Virtual Ability Wins Linden Prize

Virtual Ability reaches into the real world.  Well, I guess a prize of $10,000 in real USD is real world.  But I was really referring to real disabilities and how Virtual Ability is reaching out of the virtual world of Second Life to help people replace some lost abilities with virtual abilities.

The Linden Prize is awarded “for an innovative inworld project that improves the way people work, learn and communicate in their daily lives outside of the virtual world.”    Virtual Ability “helps people with real-world disabilities get acclimated and start using Second Life.”

Gentle Heron, the leader of Virtual Ability, says, “We wanted the island to serve as an example of what building for people with disabilities can look like.” 

Virtual Ability Island

For the newcomer, the most important part of Virtual Ability Island is the entry path.  The island is a Linden gateway, meaning that new people who are registering for Second Life are offered the option of initially entering Second Life at the entry path set up on this island.  The Virtual Ability gateway is explicitly identified as a gateway for people with disabilities.   It is open to anyone, however:

"We provide a community of support for people with disabilities or chronic illnesses, their families, and caregivers.  Our training is open to anyone, and ideal if you learn best by self-paced detailed instruction."

I recommend this gateway to people who are technologically challenged, even though that has not yet been recognized as a disability.   On my SL Entry page, How to get into Second Life without really trying, I have been listing Virtual Ability Island as a recommended entry path ever since it opened.

Arriving.  The newcomer reaches the island at the head of the entry path.  The landing point is designed to remind people of the arrows on a computer keyboard.  That is the first bit of instruction.  The easiest way to walk around in SL is to tap those keys.   Having figured out how to walk around, the newcomer next sees a walkway with signs.   The obvious invitation is to walk along the path and read the signs. 

The instructional design is less obvious, but follows a standard principle:  Give people instruction, then cause them to practice it.  Also not obvious is the careful attention to the design of the signs.  The appearance is chosen for easy reading.  And the signs slope backward just a bit to make them more readable from the SL default camera view (above and behind the avatar).   So people can read them without needing to learn how to use camera controls. 

Fly.  Gentle Heron notes that a serious problem when newcomers first fly is that they fly too far and get lost.    (This problem is not restricted to people with disabilities.  It also affects the technologically challenged.)    The solution at Virtual Ability Island is a birdcage, much like one you might find in a zoo. (That would be a “real life” zoo.  Does a zoo count as “real life?”)  

 The unobtrusive cage, ostensibly to confine the birds, functions to keep avatars from flying too far. The cage floor  is elevated in the middle.  The avatar must fly over the elevation and land on the far side.  (Another principle of instructional design: intrinsic self-testing.)    

Help.  The Island has mentors with special training to work with people with disabilities.  

Virtual ability Island also offers advanced training in topics such as social skills, photography, profile writing, preferences, clothing, money and economy, groups and society, and more. These topics are designed to be done in any order, user’s choice. 

Virtual Ability connects with many other projects in SL and RL.  The nursing program at a major university brought their online freshman class into SL via the Virtual Ability Gateway.  Virtual Ability provided intake training for 31 new nursing students and is now providing ongoing support as the nurses become used to functioning in SL for some of their class work.  Virtual Ability had more than a dozen student interns in Spring 2009, In fields such as librarianship, social work, education, and computer science.

You can read some short biographical sketches from some of the Virtual Ability members.

CALL FOR POETRY TO COMMEMORATE VE DAY

At The Learning Experience WAR MEMORIAL WALL

A poetry contest in remembrance of World War Two VE Day is being sponsored by The Learning Experience as part of its VE Day Dance and Commemoration on May 9 at the TLE War Memorial Wall in Second Life.

Poets are invited to submit poems of up to 40 lines on a topic related to World War II:  the war itself, the end of war, victory, rationing and sacrifice on the home front, the Holocaust and so on.  In alignment with the purpose of the TLE War Memorial Wall itself, poetry is welcome from the point of view of any nation or "side" of that war.  Detailed instructions are available at this location.

DUE DATE:   Poems must be submitted no later than 12:01 a.m. SLT on Friday, May 8, via a notecard at this location:

Additionally, The Learning Experience Publishing House will produce a book in Second Life, as part of its huge library, with all the poems submitted. If you do not wish your poem published in this book you MUST note this on the notecard.

The Learning Experience mission: to operate a virtual education center where knowledge and education are free.  Creative expression is encouraged and highlighted.  Read more here.

SLollapalooza, a 13-hour live music festival (Saturday, May 2)

Harper Messmer produced (May 2) SLollapalooza, a live music festival inspired by the real-lifeLollapalooza.  SLollapalooza is like Lollapalooza in that it was geared toward live music fans.  It featured playlists and requests, a growing trend in Second Life. In recognition of this trend, I made a free (full perm) playlist giver, available in the Hobo Starter Kit at Cookie Visitors Welcome Center

Place: Heaven, HVN Slice Of Heaven

The place filled up in the evening.  Went to 75 people, the limit.  Then they raised the limit and the crowd went to 85. Then the sim crashed or had to be restarted.  I think it counts as a big success when you crash a sim.

Artists: Digby Smalls featuring Mimi Carpenter,  Vladamir Lamont,  Zen Revnik, EvaMoon Ember. Dougie Moonites, Damian Carbenell, Satin Galli, Jessy Sommer, Maximillion Kleene, Harper Messmer, Amforte Clarity, PhoebeAnn Theas. Jamba Losangeles.