Second Life: A Day in the Life of Mier Inglewood
Second Life, I can honestly say, is a brand new experience to me. While at first I was stand-offish to the idea of a virtual world assignment, I can say that after exploring there are quite a few more places I wouldn’t mind going to. From exploring the corridors of Hogwarts Castle to lounging on the beach in the Bahamas, SL has just about anywhere you would ever want to go, all within the comfort of your own home. Save hundreds or thousands of dollars on vacations with just a click of your mouse.
In SL you can communicate to people just as you can with an instant messenger, only this time, you get to look at a virtual face, or place. People are freer to communicate with you when they do not have to be their self, leaving plenty of new opportunities to make new friends. If you find someone you no longer wish to talk to, it is nice that you are able to mute, or “put a shadow” over them so you no longer have to look at them, nor hear them. Trust me, there are quite a lot of creepers out there, and this ability can come in handy. If only this ability could be done in real life. =]
If you wish to travel faster around an island, why walk when you can fly? In SL your wildest dreams can come true as you soar over buildings and explore all the new sites. Flying is a quick and fun way to get around. Besides, how many people do you know can fly? If you get bored of one island, why not teleport somewhere more interesting? Even though you can fly or teleport… you can still walk around like a normal person… if you want.
As I traveled around SL I was searching for signs that I felt could be changed or adapted to make things easier for other users. These are some of the examples of signs that I found:
I found the Violence Free Zone sign to be a little bit drab. There are quite a few ways that this sign could be simplified rather than read. For example, Perhaps a scene of some people fighting and being punished some how could remind people to not be violent or fear the consequences… in a way.
This sign says “The Galleries of Second Life”. I feel as if the words are far far far too small, and the imagry doesn’t quite say… GALLERY.
The sign itself, “PLANETARIAN” seems almost unneccessary as a sign. Perhaps with a little bit more of a dramatic imagry of the planets could be a bigger sign that it is a thing about planets. The words seem too much and overkill.
I was surprised to find that there is no real sign that told me that these were teacher’s offices in SL. It also would have been really nice if there was a way to define who’s area was whose. Perhaps like a name above the office box. A sign would be nice.
Telehub. These are foudn in various places around SL, so perhaps a symbol would be easier to show than the words. Since this is somthing used on various islands, a universal sign would be nice.
Signs come in many shapes and sizes. In this image there is a small sign that says “reset”. This seemed out of place and too boring. This sign could be a lot easier than just the words… it’s just a matter of how to do so.
This is the BGSU sandbox… which I think the signs should be a wee bit more sandy. Perhaps the use of a cliche pail and bucket?
It’s a ticket booth, it’s just not what I would imagine as a ticket booth. I always imagine a giant red ticket… or even a blue one.
Laying in the Bahamas, tanning. The sign for sunbathing was rather boring, and almost nonexistant, and I think that it would be rather cute to have a way of telling people that they can sunbathe there.