According to Lev Manovich (The Language of New Media) There's no
real understanding of virtual space, only a loose collection of
articles related to realism in rendering and/or behavior.
Having a more complete, purposeful understanding of our medium seems
like a necessity. The question is how to sift the useful from the
heaps of uselessness.
I'm pondering the following:
1) A Competition of Virtual Presentations.
In a Live Multiuser Web3D space...
The required subject - the Design of Virtual Space.
The required path - use the ideas discussed in the presentation to
deliver the presentation.
Basically then, if someone's ideas actually have merit - then they
ought to be able to use them in a real - live form. People who only
write papers would have to make the ideas happen. People who only
build - code, would have to reflect on their choices.
2) A 1,000 Competition Fee.
Its a good time to Put Up or Shut Up.
People could enter work for free, but pull out prior to the
competition.
Its about balancing the prize of winning, not having to fund it, and
placing a small hurdle in front of those who really don't know
what's what.
3) History
There's a ton of work out there and I've seen the wheel reinvented
thousands of times. It needs to stop. Picking up the bits and pieces
of the past seems worthwhile. Especially for a group as old as this
one, as so much of the innovative work here has been forgotten.
I think a History section, something to trace the ideas used by the
participants is of value. History, examples, theory would also be
needed in the presentation.
4) Other Areas?
The design of virtual space makes for a unifying topic, something
comparable between presentations. I suspect other worthwhile work
won't fit. Unsure how to frame that other work - or to even bother
for now.
While this is likely too late / odd for http://www.web3dw-conf.org/
I'm guessing that some other venue, group, organization, college etc
might find this proposal interesting - especially since it crosses
over into education. (a usable theory of virtual space is great, but
the presentation format should allow other sorts of education
lessons/experiences to be delivered)
Lately, I've been exploring SecondLife educational sessions. They
all poorly attempt powerpoint inside the world OR roleplay OR do a
guided tour. Every university tries the same big campus idea - its
ridiculous.
Lastly, my thinking here is a little self-serving.
I've built such a presentation and feel it's better, more useful/
coherent than anything I've ever seen elsewhere. The problem is
cutting through all the garbage and ignorance out there. So a "Put
up OR Shut up" competition felt like a good idea. Honestly, I'd be
happy to lose as we clearly need innovation in our understanding of
virtual space.
If you disagree - save the talk and enter something :)
So if there's interest on this list, just contact me. Places to shop
for support or thoughts on rules, judging criteria are welcome.
Since my teaching hours have been cut :( I've got time to do this.
regards
Steve
PS1 I don't always see messages on this list - If I don't reply (or
you really want me to see it) email me directly.
PS2 Calling out Sun, Linden Labs, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, David
Gelernter etc etc etc - sounds like fun to me)
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