Ludium II, Edward Castronova's synthetic worlds game/conference/congress just concluded. Bloomington of a summer's evening is a rare treat, a blend of warmth and humidity and the simple joys of summer, food and drink and excellent company, that create the kind of wonder and satisfaction that can somehow also be found in the right virtual world, for you, the one that rings like a bell, opening vistas you'd never dreamed to be able to explore. And I think all of us at the Ludium shared that sense of wonder and potential,
brought to our august deliberations, as de facto delegates to the first Synthetic Worlds Congress (my term, but as representatives of the various factions in the mythical realm of Kuuria, our role was to create a platform to promote synthetic worlds, from the prospectives of academia, industry, and the law). In other words, there were lawyers, professors, and practictioners all coming together to debate planks in a platform that would represent this new land of human experience: the synthetic world. We elected a speaker to represent us, Thomas Malaby, certainly an ideal choice to represent the perspective of virtual culture and the emergence of exciting and meaningful new social experience in these environments. He, in turn, selected a cabinet (including your humble reporter, and Corey Bridges, also from Multiverse, Dr. Richard Bartle, Mia Consalvo, and others) from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, so that all participants would be represented.
The event was a treat, discussing and debating many aspects of this new frontier with some very smart people, and working together to create the best, most representative platform, at which I think we really succeeded admirably (the full platform is here). I had a hand in shaping the framework, a goal of researching and promoting the positive aspects of virtual worlds, across the social, economic, and other vectors that they create. I think, amid the many reactions to synthetic worlds, it's important to be clear about the many positive and inspiring aspects.
And too, there was the general sense that it was probably time, in that world and this, for a global (in every sense) Synthetic Worlds Association of some kind, to coordinate information about synthetic worlds and promote the interests of we who live in them... Will such an organization come about as a result of the conference? It might well.
Sounds like an amazing conference. Its great to see virtual worlds advancing so quickly and in so many areas!
Posted by: Melanie Swan | July 02, 2007 at 04:45 PM
This summer has brought me some very exciting and enjoyable experiences in real and virtual worlds. Lately I've been exploring the contrast these two different worlds. Running into old friends for a summer evening at the beach and stumbling into an impromptu group solving a puzzle in Uru Live can both be fun and rewarding.
I give the real world the upper hand much of the time because of its added sensory inputs (touch, warmth, smell). But virtual worlds have their strength in the relative ease of gathering and the possibility for more surreal and larger-scale activities.
I wonder how the physical location in Bloomington influences the virtual locations discussed at the conference. How can each realm build upon--instead of detract from--the other?
Posted by: Deg | July 02, 2007 at 06:18 PM