship, but I think the further along it comes and the more developed it becomes, the more autonomous while convenient to use it will become.
Video games motivate their players with mastery all the time! I am living proof of this. Some of us grew up wanting to master sports in school. Some of us wanted to master computer and technical skills. There were also some of us that grew up addicted to video games and the only thing they were worried about mastering was the Xbox Live achievements for Assassin’s Creed II. In case you’re wondering, yes, I am referring to myself there. I was what some would call a completionist. I couldn’t just play the game and finish the storyline. I had to make sure I went through and found all of the different locations, found all of the collectibles, and completed all of the side quests. These games were intentionally designed with all of this extra content to motivate players to put all of this time into it so they could get the “achievements” as a reward. While completing some of these tasks in these games can be very daunting and repetitive at times, it would help the player get tens or hundreds of hours of gameplay out of a $60 video game which made it so much more worth the price.
Another very neat aspect of the Assassin’s Creed game series was the fact that there was so much history incorporated into it. You would travel back to ancient times and go through locations such as Italy, Egypt, Syria, and Greece. You would encounter historical characters and work alongside them during historical events as the game developers devised a way to tie your fictional game character into the event somehow.
There are many different ways people can be motivated by information, education, and mastery, but I can whole-heartedly say that the thing in my life that motivated me the most in all three of those areas was certainly the Assassin’s Creed video game franchise.
I didn’t expect to find this! Apparently jousting in SecondLife is a thing?!? I was super intrigued. In face I might be interested in participating in this at some point myself! I really enjoyed the architecture of the building, fonts and colors used in the graphics, and the interior textures. I will certainly revisit this place at some point. Only issue I had with it was the location wasn’t wanting to load very well at first. However, that could have been an issue on my end.
Inspiration Island is a non-profit project that has been around for 12 years. I decided to visit its Hall of Heroes. This was a very unique place. Here you can add a photo of anyone whom you consider to be a hero to the display. I couldn’t help but notice that Richard Dawkins is there. He is definitely one of my personal heroes! The welcome hall that you first arrive in is well laid-out and does a good job of showcasing what this location is all about.
This store was awesome! I don’t currently have any Linden dollars yet so I didn’t buy anything here but there was tons I would’ve liked to have! They have a wide variety of Victorian and steam-punk styled outfits and accessories. The layout of the store was very neat as well. It appears to be an old warehouse and the pictures of the items are hanging on stacks of crates. Love it! Feels very steam-punky. I will certainly return once I have gotten myself some Linden dollars.
I decided to check out the Metaverse NFT Gallery because to be perfectly honest, I still wasn’t totally sure how NFTs worked in the first place. Upon arrival, I found the entrance to be very welcoming. The lower level had all kinds of information about what NFTs are and how they work. They even had a YouTube video posted on the wall that explained it. Today I got to learn how NFTs work and I got to see some breathtaking examples. This one in the screenshot particularly caught my eye.
I’ve never been big on opera, except for The Phantom of the Opera of course! However, this ad for an upcoming show has me intrigued. I might just have to add that to my calendar and come back to see what it’s all about! It is fascinating how intricate SecondLife is. I had no idea that people come here to a virtual world to put on virtual performances in a virtual opera house. Super cool. The design of the building is another feat all in itself. It is beautiful!
Role-Playing – 1950s & 1960s America in Time Portal
This was a real blast from the past. I saw that there are loads of different role-playing communities in SecondLife. One of the most unique ones is this one right here, where you step through a time portal back to what a small American town looked like 70 years ago. It’s really interesting seeing what things looked like back then and I very much appreciated all of the detail the designers paid attention to here. The only thing I was bummed about was I was not able to interact with these sweet bubble gum cigarettes. It’s pretty crazy how much the tobacco industry used to promote smoking to the little ones back in the day!
This was my favorite location that I visited so far! I got very excited when I saw that there was this virtual replica of the city of Venice, Italy. The reason for this being the fact that I am planning on going there in real life in September of this year. I’m super excited about it and it’s pretty much all I can think about. I can’t wait to see all of the architecture, experience the food, see their culture, and more. Everything I tried to play with in this location seemed to work and I was actually able to give myself a bit of a virtual tour to prepare myself for the real thing later this year!
