virtual concerts in the park
TRANSCRIPT
Virtual Concerts in the Park: Introduction
Presenter:
Linda Rogers
Co-presenters (online):
Jonathan A. Smith
Alpha Hockett Walker
Alessandro Marangoni
Amy Ferguson
Opening video
SL BASICS: What is Second Life ?
The largest virtual reality environment online
500,000 users per week, 13 Million users total
Users create objects and their own experience, own their own content
More information at:
http://www.secondlife.com
SL Basics: Avatars
Participants in SL are represented by “avatars”
Avatars are customizable
Movement is keyboard controlled Kate Miranda/Linda Rogers
SL Basics: Avatars are as varied as the imagination
Avatars can be realistically human, animal or abstract
Second Life language tip
Avatarize
Definition: the point at which a participant feels comfortable in their avatar as an extension of self.
SL Basics: Building
Participants in SL able to build objects from virtual building blocks called “prims”
Second Life language tip
RezDefinition: to bring a 3-D object into existence in virtual reality through creation or dragging from inventory. “He rezzed a few chairs for us” Also, waiting while virtual reality scenes resolve in the participants viewer. “One minute, the room is still rezzing for me.”
SL BASICS: How are people using Second Life?
Business
Education and Non-profit
Social
Organizing for social change
Arts
SL BASICS: Second Life BusinessPromotion, marketing and sales of real and virtual productsLow/No cost virtual meetings and conferencesInvestment in the virtual economy itself
Second Life Business Links
Find Second Life Businesses
How businesses are using Virtual Reality
Some business success stories
EducationA growing list of universities and colleges have Second Life campuses:
Harvard, Stanford, University of Texas, New York University, University of Saskatchewan
A full list on the SL wiki.
FAQ’s about education in SLUniversity of Edinburgh in SL
SL BASICS: Organizing for Change
EnvironmentalistsPeace ActivistsUnion OrganizingPolitical groupsAnti-poverty groupsFaith-based groups
Bali climate change talks: interactive sessions in SL with delegates
Second Life Arts
Museums and GalleriesGraphic Artists in Second LifeMulti-media artsTheatreDanceMachinamaMusic
Second Life Arts: Museums and Galleries
One of the best examples of art galleries in Second Life is the Dresden Museum
Second Life Arts: Graphic Artists
Real world art works are reproduced in SL by artists for promotion and sales of real work and virtual reproductions
Second Life Arts: 3-D art
Second Life artists are inventing new art forms daily using SL prims, textures, animated textures, scripted objects, sounds and/or particle scripts.
Second Life Arts: 3-D art with interactive scripts
Second Life artists are using scripting to make art interactive. In this example, “Rebirth” by Gwen Carillon, viewers enter the sculpture, view an endless corridor of whirling stars and become animated as part of the sculpture
SL Arts: Scripting the viewing experience
An ink on 3-D cube work by Leou Aeon scripts viewers’ experience of the work by floating them meditatively through the cubes
SL Arts: Multi-media artsComposer Paul Kwo (Enniv Zarf) is one of the multi-media artists in SL, shown here improvising with an SL sculptor working with shape and light
SL Arts: Theatre
3-D virtual reality is an ideal lab for set-design and blocking productionsVirtual productions are popular in SL
SL Arts: Dance
SL dance as an art form is in it’s infancyAvatars are scripted from life so involve real dancers, choreographers
“The Nutcracker” Dec. 2007
SL Arts: Machinama
Making film within virtual reality is a new and vibrant art form Examples can be found here
SL Arts: Live and Inter-active
Live story-telling is a popular recreation in SL
Participants seem eager to re-capture simple and participatory art forms
SL Music: components of a live virtual concert
Live music webcast
Avatars with animated musical instruments
Live audienceInteractive
engagement
SL Music: How is a virtual concert different from a webcast?
Virtual concerts are a social experience
Able to text other audience members
Facilitators and/or artists interact with audience
Audience members float above full concert space
Meet virtual performers: Sinfonia Leeds
Concert Photos
Orchestra website
A community orchestra in Leeds England. This was one of only three full live symphony concerts in SL between 2004-08
Meet virtual performers: the Schumanns
David Weiss and Alpha Hockett Walker’s siteA professional duo from Los Angeles with varied classical careers and music teaching experience and goals in SL.
Meet virtual performers: Akito Kuramoto
Akito’s MySpace Musician page
A highly proficient amateur violinist from France.
Meet virtual performers: Winters Kanto
Winters’ MySpace Musician page
A professional jazz, tango, classical fusion pianist from Uruguay. Earns significant income from virtual performances.
Meet virtual performers: Thom Dowd
Thom’s Musician page
An early music enthusiast, Thom teaches flute in Switzerland. He performs and engages students in performances in virtual reality
Meet virtual performers: Benito Flores
Alessandro’s musician page
Benito Flores is the avatar of Alessandro Marangoni, a rising-star of the piano from Italy. Alessandro is a NAXOS recording artist.
Supporting virtual concerts: venues Venues need to be built for
high capacity
Simplicity in design minimizes lag
Creating venues in 2 or more sims is a novel approach
The Music Island stage is set for the conference panel
Supporting virtual concerts: security Concerts should be
supported by security protocols
Individual(s) with permissions to eject and ban trouble makers must be available
Griefer (hacker) attacks are rare but can shut down a concert
A rare griefer attack disrupts an Early Music concert with noise and visual grafitti attacks.
Supporting virtual concerts: land controls Concerts need to be supported
by landowners or estate managers
Individual(s) with permissions to alter land settings are required to re-connect sound stream or adjust settings when sim performance is threatened.
Simulations have crashed during performances when bandwidth and fps is not monitored
The map of Music Island during Sinfonia Leeds concert shows 83 avatars in the sim, an above-capacity number
Supporting virtual concerts: promotion
Signage
Group Notices
Fan Clubs
Promotional Items
Second Life Media
Supporting Virtual Concerts: groups
Second Life groups are:Opt in—participants must choose to join, some are invitation only
Limited—avatars can only join 25 groups
Communications tools—group notices are the most frequent source of news about events
Competitive—because of the restriction to 25 groups, participants drop low-value groups.
Supporting virtual concerts: promotional items
Virtual T Shirts and CD tables connect participants to artists URL’s for more information, ticket and CD sales.
Supporting virtual concerts: SL Media
Print media
A list of Second Life Radio and TV
An example of arts programming on SL TV: interview and performance with Benito Flores, piano
Using SL for real world arts orgs
Professional development meetings
Audience outreach activities
Single event promotional appearances
Arts education
75% of the audience at SL concerts have never been in a real concert hall
What is the appeal?Texting during concert
Coming and going without disturbing others
Camera controls
Inter-acting with artists
Dancing, floating during concerts
Final thoughtsWhat would concerts look like if:
Audience could text during concerts?
Concert halls were designed so people could come and go without disturbing others?
Cameras gave a changing view of the performers on big screen?
There was an area in the hall for people to dance or move to the music?
If we want to attract new audiences maybe we should think about the success of virtual concerts
Contact informationIf you want to learn more about classical music in Second Life:
Join the Classical Music Group in-world
Join other special interest classical groups in-world.
IM Kate Miranda in-worldThis project is made possible through its inclusion in the Cedar Island open-learning project
Closing video plays as we join our panelists in-world