show 231: waste tide

qiufan chen was a tech entrepreneur in the vr field no less before writing a perfect novel for our present day. “waste tide” was released in china back in 2013 and just this year appeared in english as well as in german translation. the novel reads like a documentary with a james bond type international thriller…

show #141: rerun coz congratz!

we are so busy at the drax empire that we could not put together a fresh show for you guys this week but does it matter when we have such a terrific rerun with guest eric fassbender from atmosphaeres – makers of immersive audio/video?   some more info: check out eric’s offerings below [licensing includes over…

show #120: sex and virtuality

and here is the topic we avoided for 119 shows = sex in virtual worlds and vr! great guests from sl and REAL life: an interview with psychic reader and sex connosieur monavie voight starts at 9:41 & the conversation with vr porn star ela darling at 25:15. i highly recommend listening to the entire show though…

show #106: the full monty drax

we are going into serious over-time today with an edited version of drax appearance on “the real virtual show” hosted by malia probst, talking sl and how sl is important for the advent of consumer vr… …and we address the recent bans of prominent content creators in sl, with more in depth discussion to follow…

show #98: qarl is back!

former linden lab star qarl [creator of sculpties among many other things] is back outside of vr and all that but nonetheless mind-boggling stuff = an ai paint engine. enjoy the conversation and share your thoughts on the end of all human art: the origin of pikazo = neural networks! [and an interesting motherboard article on…

show #74: happy birthday second life

happy birthday second life: 12 years old & counting while old vw rivals are littering the side of the road. but it is a new day with new competition [and a next gen vw in the works] so we have danger linden, senior director of product & troy linden, senior producer on the show to…

show #70: all about vw therapy [rerun]

our guest [licensed marriage and family therapist]tammy fletcher aka avalon birke in sl dispels some myths about providing counseling services in virtual worlds. fascinating: we hope you enjoyed the show, more on tammy’s rl operation is here. while drax files radio is on summer mode – make sure to read the relevant blogs linked here to…

show #68: minecraft in the classroom = better than sl?

dear listeners, if you want to go straight to german high school teacher mirek hancl explaining how he uses minecraft to engage 6th to 12th graders, skip to 35:00 in the show. for those who want to know everything about the recent drama regarding second life journalism – please listen straight from the top: after your listening…

show #66: fantasy faire

…and we taped live from the massive operation called fantasy faire 2015 which benefits relay for life and runs through this weekend. go there after you listened to the show [which also features bill glover from bright canopy]: and a few things to read up on are below as per usual: – bright canopy is…

show #50: dmca

our 50th anniversary has tracy redangel and kitty o’toole discussing legal matters with us & fatima mekkaoui tells us her stories imvu. fascinating: now on to more reading if you will: – firestorm is on sl go and sl go can enter multiple grids – congrats to rob [who are you though?] for winning a leap…

show #46: unter den lindens

drax went to linden lab hq in san francisco [because you know they are still the s*** in virtual worlds] and saw the light. or did he? what does the above sentence even mean? take a listen and hear straight from lindens, passionate lindens, who love to make the [digital] world a better place: and…

show #37 virtual therapy?

is a virtual world able to provide help in the event of a crises, a psychological crises? can psychotherapy work in second life, with all the anonymity and lack of “face-to-face” communication? we discuss today with our guest dr. tammy fletcher the possibilities and pitfalls of virtual therapy. she ran the “wellness island”  in-world between…

show #35: jacki morie

season 2 has landed and we get an overview of 25 years of vr from none other than dr. jacki morie – she sends avatars to outer space, she is a maker of virtual humans and inventor of a scent collar to enhance your virtual life. enjoy [interview starts at around 20:30 if you want to…

show #34: is sl vr? [rerun interview with ben lang]

one more rerun before season 2 starts, folks! a conversation with ben lang from the roadtovr blog centering around the question if one can be  truly immersed in secondlife or not. enjoy and discuss: now read/watch [before you comment]: – mona eberhardt’s post about refocusing the vr debate –  our sponsor leaps into vr but…

show #27 [rerun]: pamela ain’t buying the hype!

on behalf of myself and jo i apologize: we are aware that everyone is expecting an interview with dr.jacki morie today about past present and future of vr, but things during this summer hiatus of our beloved podcast have been crazy busy to say the least… the interview with jacki is in the can but there is simply no…

show #22: anthropology in virtual worlds

welcome to the off-season set of shows [yes we ARE on vacation!]: pre-recorded interviews with fascinating newsmakers from all over the virtual reality map. we are starting this friday with tom boellstorff, professor of anthropology at uc irvine and author of many books including “coming of age in second life”. enjoy a great discussion on issues of “real” relevance…

show #18: lindens are people too! [part 3]

you wanted more linden interviews and what are we going to present this week? yes exactly: a conversation with a linden who enjoys quality tv shows like “macgyver”! plus race-car driving sl pioneers…. ….and of course karl krantz who is tirelessly educating vr youngsters about a little known [albeit vast] digital universe: more reading material to deepen…

show #12: the proprietary metaverse?

yes we most certainly are discussing the facebook/oculus deal however maria korolov from hypergrid business is also in the house. she gives us a fab history lesson [AND advice for the future ] in regards to open source worlds and  leadership in digital platforms [is linden lab listening?]. this big hour is filled to the brink,…

show #10: oculus!!!

friends: time for oculus rift demo roller-coasters and tiny little tuscany replicas to move aside coz….. “they may have the goggles but WE got the world!” [i am printing a shirt with that slogan RIGHT now while waiting for my loaner oculus to be shipped from maine!] yes it is true: oculus integration into sl is…

show #9: SL GO

SL GO [by onlive] renders sl in the cloud in the most beautiful way for tablets, old laptops and every TV on the planet plus: we give-away a leap motion! what more do you want? perhaps coffee for us$ 1,50? ok then, here ya go: now on to contextual links: – strawberry on sl go…

show #8: the BIG picture

what a show: oculus components are running out, new linden lab ceo ebbe altberg loves his job [so far], researcher nick yee says the virtual is real and the local sheet music store owner pamela says the virtual is make-believe and totally NOT real! oh and yes: second life is growing again! listen [on stitcher it…

show #7: look he’s talking!

what if someone invites you to a meet and greet with the new ceo of the company behind the most amazingly empowering [and sustainable] digital product coming out of silicon valley in over 10 years & you show up? well i admit: i put all these qualifiers into the opening sentence to get some google search…