Just Ask the Avatar in the Front Row

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Gaming & Virtual World Technologies

Just Ask the Avatar in the Front Row

5/1/2007

By Neal Starkman

He meets with his students in real life and then in Second Life, trying to determine whether Second Life is indeed a practical pedagogical delivery mechanism. He claims he’s been frustrated by technical problems and by a lack of enthusiasm on the part of his students, but he hasn’t given up on the virtual environment. “It has a great deal of potential,” he says; “it’s just not quite ready for prime time.”

There.com (Makena Technologies) may be a bit better prepared for prime time. Director of Product Management Betsy Book says the site, which boasts about 750,000 members worldwide, is “an immersive 3D environment, so it can take a little getting used to.” But of all the virtual worlds, Book claims, There is the most user-friendly, and even New York Law School holds classes within it.

Like Second Life, she points out, There isn’t a fantasy world; it has no set narrative structure. Unlike Second Life, however, There utilizes voice-enabling software, so that users can actually talk and listen to their fellow avatars. A onetime charge ($9.95) gives users access to the voice-chat technology. Membership is free, but costs are involved if users want to do things like buy homes, vehicles, or extra clothing for their avatars. And much of There is social: Members own and decorate their homes, participate in community events, and socialize with their online friends. But it’s not too social: There maintains a strict “no nudity/no violence/no cursing” policy.

Frank Whiting, dean of the University of There (the site’s learning component), says that peer pressure and consensus regulate behaviors: “If you start cursing, people will just put you on ‘ignore,’ and soon you’ll have no one to talk to.” There also uses a profanity filter to screen inappropriate language from text chat communications; the site enforces tough PG-13 content standards (penalties range up to immediate removal from the site and disabling of the offending user’s account). The University of There holds classes throughout the year (Plains Indian lore, theater arts, design, you-name-it). People sign up for the classes, and professionals volunteer to teach them, because “they ‘get’ the visionary nature of having educational projects in virtual space,” says Book. “Educators can reach people in different geographical areas, and it’s a great way to reach young people.”

JustThinkTink, a student avatar, agrees: “I find it very motivating because, once mastered, the virtual learning has both virtual and real-life applications.”

Whiting, a retired Air Force officer who now teaches computer science at Shasta College in northern California, and who has been involved in the gaming community for years, brims with enthusiasm for the site: “You can sit down in a room, face-to-face with people, and talk with them; see their mouths, faces, and bodies move.