Second used as a demonstrative medium for real-world software:
Not the most innovative way to use an immersive environment but I suppose it gets the message across.
Metaverse Health
Addiction, research, health in a virtual world
Stories from the Vault
Training pharmacists in Second Life
Via Dusan Writer, here’s an interesting piece on the use of Second Life to train pharmacists in using pharmacy clean rooms. I’ve had the opportunity to use pharmacy clean rooms myself , and I can see how a virtual walk through can be of use before doing the real thing.
One ex-gamer’s perspective on MMO addiction
The individual ex-addict’s perspective has always held power, no matter the source of the addiction. In the MMO gaming sphere, a recent addition to the blogosphere is ExGamer.net. Run by a 40-year old Canadian guy and 44-year old Dutch woman, it’s a blog in its early stages but it does give some interesting personal insights [...]
Introducing: Metaverse Health
I’m really pleased to introduce this sister site to The Metaverse Journal. In the time we’ve been covering virtual worlds, health is one of the key areas that pops up time and time again as both a key opportunity and pivotal challenge. Whether it be the power of thought-control avatars for those with profound physical [...]
World of Warcraft Addiction: send in the field teams
The UK’s Telegraph newspaper has run a very interesting article on the issue of addiction and World of Warcraft. The key quote for me from the article, from Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Richard Graham: He has called on Blizzard Entertainment, the company that makes World of Warcraft, to waive or discount the costs associated with joining [...]
HIV/AIDS: collaboration opportunity in Second Life
We’ve covered Karuna previously for their work with World AIDS Day 2008. They’ve now made an open invitation to “HIV/AIDS groups, activists, health professionals, organizations, and educators” to get further involved in collaboration. If you’re interested: Place: Karuna campfire Date: March 6, 2009 Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Second Life Time (Pacific Time) Thanks [...]
DREAMS event and Telehealth article
Two snippets I’ve run across this week: 1. An interesting Second Life event: The annual DREAMS Community Health, Education and Art Fair will be held from February the 15th through the 28th. This will be the 5th year for the fair at Dreams. Each year the Dreams Community Fair is provided as an outreach program [...]
Health – spread the word!
Delivering health messages to the general public is difficult at the best of times. It’s tough to capture the attention of people when talking about health – unless it’s their area of expertise, most people don’t want to be bothered thinking about their health any more than is strictly necessary. Those who are healthy often [...]
Smoking cessation in Second Life
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 [...]
Obesity Research at University of Houston
I came across a press release from the University of Houston about a health challenge being run entirely in Second Life. If you’re interested in earning some Linden dollars and learning something at the same time, sign up in-world. I had a quick look around and it’s an interesting set up. The full details: International [...]
Virtual worlds and health: some media focus
The past couple of weeks have seen some interesting articles in the mainstream media on virtual environments and health. The first is in the Jerusalem Post, showing the benefits for the vision impaired. You can view the full article here. The second appears in Information Week and covers the use of Second Life by Chicago [...]
Body image and avatars – final call for study participants
Back in January we promoted a study being undertaken by Doctorate student Jon-Paul Cacioli on body image in virtual worlds (the study participants need to be aged 18 or over and be male). Click here for the survey link The response over recent months has been good be Jon-Paul needs a few more people to [...]
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