barbara ann mojica is bringing history to young folks via an avatar. before our sansar live stream only in 2d but silas merlin built her an awesome avatar. due to some audio problems we re-recorded a conversation which is the core of today’s podcast. enjoy a frank conversation about analog vs. digital media in teaching,…

guest today is laura gilmour, phd student at the university of alberta in canada. she is pursuing a degree in educational psychology & recently completed a study for a paper entitled “is participation in family role-play in second life associated with improved social and emotional support and well-being among adults with autism spectrum disorders?” yes…

linden lab has “re-organized” their income stream by increasing/decreasing revenue they receive from different parts of the sl economy. and as expected: from various different quarters of the community we hear various recommendations for ll employees including executives of shoving things, checking heads or simply stopping to ruin/rape/destroy me/you/the world/the metaverse … jo and drax…

and another episode in our series “so what about …” and this time – finally as some may say – drax is visiting rec room. a world that has been around for 3 years, started with paddle ball & was ignored by drax due to his anti-athletic bias but alas: rec room has a LOT…

today just a wonderful impromptu get-together in sansar: friday evening in europe/friday morning in the us = wrapping up the week with heartwarming, quirky, human stories, facilitated by the avatar embodiment & the ability to choose text or voice as means to communicate. such is the power of a virtual world. and no: this can…

1920s berlin in second life has been around for 10 years if you can believe it and my co-host jo together with her tenants can surely feel extremely proud to run a tight-knit virtual community like this, especially in a day and age where next-generation virtual worlds seem to have a hard time retaining their…

sarah darer littman writes young adult novels that deal with bullying and modern technology. her ability to inhabit the world of teenagers today, offering a multitude of perspectives including those of parents, is fascinating. as a parent these books can be scarier than anything stephen king has ever written but the stories are also healing and…

  my guest is xaos princess [again] and what a pleasure to meet in the physical realm, eat super healthy food & talk immersive social vr, specifically the recent announcements about changes in high fidelity as presented by ceo philip rosedale at two in-world meetings a few weeks back. let’s dive right in. coz you…

fantasy faire in second life , open since april 18th, has already raised almost 10 million linden dollars. is that not insane and amazing that essentially digital immersive art, populated and shaped by the residents of this wonderful universe, have this impact? the making and the purchase of those items that some may say do not…

as of its third day counting, fantasy faire 2019 in second life has raised 3,487,572 l$ which amounts to 13,950 us$ for the american cancer society. how did they do that? well: micro-payments in linden currency for imaginative merchandise, avatars, buildings, anything that enhances this wonderful virtual world. it is quite remarkable what is happening…

today – as news come in that high fidelity is making severe changes due to lack of adoption in the social vr space – i humbly present a small success story: getting people together in one space and doing a regular open mic event that fosters community, is focused on inclusion via accepting people as…

the annual virtual worlds best practices in education conference happened over this past weekend and it was full of wonderful thought-provoking keynote speeches, lectures and panel discussions. the “our digital selves” film was prominently featured in a few events and today we are presenting the audio of a discussion entitled “the making of …” of…

    well it was about time: my “nemesis” from high fidelity – xaos princess as she calls herself – and i met at a local restaurant to battle it out: we were [“vr” in past tense] ready to face off and tell each other what is what = sansar vs high fidelity with second…

today we are hanging out in engagevr with chris madsen and mike armstrong. fascinating platform geared towards educators with solid management and curriculum design tools. enjoy: here is more for your brain to digest: a few pictures from our adventure in engage: original unedited live stream: if you catch the show before 3/27 >>> tune…

the zooby animesh baby is coming and a new drax files mini documentary exploring family roleplay is coming april 20th [oh heck it is 4/20 somewhere alright …]. in preparation we are exploring the phenomenon of virtual babies in today’s episode. enjoy: and more to contemplate below: show today with interview featuring aurore clarity, the…

on today’s show: a positive look at second life as expressed by seasoned residents and brand n00b students tasked with classwork in sl. also: a tribute to fran who passed on at 92 years of age & drax’ very first reportage from 2007. enjoy: more to read and watch below: lexy nexen talks truth [no…

    bestselling author margi preus is in the house today. in the sansar house. and it was a real treat: the drax family enjoyed her books and is still catching up on the other historical ya novels margi has on offer. enjoy a celebration of the written word as delivered by a avatar, transcending…

decentraland to some may look like a good ol’ fashioned scam updated for the experiential age: virtual land being sold for millions of REAL dollars without even an actual place on a social vr space to visit, hang out and build quite yet. only a map. and finite land. and the blockchain …. drax spoke…

… and we went to another social vr world on the show today = founder and ceo artur sychov of somnium space [= and the dude behind the ar/vr advertising placement agency “admix” as well as a member of the vr blockchain alliance] was giving us a tour and by “us” i mean friends vassay and…

    we went to vrchat for an hour, loki eliot and i and we bumped into that dude out.of.order who keeps showing up and it was madness and a edited version is below for your discerning ears. i am off to take a shower ….. enjoy: aaaand look below for more stuff to digest…

…and here we are in high fidelity at a place called @thespot, randomly engaging in conversation. slightly edited version of friday’s stream is on offer today & jo yardley and i spar for half the show on vw minutiae like only we can… enjoy a super extra long and mad podcast = shrooms for the…

in a series tentatively titled “so what about …?” we are going to exercise the hippest online sport of all = whataboutism. actually no, we are not: we are actually visiting the leading next gen vr worlds – specifically their welcome areas or social hubs or however they may be called these days – to…

our guest todays is looooong time sl resident & furry erik mondrian who is an mfa student at the inter school at calarts in los angeles [yes the one and only college-to-pixar pipeline !] and erik has created [for his mfa thesis] a wonderful synergy between poetry and machinima with an inherent musicality that frankly reminds me…

we are back and it is 2019 and we are discussing the state of affairs in the realm of social vr. an illustrious panel we have assembled indeed: besides frau jo yardley we have donna davis from the university of oregon journalism department, shyla the super gecko, co-founder of sinespace adam frisby and principal engineer…

and the last show before the winter break [which shall last UNTIL JANUARY 15th ] is upon you dear listener: cb lee is in the sansar basement/house in both star wars themed and humanoid avatar.  cb lee writes wonderful novels for young adults with everything you need: romance, heartbreak, adventure, conspiracy, ethnically and gender diverse…

luxembourg 1867 was a mainstay in second life and now the plug will be pulled because pit vinandy and team have decided to move the entire project to sansar. why? we caught him and put him on the spot and found out. tl’dr hint: second life is not dead but museums who pay the bill…

liz jensen is a best-selling author, former sculptor and radio producer, a journalist with experience working overseas and now she has possibly reached the ultimate goal in life: being made into a avatar [by silas merlin] in the user-created social vr universe of sansar. enjoy a wonderful conversation,  celebrating the art of writing, demystifying it…

this week a pre-edited portion of an interview with bill prensky from cndg, talking education in virtual worlds. cndg has been in partnership with pearson to produce vw modules in sl for several years and their model is quite successful. this audio is part of the basis for my upcoming drax files special on using…

just came back from florida – a whirlwind tour through the state university system talking with lecturers and the wonderful dev team behind cndg. these guys have been using second life in a way i have not seen implemented before: smart and easy to use for professor and student alike. we met at the stem…

just back from a long trip around the world and heading out again soon in the name of virtual worlds: yes i have started on a comprehensive look at higher education in virtual worlds & a new video will come mid to late december. meantime this week with a one-day delay that i apologize for…

my hometown of munich hosted the augmented world expo and apparently has for a number of years. first time for me presenting my work in the fatherland in this format. Big thanks to lisa peyton who co-moderated the panel on “embodiment in social vr” which was totally packed. #AWE2018 Thanks @Daisy for her spontaneous appearance…

just back from singapore where i participated in the litup asia pacific 2018 festival that brought cultures from the south asia region together with westerners like myself and merged in lectures and performances the traditional with the cutting edge. poet and organizer dr. chris mooney-singh and his wife savinder kaur invited me to speak on…

we are back from a long summer break and we do have jo yardley in the house as well as daisy gator and kelvin d. kramer. enjoy a lively discussion on 1.) why social worlds are not for everyone and 2.) why jo yardley should be allowed to ban people she does not like from…

we forgot to mention: our summer break is in full swing. we will be back every monday with the most relevant conversations around sl, next gen vr and digital culture after september 15th. stay tuned. stay in the shade. stay engaged with us on twitter  for sl/sansar/social and political stuffs [and looking for next candidates…

  our last show before the summer break [we will be back 09/15] featuring jo “opinionated” yardley and bestselling german author tom hillenbrand, who was guest in the sansar basement studio. enjoy: contextual media below: tom hillenbrand new new sci-fi thriller “hologrammatica” [sample translation avail here] is a must read for vr enthusiasts because in…

a conversation with musician oblee whereby we log into the sl welcome area and also do not shy away from addressing sansar …. enjoy:   more material to digest below: oblee and drax at the welcome area: Coming to Drax Files Radio on Monday >>> @obleemusic = we met at the @secondlife Welcome Area for…

james baicoianu is the principal engineer at janusvr, yet another offering in the crowded field of social vr although james will elaborate why his company is many many more things in this wonderful conversation in the 114 harvest basement! enjoy: some more linkage below: the unedited conversation with james on video [his shirt needs mending…]:…

a live uncut panel from sl15b [with viewers tuning in from sansar at the same time] >>> yes: sl is 15 now, a energetic teenager, still searching, still imagining. centered. confident. ready to do anything! and: not going anywhere other than growing up…. enjoy: guests on the show were: patch linden abnor mole pooky amsterdam…

jo is back. nothing more needs to be said because she is more opinionated than ever. about sansar in particular. enjoy: and a few links below: sansar has some cool new ban tools we talk jack septiceye as sansar ambassador of sorts = maybe ll has deals with him in the making already? 9th anniversary…

professor donna z. davis is program director at the school of journalism and communication at the university of oregon. she is one of the researchers depicted in the drax files special “our digital selves“. as she was not available for the post-release discussion around the film last week i decided to play the unedited interview…

the film is out. i am exhausted. i am proud of my team. please watch it and comment and thank you! enjoy the meta discussion too: and more links: our panel which included tom boellstorff, ryan schultz, cody lascala, jadyn firehawk, iskye silverweb, alumnia autumn, shyla, solas and dawny daviau: the original stream from sansar:…

    is the social vr fad over before it began? of course not! here to provide context from the ground [as opposed to sensationalist click-bait from afar] are wonderful guests dawny daviau, nya alchemi, vassay and sinespace ceo adam frisby. and now that you listened here is even more context: just wrapped = vrla…

and we are posting late this week [drax’ anniversary cut into the normal workflow!] but this is a good one = townhall with linden lab ceo ebbe altberg. audio is from the 9:30am 4/20 appearance.  enjoy: more stuff: full video of all the event including the 1pm event: the forum thread with all the resident…

a legendary game designer has visited the sansar basement. richard a. bartle and drax spent an hour [much too short!] debating text vs. graphical interfaces, history vs. future and drax learned that this master of text actually enjoyed the ready player one movie version… take a listen: and now explore more: richard’s book is still…

  justin esparza, visual magician behind almost all the featured images on drax files radio is guest today as drax moves back to the sl mainland. has he left sansar? is this the april fools show? enjoy: and some linkage: the video to the podcast: follow justin on twitter his alter ego salazar is blue…

oh how fab our visit to linden lab was…and how many secrets were unveiled…and we can not spill any beans = however: fab show with landon linden, marianne mccann and xiola aka jenn. so: gotta be brief in this blog today because filming in the physical realm until april 1st is ongoing. enjoy the show:…