Seminar roundup: A First Look at Second Life

On 28 August 2009, Mr John Yap gave us a talk on Second Life and showed us how NUS Second Life works.
Second Life is a virtual world which is developed by Linden Lab. In this virtual world, users can interact with each other through avatars. It is a virtual platform for users to socialize and participate in group activities. Users also can create and trade virtual property and services, travel to many parts of the world within seconds and many more. Second Life is restricted to users aged 18. However, there is also the Teen Second Life for teenagers between 13 and 17 years old.
Second Life requires the use of avatars. Avatar is a character that the user chooses to represent himself/herself on the Second Life. As the name Second Life suggests, this virtual platform allows users to have another life (which is virtual) beside the usual, normal daily life. Users can choose any appearance to represent themselves according to their wishes.
Furthermore, users can socialize and make new friends, just like our real life. It is as though users can live on a new life at Second Life. More often than not, users tend to live a completely different life from real life. Thus, users can get to experience a lifestyle that they wanted although it is impossible in real life.
NUS Second Life is another version of Second Life that is specially created to cater to the needs of NUS students. It is a platform where students from NUS can chat with their peers, tour around the NUS campus (such as University Hall), have online discussions for projects, etc.
Other than socializing, students may also require to attend lessons at Second Life if their teachers require them to do so. This will in turn increase the interactivity of lessons.

Written by Geck Keat and Li Hua.