Louise Later (SL), who is legally blind, will be with us to discuss how Second Life is used by the visually impaired

How Can Second Life Be Used by the Visually Impaired

http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2008/09/how-can-second-life-be-used-by-visually.html

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

People with special needs and learning differences are near and dear to my heart, so this is one that has to be passed along.

Whether or not Second Life is the platform of our future, if you’re attending conferences like NECC and listening to academicians, 3D virtual worlds USED WELL can reach kids who we’re struggling to reach everywhere.

Today, this is what is happening:

Louise Later (SL), who is legally blind, will be with us to discuss how Second Life is used by the visually impaired. She will demonstrate two scripted objects currently under development designed specifically for the visually impaired: a mobility cane and a guide dog, and she will also talk about how EVA (an screen readin g tool) benefits visually impaired users, and her work with Virtual Ability, a Colorado-based startup developing products to assist people with different type of disabilities to utilize Second Life.

Healthcare Support Groups in Online Virtual Worlds, by john-norris.net

Online Support Group’s Introduction to Virtual Worlds

http://john-norris.net/2008/09/16/online-support-groups-introduction-to-virtual-worlds/

September 16th, 2008

If you run a healthcare support group online (be that a message board, forum, IRC, etc…) and are wondering about jumping into virtual worlds, I hope the following paper is helpful.

If you are running a face to face healthcare support group and wonder about doing so in a virtual world, this paper may also be helpful. However, there are some general things about online support I do not address.

If you are looking for an introduction to the basics of Second Life, this is really not the paper for you. But if you want to know how groups function without going into Second Life, this paper may be a good start.

Healthcare Support Groups in Online Virtual Worlds (10 page pdf)

If you have suggestions for this paper, please drop me a line, or add your comment below. I’ve released this under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license and only want it to make it as useful as possible.

October 7h, 2008 Second Life Conference: Stepping into Health

The “Stepping into Health” Conference will take place on October 7th, 2008.

http://www.steppingintovirtualworlds.org/

During this conference, we will talk about and actually visit some of the best and most creative work being done in promoting health and healthcare in a virtual world environment. It will be held entirely in the virtual world of Second Life.
During the conference, participants will:

* Hear keynote presentations from Randy Hinrichs and Ramesh Ramloll(Moriz Gupte in Second Life).

Randy Hinrichs is a managing partner of 2b3d, a virtual world full service company that provides development and consulting services for Fortune 1000 corporations and world class educational institutions. Prior to founding 2b3d, Randy worked at Microsoft for over a decade in advanced strategies and policy exploring eScience and eHealth. He founded Microsoft Research’s learning science research efforts enabling 3D virtual worlds learning with MIT, multicast video conferencing for world leading universities, virtual laboratories and mobile and pen based learning platforms. He is currently developing the “Medipelago,” a series of healthcare-related virtual world environments.

Ramesh Ramloll is developer of Play2Train, a virtual training space in SecondLife designed to support Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), Simple Triage Rapid Transportation (START), Risk Communication and Incident Command System (ICS) Training. This virtual environment spreads over two islands, with one island dedicated to a virtual town and the other a virtual hospital.

* Walk through and learn about a variety of health-related sites in Second Life
* Participate in “Table Talks” on health-related topics of common interest with participants from around the world
* Take part in a panel discussion with a variety of leaders who are using virtual worlds to promote health and healthcare.

The cost of this day-long conference is only $79.00. To learn more about the conference,or to register, see the links at left.

Grid.centromimir.it Opensim for Health

Nasce il primo abbozzo di una Opensim dedicata alla Salute, fisica, psichica, biologica, sociale.

Registrati ora gratuitamente e inizia ad esplorare.
Il nostro Mondo è creato dai suoi abitanti, puoi iniziare da subito a costruire.
Incontra persone, chatta, gioca, inventa!

Vi verrà risposto nel più breve tempo possibile inviandovi la Password.

Grid Mimir

Per visitare la grid potete utizzare il client di Second Life o Hippo aggiungendo la seguente riga

-loginpage http://grid.centromimir.it -loginuri http://grid.centromimir.it:8002/

La Grid funziona al momento come Sandbox, ovvero qualunque visitatore puo’ costruire e rezzare oggetti, compatibilmente con lo stato dell’arte di Opensim, attualmente ancora in fase alfa

A richiesta, è possibile aggiungere proprie regioni (in tema) a titolo completamente gratuito, tranne il rimborso spese (20 Euro/mese per 4 regioni) nel caso non siano ospitate su un proprio server.

La pagina di apertura è:

Centro Mimir Campus. Mondi Virtuali in Campo Educativo e Scolastico
http://grid.centromimir.it/moodle/

powered by

che apre con due Corsi dal titolo:

• Apprendere, Insegnare, Creare in Second Life
• Sperimentare e utlizzare OpenSim
• Caffe Freud

Chi legge e fosse interessato all’applicazione di Moodle in campo educativo e scolastico è libero di visitare il Campus e di frequentare i corsi, ed anche di suggerirne di nuovi!

HealthCyberMap.org

… Mapping the Health Cyberspace Using Hypermedia GIS and Clinical Codes

Welcome to
HEALTHCYBERMAP.ORG

Help Us Evaluate HealthCyberMap

Online Evaluation Questionnaire
(The formative evaluation period has ended on 1st of June 2002, and evaluation data have been pooled and analysed.)

Current Research Pilot Interfaces

HealthCyberMap World Maps of Web Resources

HealthCyberMap BodyViewer Web Resource Maps

Browse HealthCyberMap by Resource Type/ Category (dc:Type)

Browse HealthCyberMap by Resource Language (dc:Language)

HealthCyberMap Semantic Subject Search

HealthCyberMap Textual Resource Index Using ICD-9-CM Top-Level Categories

Future Possibilities/ Interfaces

Multi-axial Classification of Resources Based on Two or More Dublin Core Elements

HealthCyberMap Customisation - Detecting User’s Location

Problem to Knowledge Linking Demonstration: ICD-9-CM Codes as Knowledge Hooks

Mapping Health Problems in HealthCyberMap and Identifying Information Needs and Gaps

Map of Dermatology

Web 2.0 and the 3D Web/Second Life

Under the Hood

HealthCyberMap Quick Tour (PowerPoint - zipped)

Related Presentation by the Author (PowerPoint)

On Quality Benchmarking of Online Resources (PowerPoint in PDF) and their Readability (PowerPoint)

HealthCyberMap Project Proposal/ Summary

Map Iconicity: HealthCyberMap Compared to Another Approach

HealthCyberMap in ESRI ArcView

HealthCyberMap in Protégé (Ontology)

Towards a Medical Semantic Web: HealthCyberMap Subject Search and Problem to Knowledge Linking (Using ICD-9-CM Codes)

Future Direction: HealthCyberMap as a Location-based Health Information Service (PowerPoint)

HealthCyberMap Real-time Broken Link Checker

Partial Bibliography/ Webliography

Publications

© 2001-2007 HealthCyberMap.org. All Rights Reserved.
PhD Research Project by Maged N Kamel Boulos
(PhD awarded in December 2002)
Centre for Measurement and Information in Medicine,
School of Informatics, City University, London, UK

The medical community is trying to find real-life benefits from the virtual reality of Second Life

Parallel universe: Entering an online 3-D world
The medical community is trying to find real-life benefits from the virtual reality of Second Life.

By Pamela Lewis Dolan, AMNews staff. Sept. 8, 2008.

In Second Life, a computer world where just about anything goes, several physicians and health care professionals are finding that “anything” can include work that makes real life easier for themselves, their colleagues and their patients.

But in a world void of the laws and protections governing real-life medical professionals, taking advantage of the opportunities a virtual world offers comes with risks.

“There’s more to it than ‘Hey, this is a very cool application,’ ” said Maurice Ramirez, DO, PhD, president and founder of the Orlando, Fla., consulting firm High Alert. “Done right, this could solve a myriad of problems. Done wrong, it is a security nightmare to not only patients but to doctors.”

Reporter Pamela Lewis Dolan crossed between real life and virtual life for this story on the medical-related activity in the online 3-D world inhabited by millions since San Francisco-based Linden Lab launched Second Life in 2003 (www.secondlife.com).

Passages in italics indicate Dolan is navigating Second Life as Annastasia Blaisdale, her avatar, or online character. Straight type represents Dolan writing as herself. In both worlds, everyone to whom Dolan — or Blaisdale — spoke was aware of her real name and her status as an AMNews staff reporter.

Full text of AMNews content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers, here:

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/09/08/bisa0908.htm

If You Think Second Life is over, IBM does't, and embrace OpenSim, too

IBM Drinks Second Life Kool-Aid, Makes More For Lotus Users (IBM)

Eric Krangel | September 4, 2008 6:00 PM

Think Second Life is over? IBM doesn’t. Yesterday Big Blue announced it was integrating support for Second Life (and a few other virtual world platforms) into its Lotus Sametime corporate instant-messaging product.

Why? IBM thinks if an engineer has to walk a customer through replacing a part on a computer server, the two can meet in Second Life and together manipulate a 3D model. Or, Sametime users could collaborate in a virtual world to review a Powerpoint presentation as avatars, which is better and easier than old-fashioned text IM or the telephone because… well… we’re not sure either.

The push to integrate Lotus Sametime with Second Life is the latest move in IBM’s full-throttle embrace of virtual worlds. The company has been working closely with Second Life parent company Linden Lab to develop a set of protocols that allow avatars to move between virtual worlds, and became the first company to host private Second Life regions for internal use.

Source: http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/9/ibm-drinks-second-life-kool-aid-makes-more-for-lotus-users-ibm-

A critical overview of three-dimensional (3-D) virtual worlds

Versatile, Immersive, Creative and Dynamic Virtual 3-D Healthcare Learning Environments: A Review of the Literature

Journal of Medical Internet Research

Margaret M Hansen, EdD, MSN, RN

School of Nursing, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Corresponding Author:
Margaret M Hansen, EdD, MSN, RN

School of Nursing, University of San Francisco
2130 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
USA
Phone: +1 415-422-2017
Fax: +1 415-422- 2217
Email: mhansen [at] usfca.edu

ABSTRACT
The author provides a critical overview of three-dimensional (3-D) virtual worlds and “serious gaming” that are currently being developed and used in healthcare professional education and medicine. The relevance of this e-learning innovation for teaching students and professionals is debatable and variables influencing adoption, such as increased knowledge, self-directed learning, and peer collaboration, by academics, healthcare professionals, and business executives are examined while looking at various Web 2.0/3.0 applications. There is a need for more empirical research in order to unearth the pedagogical outcomes and advantages associated with this e-learning technology. A brief description of Roger’s Diffusion of Innovations Theory and Siemens’ Connectivism Theory for today’s learners is presented as potential underlying pedagogical tenets to support the use of virtual 3-D learning environments in higher education and healthcare.

(J Med Internet Res 2008;10(3):e26)
doi:10.2196/jmir.1051

KEYWORDS

Education; Healthcare; Technology