Simulations and Second Life

[Dan Lumley]

Hello everyone!

I am currently looking at the possibilities for simulations in SL and thought I might turn to this message board for some discussion on the subject and possibly recruit somebody who is interested in planning and delivering one.
I will kick off the discussion with the following questions:

- Has anybody actually ran a simulation on SL? If so, what did you do? Do you have any interesting reflections on the experience?
- What is your reaction to the idea of running a simulation? What possibilities can you see? How would you run a simulation in SL?

For me I think there is a massive scope for simulation in SL, arguably moreso than the traditional classroom due to the massive variety of environments on offer inworld. Take the ancient Rome themed island for example, where people can go wandering round a replica Roman town in their authentic Roman togas. Perhaps this isn't as "real" as a traditional paper based business simulation, but I do think an environment like this is ripe for some kind of simulation.
We don't have to go as fantastical as ancient Rome though. We could use any of the real world replica's in SL as the setting for any number of simulations.
My experience in running simulations is rather limited and literature on the subject is easily accessable, but not of the highest quality. Much of it seems to be based more around definition (simulation, game and role play being three interchangeable terms, depending on what you read) than on actually discussing the methodology behind running a successful simulation. I hope the collective knowledge of this group can help me get things a little clearer in my mind and hopefully get some simulations running in SL.

[KipYellowjacket]

As SL itself is basically a simulator, seems the possibilities for "simulation" are extensive. I'd be interested in discussing this some more though - am curious what you would define as a "simulation". Seems one could categorize in-world "simulated experience" into at least two categories: "naturally occurring" and "strategically planned"? Strategically planned simulation referring to simulations with an aim or set of goals, i.e. learning task simulations.

[Włodzimierz Sobkowiak]

>As SL itself is basically a simulator, seems the possibilities for "simulation" are extensive.

This is exactly why I've always been somewhat uneasy about the status/desirability/usefulness of holodecks. It seems the only real advantage is that they are easy to rez out of your inventory, when and where you want them. But I fail to see how they provide the *real* added value on top of what one already has as default in SL... If we want an nice greengrocery place, for example, to play out some communicative scenarios with our students, then surely there's no shortage of such on the grid? Many will be much more detailed and better quality/functionality than the holo we've got.

Enhancing the holodeck with one's own material could be this added value, like adding huds or notecards, or activities, or sound files, etc. But then, some holodecks will not let you do that unless you're willing to spend crazy amounts of lindens on some customized versions, right? Additionally, the whole task stops being the relatively easy one of rezzing a ready-made holo out of your pocket. You need building/scripting skills to enhance a holodeck with your own stuff, you need lindens to upload your stuff from RL or to buy in-world. A major undertaking, which undermines the supposed ease and availability of holodeck simulation (somewhat).

I'm not certain if this addresses your specific question and concern, Kip, but here it is, my 2p worth :-)

[KipYellowjacket]

@Wlodek

Am not sure we are discussing the same thing as Dan, but regarding holodecks, just a few points:

I have started drawing a distinction between the "conventional SL holodeck" and a "SIM-based holodeck". You'll find some screenshots + text on this on the NIFLAR website: http://niflar.ning.com/photo

A SIM is in actuality a holodeck or at least holodeck-like. An approach which I've yet to see used in SL but plan to use on OpenSIM is to save and load "SIM instances". This means that any particular state of the SIM can be saved, loaded, etc.

Let's use a quest as an example...

If I wanted to carry out a quest with students I could create and save as many "SIM instances" as required for the quest. A quest might then hypothetically look like this:

Load SIM Save 1: Students find themselves surrounded by a SIM-wide forest. Upon completing this part of the quest, the next SIM save could be loaded.

Load SIM Save 2: Students now find themselves in the same forest but parts of it are on fire.

...and so on

The difference between SIM saves can be radical or minor, i.e. adding a book to a table.

This is a bit technical and would probably be easier to explain via voice. Hope you get what I'm describing here. If not, I'd be happy to elaborate.

[KipYellowjacket]

Here's the direct link to the photo album called "OpenSIM". You'll find more info ab the above there.
http://niflar.ning.com/photo/albums/opensim-1

PS Also regarding "conventional holodecks" (Horizons, etc.), it seems to me that their potential has hardly been tapped into. In my mind, this is largely due to the fact that few people actually build their own holodeck scenes. I especially like the idea of having objects rezzed SIM-wide for the sake of learning activities: quests, roleplay, exploration, etc. In other words, a holodeck doesn't have to be created as a "scene in a box". Objects can be placed SIM-wide and rezzed whenever needed. This is already possible on the VS SIM (using Horizons Builder Holodeck) and is unfortunately not being made use of, likely due to the fact that people are unaware it's possible and/or presently lack the skills to create their own scenes. Imagine having the ability to rez certain objects in your launchroom or anywhere on the SIM via a Horizons HUD, and then being able to derez and load different objects at will. This is also already possible...untapped potential for language facilitators, in my opinion. :)

[KipYellowjacket]

All that said, I can appreciate scepticism regarding the benefits of "holodeck technology". I also used to be quite critical of it - back in the days of the English Village. And regarding the cost of purchasing new scenes, yes, this is a problem. However, I think language facilitators/educators will see the advantages of creating their own scenes once they start doing so. Customization of the holodeck experience is certainly needed in order to be conducive to specific in-world learning tasks, but such customization does not necessarily have to involve complex scripts and/or builds. Readily available scripts which may be of use (often free or relatively inexpensive) and objects which are mod/copy are typically already in the inventory or readily available.

So, just let me know when you or anyone else would like to start building your own scenes. :)) Hmm, perhaps a workshop is needed for this... Shall I schedule one?

[Włodzimierz Sobkowiak]

>perhaps a workshop is needed for this... Shall I schedule one?

Lots of very interesting info in your recent blogs here, Kip.
Right, I'm probably a bit narrow-sighted wrt holodecks.
But ready to learn some more...
Yes, I believe a workshop could go a long way here.

BTW: have you been contacted by any TLVW10 EVO2010 mods about demos/workshops in the six weeks starting Jan 11th? Why not have a holo workshop and invite the TLVW10 trainees, say in week four or five when they'll be doing LT stuff at a higher level in-world?