Addiction, research, health in a virtual world
Health researchers working in Second Life will know of Maged Kamel Boulos’ site: Web 2.0 and the 3D Web (Virtual Worlds and Second Life®).
It’s not the prettiest site on the planet but it’s an absolute treasure trove of links to areas in Second Life with a health and education focus. There’s also plenty of traditional online links and discussion points.
An Italian virtual worlds developer, ISN, has announced the roll-out of the Oasis Foundation Virtual World Project. Funded by a non-profit organisation in Italy devoted to assisting the elderly and disabled, the project aims to: 1. Act as communication and collaboration environment to inform, communicate and interact with the public in an innovative way. 2. [...]
For many, the Christmas / New Year period is a time when there’s more regular social contact with people. It’s certainly been the case for me and it’s emphasised a well known virtual world conundrum – personal boundaries. Over the past month I’ve had the occasion to discuss virtual worlds with a handful of people [...]
Virtual Ability island continue their regular health-related events. This time, smoking cessation is the focus: Moving toward wellness: Smoking Cessation Tuesday, September 9 8:00 a.m. & 4:00 p.m. SLT Virtual Ability Island This workshop is funded by a grant from the National Library of Medicine, and supported by the Alliance Library System. Nearly 8 years [...]
Thanks to New World Notes, I’ve found out about a great resource for those interested in science and virtual environments. This list has a solid cohort of health-related sites – some I’ve covered previously and some others I’m now keen to investigate further. Obviously Second Life isn’t the only environment where interesting science is going [...]
The usually tabloid Second Life Herald have an interesting but short interview with a Dutch hypnotherapist who conducts therapy in Second Life. Of course, there’s nothing new about therapy in Second Life – our sister site The Metaverse Journal interviewed two counsellors back in March 2007 – you can read that interview here. If you [...]
If you’ve got an interest in writing on serious games, this may be your thing: CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS Proposal Submission Deadline: September 5, 2008 Serious Game Design and Development: Technologies for Training and Learning A book edited by Dr. Janis Cannon-Bowers & Dr. Clint Bowers University of Central Florida Purpose and Goals of the [...]
The ever-growing number of health-related projects occurring in virtual worlds continues to seep through to the academic literature. On the 18th December, the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health published an article titled Web 3D for Public, Environmental and Occupational Health: Early Examples from Second Life. The abstract: Over the past three years [...]
I noticed this interesting news article at the Thanh Nien Daily. Essentially, it’s an intensive course running on weekends for two months. On the face of it it seems a useful option for those with issues impacting their lives detrimentally. Looking a little closer though, and the alarm bells start ringing. Take this for example: [...]
Over the past few weeks, there’s been a spike in mainstream media interest around virtual environments and health. I thought it’d be worth showcasing three notable stories / issues that you may not be aware of. Amputee Support A press release from ADL Company Inc. and Virtual Ability, Inc. touts the launch of a project [...]
The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research continues to go from strength to strength, and the current edition is devoted to health and virtual worlds. I’ll be writing about some of the specific pieces in coming weeks, but you’ll see the full table of contents below: Table of Contents Editor’s Corner Musings on the State of [...]
On the Linden Lab blog, Pathfinder Linden has written on the successful World AIDS Day initiative in Second Life, run by the Karuna organisation. He’s coined the phrase ‘Ecosystems of Support’ and it’s very fitting for initatives like this. Over the past six months, there’s been a significant momentum build in regards to health and [...]
For the past couple of years I’ve been aware of the work going on in New Zealand with midwifery training and Second Life, mostly thanks to the updates over at SLENZ. Machinima maker Pooky Amsterdam dropped me a line about a film she’s helped produce that explains the role of Te Wāhi Whānau – The [...]