Virtual Worlds News

NewsBrief: Second Life Banned in Australia?

True, the Australian government is considering whether to block access to online games containing content which lies outside the country's MA-15+ rating. As the Sydney Morning Herald states: "Australia is the only developed country without an R18+ classification for games, meaning any titles that do not meet the MA15+ standard -- such as those with excessive violence or sexual content -- are simply banned from sale by the Classification Board, unless they are modified to remove the offending content." The proposed approach to filtering could impact the availability of virtual worlds and MMOs, however one site is reporting that Second Life has, indeed, been banned. Second Life-focused blog New World Notes, among others, is saying the reports of SL's demise have been blown out of proportion. The report, however, is being widely covered.

Army To Build Virtual Support Group for Amputees

The US Army is backing the development of a "virtual support group environment" designed to reach amputees and their families who may not be able to take advantage of such support groups in the real world.  The Army has put the project up for bid via a notification on the Federal Business Opportunities website.

Naval Undersea Warfare Center: Training, Innovating, and Saving In Virtual Worlds

When the Navy wanted to train submarine teams on new equipment and systems, it used to have to bring distributed groups together to one location, whether that's in an actual sub or a mocked up command center on land. Now the Naval Undersea Warfare Center is investigating whether the same results can be had using a virtual version of the sub made in Qwaq Forums. In June the first teams will give it a go.

"Theoretically all the pieces are easily and efficiently falling together," said Steve Aguiar, Metaverse Exploration Project lead, at the NUWC. "If we were going to conduct the same experiment physically and assemble all the pieces, it would be quite expensive in resources and  cost. To do this virtually, specifically with the Qwaq product, has been quite straightforward."

FBI Experimenting In Second Life

The FBI is making a push to explore the social side of the Web, recruiting for new members and distributing its most wanted lists across social networks, virtual worlds, and the iPhone. In what the FBI calls a "pilot test," the agency is distributing virtual billboards and kiosks across Second Life that connect users to lists of the Ten Most Wanted fugitives, job boards, a crime complaint center, and more wanted posters.

SELEX Expanding Use Of OLIVE For Military Training

SELEX Systems Integration is a prime contractor and systems integration specialist focused on integrating change programs across organizations. It's long used training solutions from the VEGA Group, but announced today that it would expand its use of OLIVE, the virtual world platform from Forterra, for distance training and collaboration, both in-house and client work.

FTC Reporting To Congress On Virtual Worlds, Kids, And Explicit Content

Earlier this week I had the pleasure to speak with two attorneys with the Federal Trade Commission who are engaged in a report on virtual worlds to Congress, due this December. The researchers are tasked with looking at the environment virtual worlds present to children and, specifically, the access they present to explicit content and measures taken to prevent that access.

Milwaukee Launches Mirror Environment For Planning, Tourism

Students, faculty and staff at Milwaukee Area Technical College have created a Virtual Milwaukee aimed at connecting with city databases for urban planning applications. It doesn't sound like a fully interactive mirror world where citizens can interact with each other yet, but interactive tour guides can be added to show visitors around town. 

IARPA Soliciting Research For Project Reynard

IARPA's project Reynard aims to mine data in virtual worlds. Specifically, its goal is to deduce real-world information about users from their virtual activities. We first heard about the project in 2008, but last month noted that it had been downgraded to a seedling effort, meaning that a program manager would have limited time and money to research the the project. 

It looks like there's still a fair amount of interest, though. Late last month IARPA issued a Broad Agency Announcement looking for solutions for the Reynard project, which is now envisioned to begin in Q4 of fiscal 2009 and run through 2012. The proposals are due June 16.

UK Government's "Indulgence" In Second Life Shows Problems Of Perception

Earlier this week I saw an report by Sky News Online taking the UK's Department for Work and Pensions to task for "wasting" £20,000 to build a site in Second LIfe and £12,000 a year to maintain it in this time of economic downturn. One complaint is that the virtual world activity wasn't advertised on the DWP's website. That makes perfect sense as it sounds like the effort is a test case for an area for companies and government institutions to show off technological innovation. And, as Nortel's Nic Sauriol pointed out, if that's the most they waste on a pilot program, it's pretty well done.  

I wasn't planning on writing anything since it feels like just a case of mishandled PR, but the story has popped up in a few other places as well, including the BBC, and I think it's indicative of some of the risks of working in a virtual world for this recession.

Singapore Issues Tender For Youth Olympics, Educational Virtual World

In August 2010, Singapore will be playing host to the Youth Olympics. We've previously noted that the country may be aiming to create a new mirror world, Co-Space, in time for the event. I'm not sure if that's still on the roadmap, but yesterday the Infocommunications Development Authority of Singapore issued a request for a 3D virtual world aimed at providing a "robust, interactive and engaging, entertaining and educational" experience that will show Singapore as "a first mover to embrace the growing virtual world phenomenon."