Second Life and Other Virtual Worlds Get New Life Because of COVID-19

April 7, 2020 – If you never visited Second Life, a virtual alternate world, then you probably didn’t grow up with a desktop PC. This software program first appeared in 2003, the creation of San Francisco-based, Linden Lab. It was a virtual world where you could represent yourself in avatar form and interact with other avatar residents. You could buy, sell and build things. With much of its content user-generated, Second Life attempted to replace real-world events in the virtual space.

With COVID-19 causing most of us to stay in our homes, or shelter in place wherever that may be, online platforms such as Second Life can help us to find ways to convene and interact, replacing bricks and mortar with virtual stores, offices, museums, hospitals, and even schools.

In preparing to write this posting I revisited Second Life where I had once had an account, to get a sense of just how useful this type of virtual environment can be in helping us make vital connections for work, learning, and play in a period when we are socially distancing ourselves. Although Second Life remains an intriguing online environment it really needs a facelift if it is to engage current audiences. What was state-of-the-art in virtual presence online is no longer the case.

Enter AltspaceVR, a virtual meeting space that takes advantage of the emergence of gamer gear, virtual reality (VR) headsets such as Samsung GearVR, Oculus Rift, Go and Quest, HTC Vive, and Windows Mixed Reality. And if you don’t have a headset then there is 2D mode that you can download for Wndows-based PCs. Like SecondLife, AltspaceVR is free, and is being used for live streaming of lectures at places like Bellevue College, in the state of Washington, where spring classes beginning tomorrow will be offered exclusively online.

Before the outbreak of COVID-19 had taken hold in North America, AltspaceVR hosted a free Educators in VR Summit from February 17th to the 22nd that featured speakers talking about best practices in using VR and augmented reality (AR) for teaching, training, therapy, and research. Subject coverage including using VR in language learning, medicine, science, mathematics, coaching, personal development and more. Almost 6,000 attended over the six days soaking in more than 150 presentations and looking at 100 hours of online content. An environmental benefit of the Summit was that no one had to come to the AltspaceVR offices to participate saving some 24,271,248 kilometers (almost 15.2 million miles) in travel equivalent to removing 14,000 vehicles form the roads for that week.

The AltspaceVR site includes featured events that account holders can attend. Signing up is free.

VR Education Holdings Plc is the parent company of VR Immersive Education headquartered in Waterford, Eire. Its focus is making VR and AR staples for educators and trainers using the ENGAGE VR platform. With it you can schedule events, classes, meetings, and conferences connecting up to 50 remote users within the same virtual space, and hold sessions in multiple locations all at the same time. ENGAGE works with HTC Vive VR and other headset brands. The company recently participated with AltspaceVR at the Educators in VR Virtual Conference.

VirBELA is a San Diego-based company focused on redefining workspaces in the cloud using VR software and headsets. Designed to create a virtual business where employees can be located anywhere and commute via online to collaborate eliminating the need for bricks and mortar space, travel, and other expensive overheads.

A good example of just how effective VirBELA’s virtual environment can be occurred last year when the platform played host to a Peter Diamandis-led event held on the VirBELA Cloud Campus. Peter is best known for the XPrize Foundation, Singularity University, and an author of books like Abundance and Bold, and whose musings appear on this blog site from time to time, spoke to 135 in attendance logging in from seven different time zones. Beginning with introductions and his initial speech, the virtual meeting included breaking up attendees into small group sessions that operated simultaneously. Attendees then reconvened for a question and answer session covering topics such as the future of work, the convergence of artificial intelligence, VR, and 5G networks, and future XPrize initiatives.

Some final thoughts. It was my revisit to Second Life that got me looking at the current state of VR worlds. And my initial discovery of three represents the beginning of what I believe will become a dynamic area for new business opportunity. Why? Because we are only beginning to understand the advantages that VR provides for collaborative and individual learning. Initial studies show that VR technology improves learning comprehension. It is proving to be an environment that spawns new creativity and is redefining how we share knowledge.

Our education institutions and the business world are just beginning to unlock the potential of VR worlds. What I first experienced 17 years ago when I joined Second Life, was just an appetizer. The main course is still ahead.

Does this mean the end of bricks and mortar schools, businesses, and other institutions?

No.

But it does open a world of new possibilities to educators, trainers, entrepreneurs and other business leaders who can draw on global resources through the medium of VR.

That’s not only powerful, but it’s also revolutionary.

And in the face of the COVID-19 and the seeking of ways to combat it, researchers and scientists using technologies like those described above is compelling in the collective search for global answers to the pandemic.