Seoul Sungnyemun

This evening, while furkling among the islands to the West of Caledon, I got an Instant Message from an old acquaintance with whom I'd not spoken for many, many months: Noneget Barnes, head of Korean build company, Acid Crebiz. We had a bit of a chat about the apparently parlous state of Second Life in Korea, and the fact that Cyworld are now demonstrating a 3D element for their hugely popular social network. He then offered me a teleport to Seoul 2, part of a cluster of 4 Seoul sims where the company appears to be building a virtual chunk of the city.

Sitting at the intersection of these 4 sims is a virtual replica of the Sungnyemun (or Namdaemun) - the historic city gate situated in the heart of Seoul. This is particularly poignant as the original gate, a construction of stone surmounted by a delicate and complex wooden structure, was severely damaged by fire on 10th February, this year. It has a history dating back to the 1300's, though it has been through a number of traumas and reconstructions in that time. It was made Korea's "National Treasure Number 1" in 1962, and it is a sad loss - or at least, setback - for Seoul and Korea. According to wikipedia: "A 69-year-old man identified as Chae Jong-gi was arrested on suspicion of arson and then later confessed to the crime. A police captain reported that Chae sprayed paint thinner on the floor of the structure and then set fire to it. Police say that Chae was upset about not being paid in full for land he had sold to developers. The same man had been charged with setting a fire at Changgyeong Palace in Seoul in 2006."

I admire the execution of the build - which you will find bears an uncanny resemblance to the real building (pre-inferno). And I particularly admire this as a response to the fire. It demonstrates more than amply, how powerful Second Life can be as a visualisation tool, and how strongly it can work on and with the emotions. This is a dignified and rather wonderful construction, that serves as a sort of virtual placemarker and reminder, while the real building is reconstructed.

Here's a few snaps to give you the flavour, but it is best experienced first hand:

Samsung SDM

Well, it seems that hardly anyone noticed that this blog had gone into hibernate mode for a couple of weeks. In fact, despite appearances to the contrary, it still is. But you know how it is... once you get into the habit of writing this crap, it gets difficult to stop. So I thought I should keep my hand in, as it were, and push out a couple of posts about sims I've not seen covered elsewhere. This is usually a surefire way of provoking my chum, VeeJay, into pointing out how he'd covered these sims years ago on Mindblizzard - carrying the implication that I had not read and/or sufficiently digested the posts in question: actually a not-unreasonable assertion. However, I'm quietly confident that he hasn't covered this first sim: Samsung SDM.

SDM, in this case, refers to Samsung Design Membership. Note that if you plan on following the link to the website, you'd be best to use something other than Firefox, which seems to have trouble rendering the pages (at least, my copy did). Originally founded in 1993, SDM was an initiative to encourage design excellence in Korea, by discovering and nurturing new design talent. In 2006 the programme was expanded globally. It offers selected design student access to facilities almost equivalent to a design studio, and encourages them to work on their own projects and share their work with others. Offering them a space in Second Life seems a logical next step, providing both a creative medium and a common, shared locale, independent of geography.

The build is by Korean virtual world builders, Acid Crebiz, who have also developed a multi-sim presence for Samsung that is still closed to the general public. Indications on the island suggest that Samsung SDM has been open to members of the SDM group for quite some time. I don't believe it has been open to the public for that long - though I will doubtless be proved wrong on this! Parts of the sim are still closed to the public.

To be honest I am not too sure what to make of this place. It has some nice detailing in parts, but I don't get much sense of its purpose. Various displays provide some background on the SDM programme, and there is a blimp tour of the sim. But aside from a closed auditorium (pictured below), I don't get much sense of communal facilities, nor have I seen areas set aside for SDM students to develop visualisations. All in all, much as I normally like Acid Crebiz builds, I am at a loss to pin down the purpose of this sim. Perhaps you'd care to enlighten me?

Here's a few snaps to give you a flavour of the place:


The second post will follow shortly...

Virtual Healthcare and Hospitals

I dunno... you wait months for a virtual health service, then 2 come along at once. In the space of only a couple of days we witnessed press announcements from both IBM and Cisco/Millions of Us, launching healthcare-related sims in Second Life.

I will deal with the IBM one first - since I am clearly not ill enough to gain access to the site in question: IBM Healthcare Island. The island, which debuted at HIMMS'08 healthcare conference, is described in the press release as "a unique, three-dimensional representation of the challenges facing today’s healthcare industry and the role information technology will play in transforming global healthcare-delivery to meet patient needs." It is split into a number of locations, ranging from the patient's home, to clinics, laboratories, hospital and the ER. The main aim is to show the use of Personal Health Records (PHRs), the interactions with Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems and the development of an Electronic Health Record (EHR). I am slashing the description to the bone here - read the extensive press release for more.

Perhaps ironically, given the currently closed status of the island, Dan Pelino, General Manager, IBM Global Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry says: "The island allows each healthcare stakeholder to envision how the total system can be affected by intercession at each juncture of the healthcare delivery process.” As a 'patient' I'd like to think I count as a 'healthcare stakeholder'. Oh well, in the meantime I will continue to take aspirin and plenty of liquids, while giving some consideration to...

PalomarWest Hospital. Where IBM appear to be using the 3D world to walk us through medical processes and information flows, MOU are using it as a visualisation tool, modelling a hospital that is not due to open in the atomic world until 2011. They have developed the visualisation on behalf of Palomar Pomerado Health and Cisco Systems who, between them, are developing a "hospital of the future" in which state-of-the-art ICT networks and systems will help deliver premium levels of patient care. You can read the press release to glean the features they seek to demonstrate in the virtual world, including "telepresence", robotics and 3D imaging.

The sim itself looks very impressive - though I could not quite get a handle on the scale. Nor could I get a reliable fix on the level of detail. Arriving in the car park, you are presented with the medical centre in all its proposed finery. As this is about visualisation, it should not have surprised me to find that so much of the centre was effectively shut. In large areas I could admire the outside, but not wander around the inside. In fact, I found my route heavily constrained. I could get into the ground floor lobby, and after picking up a RFID tag I should have been able to access treatment facilities. However, it told me these were in use (though I seemed to be the only person on the sim) so I can't comment on these. I may try another time. Incidentally, I was a bit surprised to be told that I needed to have my gall bladder removed - I certainly did not have that in mind when I came to the sim!

There's a couple of movies that talk you through some of the concepts of the hospital, while also promoting the joys of Cisco wifi access. Maybe it was my inability to actually obtain treatment, but I saw none of the features listed in the press release. Perhaps they are still being worked on, since I did notice a basic cube prim on the stairs leading up from the lobby. Oh... it would be nice if the wheelchairs worked too. Overall I liked the sim, and can see that it is a big step ahead of 2D presentations when trying to imagine how the place will look and operate. However, I'm not sure that the press release bears much resemblance. I suppose I'd better go back and get that gall bladder whipped out.

Here's some views of the outside:


The lobby and the basic, cube prim:


A Cisco wifi access point - and and infomercial:


You can find out more about the proposed Palomar Medical Center West here.
You can download a .WMV format video for the virtual hospital here.

Oh...and finally - I couldn't help but notice, in checking through press releases, that Cisco has just established the rather wonderfully entitled Academy of Digital Signage. I dunno... it tickled me, anyway.

+++

UPDATE: I am given to understand that the IBM Healthcare island should be opening to the general public in a few weeks. So just wrap up warm and avoid chills until then.

Cementing Relationships in Denmark

In recent posts I have been toddling around a few Northern European commercial sims - and tonight is no exception. This time we are in Denmark, at the FLSmidth Cement sim, a company specialising in the provision of equipment, systems and services for the cement and minerals industries.

FLSmidth has been in existence for 125 years, and currently employs some 9,000 people (or is it 7,000? The website gives both figures). Perhaps to tie in with this anniversary - or perhaps to demonstrate their open and innovative mindset - they have employed Danish IT company, Intoint, to build this island in Second Life. Once again, I am rather late to the party, since this island was actually built in the Summer of 2007 - but better late than never, eh? Intoint describe this build thus:

FLSmidth wants to explore the possibilities in 3D virtual worlds - and Second Life is the obvious choice. The solution is placed on a dedicated Second Life island ("FLSmidth Cement"). On the island it is possible to see movies, pictures and explore an animated cement factory. Furthermore it is possible to get a ride in one of the ECO cars, sponsored by FLSmidth.

And this is indeed a decent summary. The main feature of the island is the animated cement factory, which seeks to demonstrate the key processes of such a beast to an ignoramus like me. I was impressed with the idea, and indeed much of the execution. However, it was not easy to make out where the actual raw materials were in the process. Lots of moving parts, but not much moving through it. The ECO car was fun to drive - which coming from me, is high praise indeed. I am dreadful when it comes to driving virtual cars - but this one seemed responsive, rather than skittish, and had the added benefit of easy-to-use gears. Aside from this there is a cargo ship and a (high altitude) meeting and presentation area, where an assortment of videos can be viewed.

If you feel so inclined, you can help yourself to a free T-shirt and hard hat. While I think the island is probably underutilised, and does not appear to be tied in with any wider marketing campaign, I still rather liked it. Oh... it will probably class as a ghost sim - but then, the population of Second Life is not likely to be falling over itself to visit a cement company. I hope, though, that the company is taking the opportunity to assess how virtual worlds may be useful to them in the future, building on (and taking lessons from) the work done here.

Al Deals With Dealey Plaza

On November 22nd, 1963, John F Kennedy was assassinated as his motorcade drove through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. With the anniversary looming it perhaps should come as no surprise to hear that a recreation of the Plaza has been constructed in the virtual world of Second Life. The work has been carried out by Avatar Promotions, a build company of indeterminate address, but located in the US. Apparently, according to this page of their website, this is NOT a model of the Plaza as it stood in 1963, but rather as it stood in August 2007. A historical version will be produced in due course.

Be that as it may, you can still observe the President's open topped limo as it drives through. In fact, if the mood takes you, you are free to sit in the limo - though aside from learning when the shots were fired, you will not be subjected to any unforeseen unpleasantness. You can visit the location in the book depository from which Lee Harvey Oswald apparently fired the fatal shots, although getting any kind of view out of the window will prove something of a challenge. Alternatively, you can position yourself on the infamous "grassy knoll" from which person or persons unknown may have carried out the assassination on behalf of any of about a dozen secretive, murky organisations. Here are some snaps - though don't expect "the full Zapruder."



The Grassy Knoll and the Book Depository:


The use of Second Life as a 3D visualisation tool has been noted before, and this sim is another example. I don't see it as a faithfully accurate reproduction, but more as an aid to understanding. The immersive 3D experience definitely delivers a "sense of place" that you simply cannot get when poring over maps and photographs. In this regard, it is an interesting idea.

Where I have a problem is the way in which Avatar Promotions are using the sim, which after all attempts to recapture one of the most traumatic days in American 20th Century history, as a vehicle for self-promotion and funding. For example, if you so wish, you could opt to rent office space here - an idea I find quite bizarre. Would I really want to be holding a meeting that is interrupted every minute or so by the sound of 3 shots ringing out from across the Plaza? Or as a visitor, would I find it entirely appropriate to find, say, a saucy clothing store occupying a prominent site on the Plaza?

I do understand that the builders need to get something back for their efforts - but I'm afraid it looked rather too crassly commercial to me. A few tweaks in the direction of a little more subtlety could have achieved as much, without seeming so brazen.

If you are interested - and again I find this in frankly dubious taste - you can apply to attend a special event, by invitation only, on November 22nd: "An enactment of the assassination."

Fancy a Danish? Virtual Copenhagen

This post was originally posted at 3pointd - but reprinted here with extra pictures.

2007 has seen a trend (dare I say “meme”? No, perhaps not) for real world cities to be replicated in the virtual world of Second Life. This trend has been particularly prevalent in Northern/Central Europe - with Germany and The Netherlands vying for the most virtual cities. Today, while passing by the World Trade Center Memorial again, I espied an island called »CPH«, and finding it open, went to have a look. It seems that the trend has moved North a tad, as this is virtual Copenhagen. But is it “wunderbar, wunderbar?”



There are many reasons why a city might want to establish a presence in Second Life. The context for Copenhagen’s build can be found in the related website, where you will find an English-language PDF file:

How can Copenhagen evolve into an international top rank knowledge city? A city, seething with innovation and enterprise. A city that is a magnet for students and knowledge workers worldwide. These are the questions we have worked on in the Think Tank for Internationalisation and Business Development. The Think Tank was set up by the City of Copenhagen in May 2006, under the initiative of Lord Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard. The result is nine concrete proposals spanning from a new hotel concept for researchers and knowledge workers to transforming Copenhagen into one huge exhibition of groundbreaking technology.

1. Copenhagen Campus is designed to attract international students and make Copenhagen a World-class university town.

2. The Welcome Shop is an international citizens service centre, where guest researchers, knowledge workers and students find everything they need to establish themselves in Copenhagen. Anything, from information about Copenhagen and Danish legislation to help with finding a job, accommodation and childcare.

3. A Knowledge Hotel is an accommodation service for international guest researchers and knowledge workers. It provides a place to live and a social network that will make you want to return to the city or settle down permanently.

4. The Potential Exchange is a place where people with unexploited potential come closer to the labour market. This could be a taxi driver with an engineering degree or a corner shop owner who is actually a trained doctor.

5. Smart Stars is a talent program for primary school pupils. The program will help pupils with poor odds and provide the talented ones with new challenges. The youngsters will learn that smart stars shine brighter.

6. Copenhagen has the potential to attract many more international firms. The Carlsberg district is one of the areas that have the largest potential. It could become an international power centre, housing the regional headquarters of large firms from Denmark and abroad.

7. Copenhagen’s urban spaces should be transformed into opportunity spaces, where there is room for creativity, diversity and enterprise. The key is collaboration between residents, those who use the city, developers, students and artists.

8. Copenhagen Solutions transforms Copenhagen’s urban spaces into a showroom of the best Danish technology and social solutions. An international magnet where one can see and experience the future.

9. Copenhagen Venture is an ambitious entrepreneur collaboration between the universities and the commercial sector. It aims at making Copenhagen a city seething with enterprise and new ideas.

These 9 concrete proposals are re-played here for the benefit of visitors, with many links to relevant pages of the website. The centrepiece of the island is Rådhuspladsen, or City Hall Square, and it is here that visitors first arrive. Teleports enable you to get to the various parts of the island where 3D visualisations of the 9 proposals can be found. The majority of the buildings on the island appear to be faithful reproductions of those to be found in the real city, including the City Hall (shown above). I know this can lead to endless debate about the merits or otherwise of trying to model real world buildings in Second Life. Personally, if there is a point and it is well done, then that is fine.

Here's the selection of teleports and a couple of the visualisations:


The quality of the texturing and rendering of these buildings is very good - but for the most part they do lack a certain something: access. Aside from a school room (representing “Smart Stars”) I could not find any traditional buildings that I could actually enter. They seem to exist purely to provide a 3D backdrop for the presentation of the 9 proposals. I don’t see the aim as being to build any form of online community, although that may be planned for later. However, the use of Second Life both as a creative visualisation medium and as a promotional platform is well executed and interesting to see.

Of course, the real challenge is not is Second Life, but whether Copenhagen can achieve its objectives in the real world.