Socio-economic interactions in the different landscapes of Second Life

Description

In order to study the variety of behaviors and interactions between avatars (3D representation of a person in SL), I have chosen a set of environments in Second Life, to see how people (through their avatars) experience and make use of the different urban landscapes created or recreated.   These are the environments:

 

1. Retail stores and exhibition areas (shopping center or commercial street)

2. Non real (based on fantasy) public spaces like the Luskwood community.

3. Parks and open spaces (including the design process of them in SL-Queens case)

4. Dublin as an example of City Replication 

 

As these places are designed and created by the users, I intend to show based on my observations, what are the similarities and differences between real urban landscapes and the ones created in second life.

Through a classification of the different environments, I have been able to explore how the urban fabric constraints or not the behavior of an avatar. Wandering in these replicated cities, where there are streets, sidewalks, parks, buildings, shopping centers, educational institutions and all the components of a real city, made me question why do real people want to copy this urban models in Second Life, instead of taking advantage of Second Life’s infinite possibilities.

In Second life, you don’t need streets simply because you don’t need cars to transport.   One can choose between walking, flying or teleporting. There are some avatars of course that design cars, but they are not useful in SL.  There is no real sense of urban planning or understanding of ‘where places are in relation to others’.  People can simply teleport from one place to another by just a click.
  “The ability to teleport in and out of locations together with your ability to fly greatly defines the urban organization of Second Life: It’s messy.  Roads exist merely as decoration, a reference to the real world, and no one uses them.”

Second Life is a new medium to experience public space, but it doesn’t have to replace real public space, in the same way that the Internet hasn’t replaced the television or the radio.  All of them contribute together to the urban life.

 Methodology:

 I will develop a series of drawings to show a sequence of the events and interactions experienced by me through my avatar (Mona Mosely).   I will focus on behavior of the different avatars in the different environments that I have selected.  I will classify these urban landscapes and mention some similarities and differences between real life public spaces and second life virtual spaces.  This will be presented as a storytelling sequence of images and texts, showing my perceptions of the interactions between avatars in this particular set of environments.