Exhibit, drowned in glow…

I have designed quite a few image displays, and I now have another one to put in that folder. But the best lesson today was the result of collaboration.

Fresh off of winning the Linden Prize, the Studio Wikitecture guys invited the Wikitecture community to help design an exhibit for the SL6B event. This time, the project was more of a sprint, with many ideas submitted quickly.

Interactive Media Controls

The need for media displays presented a chance to design several interactive objects including audio, video, and slideshow elements. Some features were implemented due to the particular circumstances of the exhibit. Other features were settled upon simply because of restrictions imposed by the event. One object saw two major revisions, with the final approach likely to work out nicely. Problem: Objects must be shared with the event group; but, group members were not given the ability to deed those objects to the group.

Omei Turnbull delivered the game-winning feature: A single media server allowing non-deeded objects (the buttons) to make calls to the parcel media commands without having to be deeded to the group. This allows modification of the buttons and displays to continue, without having to call a Sim Coordinator every time a new version is to be tested; just have each object send user data and selections to the controller, and it does the parcel media assignment.

Nicely done, Omei.

Fading images; lights, sound, action!

The Studio Wikitecture exhibit can be found when the event opens on Tuesday using this SLurl. You might find something of interest in the events calendar. And, if you are curious for more, then Daniel Voyager’s SL6B post has all the event links you could want! (Nice work, Daniel!)

Omei prevails!
(First rezident to complete the quest)

In many ways, The Shield Quest (my current project) is an experiment. Most obviously, it is the largest project I have undertaken; various scenes, many objects, sounds, textures, animations, sculpties, machinima. More parts, more scripts, greater complexity than anything I have built.

The first machinima is embedded, below.

The biggest challenge with this project, however, may be the operation of a group. From the start, I have wanted to create an opportunity for any number of participants to collaborate. Recruiting members and then introducing them to the project takes time. Additionally, I am identifying and developing a couple of web-based documents (Google Doc and MediaWiki). I am curious to see if those resources are used.

Another aspect that is new to me is the activity’s combination of instruction with entertainment. Equal parts medieval quest and new-user education, the tagline is…

Orientation Island meets Legend of Zelda

What if new users could enter a game-like activity that required the use of various user interface (UI) features? What if, on finishing their initial orientation experience, users could be immersed in a playful romp, a harrowing adventure, or a murder mystery…maybe in a haunted house?

If fun, interactive spaces nudged new users into using the most commonly used menu options, preference settings, and other UI elements, would they learn the interface more easily? Would they recall that information more readily?

Would they stay around longer?

A big build, an experiment in collaboration, an attempt to smooth the learning curve…yes, all of these. But primarily, this project is a laboratory; a proving ground for design criteria found during my own quest to identify elements of effective virtual world design. If all goes well, many conversations will crop up; with educators and content creators discussing various approaches for a particular part of the design.

That dialog has already started. (Huzzah!)

The collaborative phase is underway. On Friday, eight users were invited to enter The Shield Quest. On completion, each is prompted to indicate whether they would like to join the development team; The Shield Guild. (More about this group another time.)

Azwaldo visits The Cloud Oracle

Presently, the activity is a loose arrangement of scenes and interactions. I launched the project with the simplest design I could manage, using the most basic objects and minimal scripting that represent the least possible amount of content that still creates the outline of an adventure, from start to finish. In this way, group members will have many opportunities to contribute.

Also, leaving gaps will provide room for the lesson to grow. The list of objectives is incomplete; all of the UI skills to be included have not been identified. The narrative will grow as we incorporate new UI features: Want to implement the use of Ctrl-Alt pan? Let’s hide a riddle text-ure at the Cloud Oracle (see image). Want to incorporate use of the sound volume slider? Let’s stream clues into the Crystal Palace with sound clips, with some so low that the user has to pump up the volume.

The activity will remain public; no admission will be charged. The design is not meant to be sold or marketed, sponsors will not be sought. Instead, content creators will be invited to participate and credits will roll at the end of the quest. How about a tapestry? Or a shrine…with participants listed in gilded finery? Another display could offer a notecard with participants’ names, web address or grid location, and SLurls. This would be made available on touch, not given automatically.

I plan to maintain the space for as long as it remains practical. It is quite possible that the design will continue to be refined for many months, even after it is “complete” and deemed ready for new users.

For more than a year, I have wanted to bring together educators and content creators to collaborate in the development of large-scale, interactive learning experiences. The Shield Guild now has four members. Only one of us is currently an instructor in First Life.

A second quest has already been discussed.

Can an open, collaborative project successfully produce an interactive learning activity in SL? Would you like to see this happen? With the caution that this is a work in progress, I invite you to an adventure…and the quest is only the first step. If you are curious, please send an email, post a comment here, or contact Azwaldo Villota in world. The first introductory video is below. Until our paths cross…

…may fair winds find you.

I mentioned a personal project in the last post. That design should find ample treatment here; in fact, this blog was created to track its development, actually beginning the day the project found purchase; the day I found land with which to experiment.

I have been describing the learning activity—and the project that encompasses it—to a few rezidents; eight or nine “cook’s tours” reducing my rambling into a concise description, locating each gem of an objective in the messy rough of ideas. I can say that I am learning much about virtual land administration and group management, and have been scripting effects that I might not have imagined.

But, in this post, rather than indulge what I have already found I want to describe something I am looking for…

Notecard? Floating text? Text-ure?

Of the many design issues that have surfaced, the most challenging is the packaging of introductory information. Given the need to present instructions (user interface features, menu options, user preference settings, etc.), what is the best approach in combining the use of notecards, scripted chat, floating text, sound bytes and video?

This problem did not surprise me completely, though. The presentation of information is one of the types of design issues that I found reported elsewhere. I just could not have predicted the various ways this issue would eventually rear its head.

The learning activity itself will not be a steady stream of directions, like Help Island or any of the orientation paths I have visited; still, the user will benefit from some sort of introduction. Put it all in a video and the show drags on and on. Put too much in a notecard and users will drop it like a hot potato. (Of the last ten notecards you opened on arrival in a sim, how many did you read completely?)

And persistent, floating text just looks wrong; funky, neon mono-font hanging in mid-air. (Note to self: consider using a “Help” button of some sort…maybe a magic bottle that grants three hints to any user; the message delivered in floating text that appears only on touch.)

I have been told—more than once, already—that folks don’t like to read in SL, especially younger rezidents. Well, I am not ready to accept that “no text, no reading” is an approach that will serve us well. But, virtual world instruction does seem to have more delivery options than F2F. So…

What is the best approach?