27th
Sliding into Second
As the number of podcasts focused on Second Life increases (and stands poised to explode upon the release of the voice client), Wayne MacPhail’s ‘Who’s on Second’ remains one of my favourites. The show is an enlightening look at Second Life that goes beyond the typical media memes to highlight non-profits, educators, activists, and now me.
Episode 19 proved a marvelous opportunity to discuss some of the ideas that have been gestating here at Virtual Suburbia. The conversation covers a lot of ground, including the idea of spatial versus formal experience and whether we ‘feel’ space based on some sort of inherent physiological hardwiring or perceptual conditioning, through to how the notion of ‘presence’ extends across 3D and 2D media like email, IM, IRC, and Twitter, as well as how spatial apprehension and metaphors are brought to bear on one-to-many and many-to-many interactions. Upon first listen it would also appear I could stand to talk slower, say Um a few less times, and not come so dangerously close to contradicting myself. Good times.
One of the more challenging parts of the few interviews I’ve done is to narrow down a shortlist of admirable people and work to discuss. For that I would like to apologise in advance to anyone not specifically mentioned, and suggest our archives as a means of gaining a somewhat fuller sense of the scope and breadth of architectural talent in Second Life. (via Virtual Suburbia)
