Twinity could connect to #likeminds clubs in New York and London

#likeminds this week so I am checking out more about them. They now have access to a base in London and New York through Club Quarters. I am still thinking about links between Twinity and real places. Not sure what the learning theory is but it makes sense to have a virtual world for people not at an actual event.

Twinity has not reached Exeter and are not expected any time soon. But dwellings do not have to be placed in the selected city.

40 West 45th Street
(Between Fifth and 
Sixth Avenues)
New York, NY 10036

8 Northumberland Avenue
(adjacent to Trafalgar 
Square)

Queen Street Exeter

By the way, some of 8 Northumberland Avenue is still for sale in Twinity so it could be designed for meetings.

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The Riddle of the Book in Exeter - #ROBE #likeminds

Coming soon is another #likeminds in Exeter.

There will be a session on publishing

scroll down to

Panel: Is Every Company a Media Company?

meanwhile it has been announced that Exeter University proposes not to have a bookshop when the central campus is opened after a rebuild. See previous post

It might be very advanced not to have a bookshop. What will happen to Waterstones or WHSmith? Exeter now relies on UK chains, there is no independent bookshop. There are a lot of shops for phones and other mobile devices. There may be a research question in this

Q If you spend £275m to demolish a bookshop, what else do you get?
or
Q If you don't need a bookshop, why do you need a library?

Meanwhile the agenda is published for free seminars at Online Informationat the end of November

Social Media Marketing

ePublishing Solutions

Exeter can start the conversation early.

Starting a Twinity script to revisit Lancaster campus from previously

This is a test of how Twinity might be used  to host a conversation about previous conferences in Lancaster. I have found that virtual worlds were of interest a few years ago and then seemed to stall a bit. However bandwidth is less of a problem than it was so they may come back for a wider audience.

Twinity is a 3D model of actual cities, starting with Berlin. You can have living spaces in other places but they don't link to street models. I got round this with two sets of avatars, one based on Lancaster campus and one in central Exeter. Some of them created living spaces and they have survived. One or two did not and have been deleted by the system. However I find they can be recreated though they look slightly different.

My interest started with the Management Theory at Work conferences about a decade ago. The possibilities of connecting technology and the idea of learning organisations seemed to get lost in critique. When InfoLab 21 arrived there was a clear vision but still some suspense about how such ideas would be implemented. 

Linda Shelton started working in the George Fox building and has also started a flat above Lubins in Morecambe where she now spends most of her time. She has photos from the Lancaster campus from cafes at InfoLab 21, what was IAS, and a tree near Management. So there can be a conversation in her space.

Web Kirby has been revived. He is still based at InfoLab 21 but has now also started a wifi cafe in Salford. (Twinity only knows about Salford PA) He has heard about the media opportunities in Salford and hopes to get more interest in wifi ideas. There is not much kit at the moment. He has great faith in science and technology, thinking that technology spreads over decades whatever people in organisations think about it.

The next phase will be some sort of meeting. I can now do dialogue bubbles but not log on two avatars at a time. 

So please log on to Twinity and check out Lubins in Morecambe and  Salford Key Wifi Cafe. Send a photo with a speech bubble or an email with script or comment.   

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Virtual Reality, Towards Maturity, web science in Exeter

I just heard a webcast about online learning from Towards Maturity. the report is at

sponsored by Redtray

From the sample of response to recent questions, likely to be people interested in online learning it appears that virtual worlds have stopped gaining new interest.

Whilst adoption rates for virtual classroom and virtual meetings and conferences follow a predictable curve, it seems that virtual world-style serious gaming environments are off the agenda for four out of every five learning professionals delivering training into workplace today. When asked about the live online learning systems they use to deliver business training or plan to use, , less than 9% of the Learning and Development leaders taking part in the study said that virtual world-style immersive or avatar-driven training resources were likely to be part of their company’s learning mix anytime soon.

My impression is that this is so for a wider audience as well. The website for Exeter science links to the Phoenix but the Second Life tests were a while ago

Performing Presence closed in 2009, I thjink, based on the links

From the chat and the report current concerns include security, firewalls, and bandwidth.

But bandwidth is getting better. Virtual worlds may be getting more possible at home. 

I am interested in Twinity, currently limited to a few cities not including Exeter. My avatars when in Exeter cluster in the city centre as I like consumer electronics. Web science need not rely on the larger kit found on industrial estates clustered round the city edge.

What is happening more recdently?

Is there a skills base in using cameras. I have seen some good work on YouTube but can't get started to any fluidity.

Network Learning and the Adobe Creative Cloud

http://www.networkedlearningconference.org.uk/

The Network Learning Conference happens every couple of years. Last year I found it hard to place graphics on the discussion board and there was no video till almost the end with an external link to the closing keynotes. 

Ahead of the 2012 conference there will be online "hot seats" starting later this month. This is through a Ning site. Also there is a Facebook page and Twitter feed. Facebook is mostly the Twitter feed at this time. Maybe there could be video through Facebook over time.

Meanwhile Adobe announce the "creative cloud" for most of their applications. Flash and HTML5 will allow a rich mix of sound and motion graphics including TV. There is not much here about text or journals.

So will academic publishing tend towards the new Adobe vision? A lot could happen before April 2012 but the only safe predictions are that BETT and Learning Technologies will be in January at Olympia, London.

Obviously on balance there is still a role for classic Postscript and PDF. Not that Acrobat is highlighted in the new press releases. Adobe could pay more attention to the boring old products that just carry on with a reliable cash flow. Corporate types may eventually notice that upgrading desktop software is quite expensive while creatives have fun in the cloud at prices chosen for a growing market.. 

Flash on TV is the 3D future, YouTube classic ok right now #EX1to4

Adobe MAX has started. Kevin Lynch looks forward to HTML5 but meanwhile Flash and AIR are moving onto Television.

I have tried a Tivo box as available in the UK from Virgin Media and a Smart TV from Samsung so look forward to 3D but meanwhile YouTube search is the basic app that works ok.

I think local video just needs a search tag. Suggest #EX1to4 for Exeter area.

Consumer Electronics Show is next year but started also at Adobe MAX.

Recce for Apps World in Twinity

I am exploring Apps World as it coincides with Online Information at Olympia this year. That will be a real time blog occasion. But meanwhile Twinity is interesting as a way to experience places in other ways. These photos show that Twinity Berlin has reached far enough out to cover Soundcloud, I think. Spaces still approx. 

But New York still too much in the middle. No Javits Centre yet.

Singapore works out better.  1 Raffles Boulevard has several apartments still for sale, it is not a model of Suntec but it also has a display area for APEC 2009. So this space is public and could be visited for other events.

Maybe more possibilites will turn up on Twinity before the end of November.

Soundcloud is still gaining interest in Exeter following the Analogue to Digital event. There was nobody actually here though I don't think so maybe a Twinity aspect could contribute next time.