| NPR: Appearance in virtual world could affect RL. |
[Apr. 29th, 2008|12:36 pm] |
This ought to be interesting for many of my friends, esp. Extropians!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89984937
And in case the summary ever vanishes,
Learning from the Virtual You
All Things Considered, April 27, 2008 · How you appear in the virtual world could affect your behavior in real life, according to researchers at Stanford University. Andrea Seabrook speaks with Stanford's Jeremy Bailenson about his research into how people interact psychologically with their virtual-reality representations. |
Presumably I can't legally paste the article transcript in here... here's the summary for our fair use scholarly discussion, though. :)
An example he gives is a study on weight loss. Seeing a virtual model of your "optimal self" can help people believe they can actually lose weight.
So seeing their avatars exercising and losing weight in a visually-observable way is apparently encouraging people to exercise more in RL.
For reference, in that study they aren't using SL, they're using a more immersive helmet-and-treadmill scenario. People exercised more while in the lab but also exercised more on their own outside of the lab.
They think it uses the psychological concept of vicarious learning.
The next example they discussed is a virtual identity study which I'm sure could apply to SL and many other virtual worlds (he mentions SL later.)
People who are wearing avatars they know are more attractive than the norm behave differently within the virtual world -- stand closer, act more sociable, etc.
So they then ran another study and found that, within the first hour after wearing the attractive avatar, people are more likely to pick attractive people from dating profiles.
So, they argue that the confidence you get from virtual attractiveness helps you be more confident in real life.
In the conclusion of this discussion, he says that as we use cellphones and social networking sites (2d and 3d) more and more, people are spending less time talking to each other physically and more time talking to each other virtually. How you communicate and depict yourself has major effects on how you end up behaving in the future.
Whatcha think, folks?
My take is that although they did the first study with avatars that were like idealized versions of the typist, these findings would apply if you're wearing ANY avatar you're proud of wearing and showing off (and aren't we all?) Same as when you know you're freshly-showered and dressed nice in RL. ;)
And correspondingly then, your confidence in presenting yourself will carry through. The more time you spend behaving confidently, the easier you (subconsciously or consciously) realize it is, which basically means you ARE more confident... Practice makes perfect, and all. :D |
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| Second Style Stylecast -- WingFling mentioned |
[Apr. 22nd, 2008|10:36 pm] |
[18:06] Daphne Abernathy: Hello, I have a podcast with Tamara Kirshner called Second Style Stylecast and we are going to mention the Wing Fling on the next show (released tomorrow)
[18:14] Jen Shikami: Hi Daphne! That would be awesome.
[18:23] Daphne Abernathy: I am going through the demos, they are all so pretty
[18:23] Jen Shikami: I'll be sure to thank you in my blog too -- is there somewhere I can link?
[18:24] Daphne Abernathy: http://stylecast.secondstyle.com
(( Editor's note: the direct link to this show is http://stylecast.secondstyle.com/?p=36 ))
[18:24] Daphne Abernathy: we also have another podcast Going Broke with Daphne and Tamara, http://www.daphneandtamara.com
[18:29] Jen Shikami: OK, I'll blog that up!
[18:29] Daphne Abernathy: Thanks!
[18:29] Daphne Abernathy: The show will be out tomorrow evening, I will let you know when |
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| WingFling 2008: Promo and Map. |
[Apr. 19th, 2008|03:36 pm] |
Please visit our mega wing festival, "WingFling 2008"
http://www.beware-of-art.com/wingfling/
Teleport: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Platinum/133/10/21
This week-long wing festival is from Saturday, April 19, through the week to Sunday, April 27.
We'll have an end-of-festival party with DJ Seven Shikami at the end of the festival. The time for it (incorrect in the outdated map shown here) will be from 4 to 6 PM SLT that Sunday the 27th (not 28th) -- do drop in!
Join the WingFling group if you'd like a party reminder and any other festival announcements.
Thank you everyone for making WingFling 2008 a success! I hope to turn this into a yearly thing. :)
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[Apr. 4th, 2008|05:22 pm] |
Nice, 7Seas featured on Page 2 of this article by Cybergrrl Oh on SLNN.com.
Article text quoted here:
The company Seven's Selections recently released the 7Seas Fishing Game that lets residents catch wearable pet fish, take part in fishing contests, and set up fishing areas of their own that can earn revenues.
“The pet fish are a cute accessory as-is but can also be loaded as a one-prim flexi in compatible aquariums and special carnival-style games,” said Seven Shikami, one of the trio that created the game including Jen Shikami and Meissa Thorne.
Fishing rods are available in Casual Fishing $100 and Pro Fishing $250 versions. A fishing area kit costs $750. It's low cost, low prim, and has no subscription fees. Residents can buy it from the 7Seas Fishing Visit the Game Headquarters in Flotsam beach. Shikami and his team run a temperate, east-coast U.S.A. themed region named Flotsam Beach and said that making a fishing game was a natural extension of what they were doing.
“(It) also combines our talents at pet making and arcade games to produce really useful pet fish and a fun way to win them,” said Shikami. “It adds a social quality while being individually entertaining as well. It's been a terrific creative group project, and we're looking forward to sharing it with everyone.”
Seven Shikami handled the programming work and the AquaDash carnival game while Jen Shikami created fishing poles and half the pet fish. Meissa Thorne created docks and decorations and the other half of the fish. The entire process took about a month to complete.
Said Shikami, “Everything in the game was a product of all of us working together, sharing ideas, criticisms and components. We will continue adding new fish and salvage items over the coming months to maintain interest.”
The Shikamis also design and sell high-quality skins while Seven also toys with interactive retro grams in SL. Meissa is known for her wearables, tattoos, and furniture, including a couch that seats nine.
The creativity does not end with just one product. Expect more from these and many other SL inventors and entrepreneurs in the months to come. |
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| Review of Caledon's 7Seas fishing area. |
[Apr. 3rd, 2008|08:46 pm] |
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Caledon review! |
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| 7Seas fishing review at DreamScape. |
[Apr. 3rd, 2008|08:19 pm] |
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A wonderful review. Thank you! |
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| Excellent 7Seas fishing review! |
[Mar. 29th, 2008|10:02 pm] |
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Check this out! :) |
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| "7Skin" natural tones -- to be released soon |
[Mar. 28th, 2008|08:37 am] |
Hey folks! Here's the latest and I believe final version of these skins. I only adjusted the photos to smudge a little pose artifact in the leg fold...
Colors are Coffee, Sienna, Tan, Cream, Petal, Pale.
Some elements from Eloh Eliot's excellent skin templates... all other work original. Thank you Eloh!
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| Week-long wing festival: WingFling! |
[Mar. 24th, 2008|01:44 am] |
I've rented the Platinum region for a huge week-long wing festival! It will be Saturday, April 19, through the week to Sunday, April 27.
-- Wing fans, join the "WingFling" group for news leading up to the festival.
-- Wing vendors, drop me an IM for details. Material Squirrel, Fancy Fairy, and Illusions already seem amenable. :) If you know any other wing designers, have them send me (Jen Shikami) an IM!
-- Bloggers, please help me promote this event now and in the final week... I'll give you free wings. :D Send Jen Shikami an IM.
-- More info and updates at http://www.beware-of-art.com/wingfling/
(xposted to second_lifers) |
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| 7Seas: Fish Infestation! |
[Mar. 14th, 2008|08:10 am] |
Here are the most fish-infested people I've seen yet. Awesome. :D
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| 7Seas end of beta party: Saturday at 7pm SLT! |
[Mar. 13th, 2008|10:16 am] |
See the full announcement here!
SOOO excited. SOOO much I have to finish before then -- and even more that I _want_ to finish. But thankfully we'll be able to release fish as we finish them in the future, not relying on vendor update waves... |
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| Takamura Keiko's show -- and a 7Seas hat and fish! |
[Feb. 25th, 2008|11:06 pm] |
Takamura Keiko wore a 7Seas hat and fish tonight at her regular Monday 6pm SLT show at Keiko's Cafe, here in Flotsam Beach. :D Thanks for the plug and the music, as always, Keiko!
Visit Keiko's Cafe for music or to see the latest art show:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Flotsam%20Beach/116/49/22
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| 7Seas Beta Test open! |
[Feb. 24th, 2008|11:44 pm] |
Yay for tons of wearable fish pets. :D
The beta test for our 7Seas fishing game system in Second Life is open now outside the shop.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Flotsam%20Beach/28/107/22
It's going over REALLY well. The beta test rod is only $1. It expires on March 15, but you can keep all the pet fish you catch meanwhile. :D
You can also put the fish into our compatible aquariums as a one-prim flexi, or into a minigame such as the AquaDash racer.
More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenart/sets/72157603978897554/
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| More on the 7Seas Fishing Game |
[Feb. 21st, 2008|01:06 pm] |
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See Seven's entry here! We need to take more photos... |
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| 7Seas fishing game officially announced! |
[Feb. 15th, 2008|02:33 pm] |
Seven has officially announced the game with details on how it'll work. He also explains how it differs from existing fishing systems in SL.
Hmm, I need to finish up that logo. :D And make more fishes! |
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| Latest prototype fish for "7 Seas" fishing game. |
[Feb. 14th, 2008|12:30 pm] |
Here's a revised prototype fish. I used more prims this time and a sculpty body. Now it has blinky eyes, open/close mouth, and it emits bubbles. :D I'm still debating whether I'll make the flexi fins flutter as it swims around.
You'll be able to catch all kinds of fish in this game... this is just one of what will be many.
The fish are wearable pets who'll circle around you. It'll also install itself into game-compatible aquaria we'll sell... can't hurt to have two ways to show off your catches, right?
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| Fish test. |
[Feb. 11th, 2008|07:37 am] |
This is a test of a five-prim fish for an upcoming project. All fins are flexi! (It looks like 5 fins but really they're 3 pieces, all using the same texture.)
The extremely quick sketch of a face texture is on a separate layer so the underlayer will be tintable and to avoid pinching at the end of the sphere on the face layer.
I think sculpty fish bodies look better and can give us more variety... but then to avoid LoD issues and sculpty pole factor, I'd have to make the mouth one prim and the eyes/gills a separate prim.
OTOH, that might not be a problem considering we'll need to add a smallish prim up front anyway for bubble emitting (mouth prim?)... I'll talk to Seven about just how low-prim he wants these to be.
Edited to add: Hmm, maybe I should try PloppSL, since it seems able to easily give me a profile-view sculpt map with fitted texture... that way I could do a profile view with teeth and such. :D
Edited to add more: Oh. Plopp output doesn't really look as good as that pic. I'll try it but that's not what I'd call a great result...
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