Guest Speakers & Metaverse/Second Life Articles

I thought both the two guest speakers this week were really interesting and brought about cool ideas that we hadn't really seen/considered yet in class. The GUIs that Mr. Lombardi discussed was interesting because I didn't really know much about it or really consider it. The Colbalt/Croquet 3-D Internet project that Mr. Lombardi showed us was cool, but perhaps a little impractical for the future. It's cool though that not only because it would be able to connect users all over with more up-to-date information and just more efficient overall, plus it makes it more personal - at the same time though, people might not like this because it gets more invasive of their privacy and exposes their identity, and it also creates a lot more extra information to be sorted through. People might also feel they can be just as personal with webcams, audio programs, etc. But then again people also like being more involved and being able to re-create themselves online as an avatar in another "world," etc. is appealing. I also think however, that avatars are used more for people who have a lot of time and like the more video-game aspect of spaces like Second Life, and therefore like the fact that things are in 3-D and seem more "real" then just normal internet surfing of websites and games. I think it's also a cool idea, yet again a little unpromising for the future, that companies are starting to make virtual worlds for their companies, because in a way it's just like advertising but in a more interactive, personal way, which appeals to people - especially those with a lot of time surfing around. Mr. Seaman's lecture was also interesting because it showed another different side to virtual spaces but in terms or art/literature, and how these are combining. The combonotoric systems and recombinant poetics and the way that's changing the way we interact with art and was cool and something we hadn't really seen yet so I thought that was interesting as another aspect to how we are getting more interactive with technology.