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
Counselling, online therapy and virtual worlds
It’s coming up to a year since we interviewed DeeAnna Nagel and Kate Anthony and discussed counselling in online environments broadly and in virtual environments more specifically. Over that time, the Online Therapy Institute has continued to grow. One example of this is the announcement of a five-hour course on online supervision. Anyone who works [...]
I can quit anytime…
One MMO player’s perspective on addiction. A worthwhile read – nothing new or groundbreaking but it at least engenders some self-examination. On key piece of social research in the future will be work days lost to MMO game playing. I’m aware of a few people who’ve called in sick to play World of Warcraft or [...]
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 [...]
2010 – the year for health and virtual worlds?
A quick post to wish everyone the best for the coming year. I’ve made some broader predictions for the coming year, but I’m particularly excited about the prospects in regards to health interventions, research or education. It’s still relatively early days, but over the past year I’ve been struck by some of the great work [...]
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 [...]
HIV/AIDS education and virtual environments
(This story originally appeared over at The Metaverse Journal) The Virtual World’s Story Project (TVWSP) is a partnership between Jena Ball (SL: Jenaia Morane) and Marty Keltz (SL: Marty Snowpaw). We’ve previously covered one of their other story quests and they’ve certainly been prolific in the health and education field. Their latest project is focused [...]
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health features Second Life
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 [...]
Stepping into Health Conference
I ran across the following promo this week: “Stepping into Health” becomes Third in Popular “Stepping into Virtual Worlds” Series Using virtual worlds to promote health and healthcare is the topic of the next installment of the popular “Stepping into Virtual Worlds” conference series, to be offered October 7th, 2008 in Second Life. Hundreds of [...]
Therapy via machinima
Although not directly health-related, I was struck by the power of the machinima below ( thanks to Mal Burns for the heads-up). It’s produced by Lainy Voom and you can read more about it here. Have a look for yourself then read on below for some further thoughts: Fall (Mini Project 3) from Lainy Voom [...]
Pedagogy and Virtual Worlds: Journal of Virtual Worlds Research
The latest issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research has been released, and as usual it’s full of peer-reviewed research papers, plus some discussion pieces and other features. Pedagogy is a key consideration for any educator, and this issue goes some way to establishing a pedagological framework for virtual worlds. Major kudos to the [...]
Medical and nursing education: more media attention
One of the advantages of being a regular (daily) observer of virtual worlds news, is you get a fair idea of trends. One growth trend over recent months has been the interest in the health applications of virtual environments. One of the better pieces of media coverage is one by the Wall Street Journal. It’s [...]
Journal of Virtual Worlds Research: 3D Virtual Worlds for Health and Healthcare
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 [...]