a fascinating conversation with bryan carter, the mind behind virtual harlem, about identity and ethnicity in virtual reality, about time travel, immersive education and generally about where the train is headed:
and here are links – as per usual – for your further investigating pleasure:
– microsoft buys minecraft [and not second life?]
– can i play mc in sl? yes you can!
– mapping your interior in 3d with a heavy clunky backpack: meet goggle trekker!
– avajean westland’s “virtually news” satire show
– our guest professor bryan carter:
![Bryan Carter [image by Arizona U]](https://draxfiles.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/bryan-carter-image-by-arizona-u.jpg)
– using virtual harlem to teach literature
– overview of the harlem renaissance
– wonder what is a cave? wonder no more!
![VR Cave [pic by David Pape]](https://draxfiles.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/vr-cave-pic-by-david-pape.jpeg)
– 9-11 tribute to firefighters in sl
– ziki questi recommends france portnawak
![france portnawak [pic by ziki questi]](https://draxfiles.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/france-portnawak-pic-by-ziki-questi.png)
– my first machinima made about cds [i used to live in colonia nova at the time]:
– coming in october on drax files video: loz hyde from meshworx:
![meshworx grand hall [being materialized]](https://draxfiles.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/meshworx-grand-hall.png)
the show is supported by leap motion, sl go [by onlive], stitcher, paradise lost in second life, botgirl’s identity circus, kahruvel design, vika creations, humanoid animations, escapades, botanical, death row designs, nantra, angel red cotoure, fallen gods incorporated, {what’s next}, abranimations, blue moon enterprises and landscapes unlimited!
station id by silly avro
music by oblee.
contact the show via skype draxfiles, avatar draxfiles or email radio@draxfiles.com.
the drax files radio hour 
Wait, what? Microsoft bought Minecraft? OK, now the whole thing’s going to become an overbloated crashfest from Hell.
I have restarted this podcast 3 time and have no idea why it is stopping, Thank you for posting. Always good to hear it.
What i think Carter is saying is that VR or anything digital is an exciting frontier, but where that frontier was once on the Second Life Platform, its now out there on multiple platforms, and SL as a legacy of VR kinda no longer pushes the boundaries. Instead we get stability upgrades and the addition of features that should have been in SL years ago. I totally see what he means. The bulk of my experiences are in SL, but I’m also dabbling in HyFy and Unity now because they go beyond what SL can do is some areas.
For example i saw this Blend4Web demo last week, a virtual space in the web browser, and i walked around thinking, ‘yeh we could make this in SL’ and then i met a horse and a cat, beautifully animated and i was reminded, no, i can’t make this in SL, because we can’t create true animated Objects, plus we can’t run SL in just a web browser. http://www.blend4web.com/en/demo/farm/
Would SL every run in a web browser?, probably not. Will SL2 run in a web browser? maybe, but i really don’t think people should assume SL2 will be an SL upgrade. It’ll be a new platform, probably with new rules and laws of physics.
Loki we know that almost all hands at LL are on deck for SL 2.o which is going to be a completely new platform.
It would be insane if that platform were not accessible from every device.
In regards to pushing boundaries: I think the vibrant communities and the energetic folks in SL push the boundaries every day! Every day!
Look at your own stuff! Look at what LL staff still throws at us all the while hammering away under the hood of the secret new thing: materials, XP tools, Oculus integration.
If people have not been in SL since 2009 and therefore build their opinion from what they experienced in that era I understand where they are coming from.
I also understand your frustration Loki because you are a person who envisions big things and you can’t do them just yet.
As I’m unfamiliar with Unity I’m not sure what except for higher and quicker rendering it offers but in terms of community and possibility to create and monetize = what is there other than SL?
The web demo: nice, cute, really well done. But to trade it for a world, a sandbox with no limits? Never!
I am on the record saying that I’d like LL to win the Metaverse race because despite all the legitimate criticism we can level they have expertise in running a world that is centered around the user and his/her imagination.
HiFi and Philip = exciting what they are up to and they are equally committed to putting the user up front and unleashing thiose creative forces.
So, lots going on but in meantime: I have not even scratched the surface in exploring SL and many creators say the exact same thing!!!
I close with my favorite analogy: is the piano to blame that when I play it it doesn’t sound right? Is the pen and paper a legacy platform because it is crumbly and often very very empty?
Professor Carter is one of the most eloquent people I interviewed on the matter and the above comments are in no way shape or form an attempt to dismiss what he said. Just want to make that clear.
I just felt I need to – again – get on the soapbox here. Now: I am stepping away from the soapbox. And: into the sandbox!!!!!
See you all there 😉