Second Life

This article is about Second Life, the multi-user environment. For other uses of the term Life, please see Life (disambiguation).

Second Life (SL) is a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) created by the San Francisco (USA)-based Linden Lab in 2002. A consumer version of the software was released in 2003. From the first press release (30 OCT 2002):

"Using new technology to enable a dramatic leap forward in the self-expression possible in a 3D online world, we have created a new experience that is, in nearly every sense of the words, a Second Life," said Philip Rosedale, CEO and founder of Linden Lab. "Our residents create a new identity in a world that they shape -- whether vixen or villain, architect or explorer. With early creators spending as much as 60 hours a week in-world, we believe Second Life is poised to revolutionize the online experience."

Linden Lab reported 1,000,000 registered users in ... and passed 10 million registrants in...

User Interface and Interaction

Anyone can create a free Second Life account, and one can download the free client program (approximately 32 MB). ...include screen shot... The computer-based embodiment of a person on the screen is known as an "avatar." Second Life refers to its users as "residents."

Second Life is not a game in the traditional sense, in that there are no objectives to reach except those the user sets for him or herself. There is no system of points, levels, scores, and no overall strategy guides ones in-world interaction. Instead, the program is primarily social and provides a good deal of opportunity for economic interaction. Except for the basic elements of "land" and "sky," all content in Second Life is user-created, including clothing for avatars, buildings, roads, spaces for exploration, etc.

Economics of Second Life

Linden Lab created an economic system in Second Life through which residents buy and sell services and virtual representations of items (clothing, homes, cars, etc.). The monetary unit is the Linden Dollar (L$), which is worth approximately US$0.33.

Education in Second Life

Two sources with a good deal of information about educational efforts in Second Life include:

• SimTeach Wiki
• SLEDucation Wiki

See External Links subpage for the websites.

Media Coverage

(major articles about SL go here)

Competition

• Active Worlds
• Weblo.com
• There
• Entropia Universe
• Dotsoul Cyberpark
• Red Light Center
• Kaneva

Sun Microsystems has created its own virtual world in which its employees can interact, and many other corporations are doing the same.