Paper at VS-Games 2009 (with video)

I presented on March 24th some of the results of the PTInworld project sponsored by PT Inovação: "Second Life Information Desk System using Instant Messaging and Short Messaging Service Technologies". Besides the paper available on the previous link, the video I used during the presentation is also available (below).

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Apresentei no passado dia 24 de Março alguns dos resultados do projecto PTInworld, financiado pela PT Inovação: "Second Life Information Desk System using Instant Messaging and Short Messaging Service Technologies". Além do texto de suporte à comunicação, disponível na hiperligação anterior, também está disponível o vídeo que utilizei durante a apresentação:

Visualização de dados em 3D | Data visualization in 3D

My participation | A minha participação: Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education

On the upcoming Virtual World - Best Practices in Education conference is nearing, and the program is already available. Yours truly is participating in two sessions: "Portuguese Education in SL Panel - Case: UTAD – Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal", and the panel "Second Life as an Education Virtual Support."

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Aproxima-se a conferência Virtual World - Best Practices in Education, estando já disponível o programa. Este vosso amigo vai participar em duas sessões: "Portuguese Education in SL Panel - Case: UTAD – Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal" e no painel "Second Life as an Education Virtual Support".

SLACTIONS now has a video | Agora há um vídeo da SLACTIONS

World Builder | World Builder

A fantastic and inspiring video:

Thanks, Cory, for pointing this out!

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Um vídeo fantástico e inspirador:

Obrigado, Cory, pela dica!

Who is Andabata Mandelbrot | Quem é Andabata Mandelbrot

Well, let me say it up front - Andabata Mandelbrot is the Second Life avatar of Leonel Morgado, a computer science professor and researcher of the UTAD university in Vila Real, Portugal.

You'll find Andabata employs different avatar shapes and modifications, according to mood and occasion, but that he isn't as versatile as many - in fact, he's usually in his formal attire, as a barefoot elf counsellor:

Every now and then, this formal attire is replaced by a curduroy jacket look in jeans, for places where a modern-looking persona is needed. So you get a blue-haired, beach-sandals, corduroy-wearing elf. Oh well, that's as "normal" as I like to be, I suppose.

Two other shapes I use for fun: one if a gigantic ancient dragon, seen here while supervising a master student; the other is an hybrid of owl and leopard, to whom I refer as "knowledge with claws".

Ending my experience in advertising | Dou por encerrada a experiência com publicidade

Well, that's it. One single attempt at posting an ad (that was recalled due to an error at Blogvertise) and I've realised that they submit more than a request per day! This would wreck this blog, which has an update rate slower than that.

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E chega. Só houve uma tentativa de fazer um post que era um anúncio (que foi retirada por me ter sido enviada equivocamente pela Blogvertise), mas já constatei que me enviam mais do que um pedido publicitário por dia! Isto dava cabo do blogue, pois faço menos posts do que isso!

SLACTIONS journals - deadline for March 30th

The SLACTIONS conference is bound to be a remarkable event - one that is made possible by virtual worlds. Researchers from North and South America, Europe, and Asia holding a conference simultaneously - in Second Life. And that same conference is made available via Second Life locations or the Web (with relay of video, audio, and chat) for researchers in all other places.

If you're doing interesting work with virtual worlds - not just Second Life - you now have until March 30th to submit your paper. If you don't have enough budget to attend any physical location (California, Texas, Brazil-São Paulo, Brazil-Rio Grande do Sul, Portugal, Belgium, Finland, Israel, Hong Kong and - yet to be confirmed - Singapore), you only need to register to be able to attend in Second Life locations or via the Web.

Only journal publications count for your carreer? If so, please note that selected papers from SLACTIONS will be invited to submit/publish to the following journals:

Computer & Graphics (ISSN 0097-8493, SCI)
* Best paper on computer graphics - invitation to submit expanded version.

International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning (ISSN 1753-5255)
* Special issue with expanded versions of selected papers on education.

Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research (ISSN 0718–1876)
* Selected papers on e-commerce and e-business.

Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (ISSN 1941-8477)
* Special issue: “The Metaverse Assembled”, with best papers on combination of metaverse platforms with external systems, integration of platforms, GIS/metaverse mash-ups, and using metaverse platforms for cooperation.

VIRTual (ISSN 0873-1837)
* Special issue with expanded versions of selected papers on visualization, interactive systems and pattern recognition.

Terra a perder de vista | Land, as far as the eye can see

Há dois novos sims no Second Life: UTAD e Vita Project. Ficam ali a leste de Utopia Portugal VI, ainda não têm telehubs para teleporte directo (pelo que não aparecem na busca, têm de ir até Utopia Portugal VI e voar para leste).

Vão ser usados para o Projecto VITA - um projecto sobre o qual falarei mais em breve.

NOTA: o título deste post foi inspirado neste livro excelente.

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There are two new sims in Second Life: UTAD and Vita Project. They're right there, East of Utopia Portugal VI, still without direct telehubs (so they don't show up in search just yet, you must go to Utopia Portugal VI and fly eastward).

They'll be used for the VITA Project - a project about which I'll say more, soon.

NOTE: the title of this post was inspired by this excellent book.

New paper | Novo artigo: Interconnecting virtual worlds

Reference:

Morgado, Leonel (2009). Interconnecting virtual worlds, Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, 3 (1), 4-7.

Abstract:

The argument is put forward that current virtual worlds find themselves in a situation akin to that of BBS systems in the 1980s and 1990s vis-à-vis the Internet. A reflection from the technical viewpoint on the similarities between Web browsing and virtual world navigation is made and to conclude, the paper will offer a set of requirements for interconnection of virtual worlds and what that may achieve.

IBM Saves $320,000 With Second Life Meeting | IBM poupa USD 320.000 com encontro no Second Life

The news posting:

http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/02/ibm-saves-320000-with-second-life-meeting.html

The original case report:

How Meeting In Second Life Transformed IBM’s Technology Elite Into Virtual World Believers

http://secondlifegrid.net.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/Second_Life_Case_IBM.pdf

 

Executive Summary:

A Fifth of the Cost, and No Jetlag

 The IBM’s Academy of Technology has long been on the forefront of emerging

technology research and exploration. In late 2008, the organization held a

Virtual World Conference and then an Annual Meeting, hosted in a secure

Second Life environment with a conference space specially designed by IBM

for keynotes, breakout sessions, a simulated Green Data Center, a library, and

various areas for community gathering. The 200+ participants were offered

pre-conference training on the basics of Second Life to make them comfortable

communicating and navigating within the environment. IBM estimates the ROI

for the Virtual World Conference was roughly $320,000 and that the Annual

Meeting was executed beautifully a one-fifth the cost of a real world event.

Many IBM staff were converted into virtual world advocates, paving the way

for many future internal conferences and events to be held within the space.

Era para ter sido publicidade | This was supposed to be an advert

Este devia ter sido o primeiro post publicitário, por via do Blogvertise, como expliquei em post anterior. E foi, durante um dia, mas eis o resultado: a Blogvertise disse que o tema me fora atribuído "por engano"... assim, retirei o conteúdo.

This is should have been the first advertisment post, using the Blogvertise service, as I explained in a previous post. And in fact it was for one full day, and here's the result: Blogvertise told me the subject had been address to me in error, so I removed the content of this post.

Uma experiência em publicidade | An experience in advertising

Há algum tempo, experimentei registar este blogue no Blogsvertise. Finalmente veio a aprovação e uma série de pedidos para colocar "posts" pagos neste blogue. Vou fazê-lo para já, mas depois ponderarei se é de manter  ou não.

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Some time ago, I tried out registering this blog on Blogsvertise. The approval came recently, and now I have a series of requests to place sponsored "posts" in this blog. I'll do it for now, later I'll ponder whether to keep doing this or not.

10% Of Build-A-Bear Store Customers Influenced By Virtual World

http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/02/10-of-buildabear-store-customers-influenced-by-virtual-world.html

And these children will grow into adults, let's not forget.

An on-line event with my paticipation | Um evento on-line onde participo

ONLINE LEARNING CONFERENCE   & WORKSHOP  2009

Ponencia y debate

19 de Febrero

21h00 CET (hora Madrid)

Time zone converter

Aprender a enseñar

Utilizando SL Second Life… 

SL como entorno virtual de aprendizaje  

 

Presentación del tema por

António dos Reis - Instituto The Graal - Lisboa

 

Debate:

Xabier Basogain  - Moderador – Profesor de la Universidad de País Vasco.

Amélia Sanz – Vice directora del campus virtual de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid (*)

Carlos Castaño Garrido,   - Profesor de la Universidad del País Vasco

Leonel Morgado – Profesor Universidad de Trás-os-Montes

Manuel Benito – Sub Director del campus virtual de la Universidad de País Vasco.

Rita Falcão – Departamento de Multimedia Universidad do Porto (*)

Sixto Cubo – Decano de la Facultad de Ciencias de Educación de Universidad de Extremadura.

(*) Falta confirmación

 

 Puedes participar de tres maneras:

1) Si estás registrado en SL, entra al   Auditorio UniHispana  (slurl)

 

2) Si quieres conocer SL tendrás que dar los primeros pasos de la siguiente forma: , 

a) Sigue el video tutorial en Modulo de introducción a SL**;

b) Si quieres profundizar más mira SL Spain:

c) Regístrate en SL y entra al   Auditorio UniHispana

3) Asiste en tu PC en video difusión  Auditorio  virtual The Graal (usa Internet Explorer)**

 

 

**Para asistir regístrese y entre en la plataforma moodle: Registo gratuito

 

Registo gratuito na plataforma

 participe activamente en el debate

A course on virtual world development | Uma disciplina de desenvolvimento em mundos virtuais

Next week, I'll initiate lecturing and hands-on classes of a brand new course, elective, at UTAD (MSc on Computer Science): "Development in Virtual Worlds".

Students will be presented with an overview of the state-of-the-art use of virtual worlds for various applications, bypassing entertainment: education, training, business, management, communication, social activism, self-expression. They will use the Second Life and OpenSimulator platforms for development of individual projects, but will also be exposed to other systems such as Open Croquet and Activeworlds.

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Durante a próxima semana vou começar a leccionar aulas teóricas e práticas de uma nova disciplina opcional na UTAD (Mestrado em Informática): "Desenvolvimento em Mundos Virtuais".

Os alunos tomarão contacto com uma visão geral do estado da arte do uso de mundos virtuais para vários fins, mas sem grande atenção aos fins lúdicos: educação, formação profissional, actividades empresariais e de gestão, comunicação, activismo social, expressão pessoal. Vão usar as plataformas Second Life e OpenSimulator para desenvolverem projectos individuais, mas serão também expostos a outros sistemas, como Open Croquet e Activeworlds.

Two successful Master vivas, congratulations, António Jorge and Martine | Duas defesas de dissertação com êxito - parabéns, António Jorge e Martine

Today (January 30th, 2008) two of my Master students in Computer Science successfully passed their viva voce.

Congratulations, António Jorge and Martine!

António Jorge Madeira defended his dissertation entitled "Controlo de Assiduidade em Aulas Efectuadas no Mundo Virtual Second Life" (controlling atendance in classes taking place in the Second Life virtual world). Hopefully an English-language derived paper will be available soon, after a well-deserved rest.

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António Jorge Madeira defendeu a sua dissertação "Controlo de Assiduidade em Aulas Efectuadas no Mundo Virtual Second Life", contando-se para breve com um artigo dela derivado, em língua inglesa, após um descanso bem merecido.

Martine Bernardo then took her turn, defending her dissertation: "Estudo fenomenográfico sobre o comércio electrónico no Second Life" (phenomenographic study on e-commerce in Second Life) - and I express the same hope of an English-language paper soon.

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Foi então a vez de Martine Bernardo, que defendeu a dissertação "Estudo fenomenográfico sobre o comércio electrónico no Second Life". Também a ela expresso idêntica confiança na produção para breve de um artigo em língua inglesa.

Two new projects at UTAD funded by PT Inovação / Dois novos projectos na UTAD financiados pela PT Inovação

The results came in yesterday: two of our applications to the research-funding programme of the research arm of Portugal's main telecom company succeded.

So, starting from March, we'll be developing:

"HELPMI - Multimodal Helpdesk", to further expand to different platforms the use of instant messaging and SMS technologies to provide around-the-clock human service in virtual worlds.

A paper with the basic technology for Second Life was accepted at VS-Games 2009, and will be available shortly.

"Generating multi-user simulations for the Formare LMS", to integrate virtual-world activities in this e-learning platform, so that they can be part of training & education programmes for hundreds of trainees and students.

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Soubémos ontem os resultados: duas das nossas candidaturas ao programa de financiamento da investigação da Portugal Telecom Inovação foram bem-sucedidas.

Assim, a partir de Março estaremos a dar andamento a:

"HELPMI - Helpdesk Multimodal", para expandir a diversas plataformas a utilização de instant messaging e SMS para proporcionar atendimento humano 24/24 em mundos virtuais.

Um artigo científico com a tecnologia básica para Second Life foi aceite na conferência VS-Games 2009, ficando disponível em breve.

"Geração de simulações multi-utilizador para o LMS Formare", para integrar actividades em mundos virtuais nesta plataforma de ensino à distância, para que possam integrar programas de formação e ensino para centenas de formandos e alunos.

Finally! / Finalmente!

Image from USA Today

Image from CNN

“(...) We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions -- who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage. (...)
Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”

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“(...) Construiremos as estradas e pontes, as redes eléctricas e linhas digitais que alimentam o nosso comércio e nos ligam. Recolocaremos a ciência no lugar devido e utilizaremos as maravilhas da tecnologia para elevar a qualidade dos cuidados de saúde e reduzir-lhes o custo. Aproveitaremos o sol, os ventos e o solo para abastecer os nossos carros e fazer funcionar as nossas fábricas. E transformaremos as nossas escolas, institutos superiores e universidades, para que enfrentem as exigências de uma nova era. Tudo isto conseguimos fazer. E tudo isto faremos.
Ora bem, há quem questione a escala das nossas ambições -- que sugira que o nosso sistema não consegue acomodar demasiados planos de grande dimensão. Sofrem de memória curta. Pois esqueceram-se do que este país já fez; do que homens e mulheres livres conseguem, quando à imaginação se junta um propósito comum, e à necessidade a coragem. (...)
Que seja dito pelos filhos dos nossos filhos, que quando fomos postos à prova recusámos deixar terminar este percurso, que não voltámos costas, nem fraquejámos; e que com os olhos fixos no horizonte e a graça de Deus, levámos em frente esse grande dom que é a Liberdade e a entregámos em segurança às gerações futuras.”

Snow in Vila Real

Once a once-every-7-years event, it's getting more common... But I must admit this year's snowfall was remarkable for Vila Real.
From my living room, yesterday:

And from a first-floor bedroom, this morning: