FYI: “Avatar Space to Outer Space” Bruce Damer lecture July 30, 2007

Not a SIG meeting but Bay Area folks may be able to check it out.

Previous SIG presenter Bruce Damer will be lecturing on July 30, 2007 with the topic:

“Avatar Space to Outer Space”
in San Francisco.

Details here:

http://colab.arc.nasa.gov/node/62

Bruce Damer will take us on a sweeping visual journey through the
origins and evolution of multi-player gaming, avatars and social
virtual worlds up to the present “main-streaming of the metaverse” in
platforms such as Second Life. From there we will boldly go where no
virtual world has gone before… into the real-time 3D design
engineering of NASA’s architectures for robotic and human exploration
of the solar system in the first quarter of this century. Some
never-before-seen mission scenarios, developed by Bruce’s company
DigitalSpace working with NASA, will be presented during this
session. Bruce will also dip into Project Biota, a ten-year
initiative in artificial life and hyper-evolution. Bruce will
conclude by suggesting pathways to combine the power of avatar
cyberspace and serious engineering environments for the public
understanding and support of space.

WHEN: Monday, July 30, 2007 (Full Moon) at 6:30 PM;
6:30-7PM Socializing;
7-7:30PM “From Avatar Space to Outer Space” Presentation by Bruce Damer;
7:30-8:30PM Visual Worlds Discussion
8:30-9PM Socializing

WHERE: Citizenspace, 425 Second Street, 3rd Floor, in San Francisco
94107 (http://citizenspace.us/). Google map

WHO: All are welcome, from space professionals to those who are
unsure what N-A-S-A stands for!

MISC: Please bring food and drink to share.

damer_poster_lunap_medium.jpg

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Aug. 27 SIG to feature Seriosity

 Hello Virtual Worlders and welcome to the newly upgraded Virtual World SIG website.

Just announced – the presenter for the Aug. 27 SIG!

 Title:

Synthetic Currency – Real Work:  Using a Virtual Economy to Solve the Problem of Information Overload

 

 Abstract

Complex multiplayer games foreshadow new possibilities for the future of work.  An increasingly large portion of game play is collaborative and strategic, and it requires sustained interactions with several players.  The engagement of games and the lessons they foster may influence a new gamer generation to expect real work that better resembles the structure of complex play.

 

This talk will review the recipe for successful games, the convergence of games and the future of work, and describe a new software application that tackles the problem of information overload in corporate email using psychological and economic principles from successful virtual worlds.  The application (produced by Seriosity, Inc. and called Attent) creates a synthetic economy with a currency that enables users to attach value to outgoing email to signal importance.  It gives recipients the ability to prioritize messages and a reserve of currency that they can use to signal importance of their messages to others.  The software also provides a variety of tools and rewards that enable everyone to track and analyze communication patterns and information exchanges in the enterprise.  

The lively marketplace that emerges from the attention economy offers new insights into collaboration, productivity and leadership.

 

Bios

Byron Reeves, Ph.D. is a Professor at Stanford University and Faculty Director of the Stanford Media X Partners Program.  He is a leading expert on the psychology of interactive media, including complex multi-player games, and is co-author of The Media Equation. Dr. Reeves has worked at Microsoft Research on consumer and enterprise software, and has helped design software products for several large companies including IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Philips, and Schwab.  He is a Co- Founder and board member at Seriosity.

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