Virtual Worlds Forum

We're all waiting eagerly for the debut of Sony's Home beta virtual world for PlayStation 3, but the company's at work on something equally interesting called Dress, which is billed as 'interactive fashion software'. Developed in Japan, it lets users create original fashion designs, see how they look on avatar models, and then (eventually) upload them to a community via the PlayStation Network.

Virtual worlds firm Metaversum has created a city called Bitropolis within its Twinity virtual world, to promote this year's Bitfilm festival. The event showcases the latest digital films and animations, but it's the first time it's had a presence in a virtual world too.

The US-based Tech Museum of Innovation has opened a new The Tech Virtual Test Zone to showcase interactive exhibits originally created in Second Life. It'll show exhibits around specific themes, with the first being 'Art, Film & Music', which at least has a fairly broad scope (and is also the theme of a permanent gallery due to open in 2010 at the museum).

The Haydn Shaughnessy Gallery is launching its second art show within its Ten Cubed gallery in Second Life next week. Due to open at 1pm EST on 24th April, it'll feature four New York-based artists: Jimmie James, Susan Kaprov, EJ Carr and Jon Coffelt.

Imagine a robot version of Mitt Romney. Well, that's assuming Mitt himself isn't a robot, which is open to debate. But students at the University of Arkansas have been casting their minds forward to 2048, and the prospect of an all-android US presidential election. How? By creating their own android candidates - 'andidates' - in Second Life.

Last year, three Australian artists were awarded a $20,000 grant from the Australia Council to produce an artwork for virtual world Second Life. Well, it's live, and it's called Babelswarm - an interactive sculpture based on the Tower of Babel - complete with a companion exhibition in the real world at the Lismore Regional Gallery.

Writing this blog certainly spurs some interesting conversations with friends, many of whom aren't really clued-in to what's going on in virtual worlds, bar the odd snatch of information gleaned through the media. I thought it was work gathering a few of the (genuine) comments I've had from friends. The fact that they're all questions - and pretty amusing ones - tells you something about mainstream awareness of these worlds...

1. "What's wrong with your first life?"
2. "Wow, what level are you?"
3. "Don't you have to wear one of those Lawnmower Man suits?"
4. "It's all men pretending to be women, right?"
5. "Have you had cybersex yet?"
6. "A what?"
7. "Oh, I saw that on the news. Isn't it full of paedophiles pretending to be children?"
8. "Is that on your Xbox?
9. "Does your avatar look like you? Is it more attractive?"
10. "Is it full of freaks?"

Just to remind you that it's good to laugh at yourself (well, your industry), check this clip that's doing the rounds - of an item about virtual worlds on The Daily Show in the US. We're liking the virtual correspondent 'Beowolf Porpoiseburg'...

There's much excitement around the new big-screen documentary 'Second Skin', which focuses on the player culture around World of Warcraft. Check the trailer above for a taster, although not everyone's impressed judging by this review, which says "Second Skin pumps out a lot of on-screen facts, offers plenty of sincere testimony from gamers, talks to various experts, gives lip service to the idea that gamers come from all walks of life -- and then proceeds to reinforce many of the worst stereotypes about gamers." Ouch.

New research from Nottingham Trent University claims that 68% of women who play online games choose male characters, while more than half of men adopt a female avatar. The findings come from a study of more than 100 players of MMOs like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy.

US firm Advanced Content Services has issued a mysterious announcement alluding to its plans to develop and launch an "interactive online talent competition" involving Second Life.

Here's one for any map-lovers among our readers: the new Rumsey Maps islands in Second Life offer a treasure-trove of historical maps, drawn from the private collection of David Rumsey. And the way they've been transferred to the virtual world is innovative.

Virtual branding agency Depo Consulting is launching an art gallery in Second Life. It's called Ten Cubed, and has been developed in partnership with Irish art firm Galleryica, while architect Bennet Dunkley is responsible for its design. Ten Cubed launches officially on 31 January, with an exhibition featuring artists Chris Ashley, Scott Kildall and Nathaniel Stern.

Actually, using the term 'widows' in the context of interactive entertainment addiction is pretty sexist, implying that men get addicted to games, and women sit downstairs in the living room pining for their husband. I'm sure it can work just as well in reverse. Nevertheless, the phenomenon is well-known, perhaps most famously with football management simulation Championship Manager, which has been cited in several divorces as a contributing factor. However, now it seems virtual worlds and MMOs are under the spotlight as a cause of marital strife.

Georgetown University student Donald Jones has been investigating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender / transsexual (LGBT) culture within Second Life, according to a piece on GayWired. The result is a thesis called 'Queered Virtuality: The Claiming and Making of Queer Spaces and Bodies in the User-Constructed Synthetic World of Second Life'. It combines Jones' own analysis of LGBT areas within the world, with a survey of more than 350 users, and one-on-one interviews with 20.