None
Wednesday, 23 September 2009

The University of Western Australia will be launched in Second Life soon and residents of the popular 3D internet virtual world will be able to walk around campus, attend lectures and enter a competition to design the University's Second Life cultural precinct.

The real launch will be simultaneous with the virtual one - and carried out by UWA Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Robson.

Second Life enables residents to interact through avatars, or virtual representations of themselves. They live in Second Life as they would in the real community, carrying out business transactions, socialising, working - and going to uni.

Besides being a marketing tool to attract future students who may live too far away to visit UWA in reality, the Second Life campus has an educational edge.

Professor Wade Halvorson of UWA's School of Business and Professor Mark Pegrum of the Graduate School of Education use Second Life as a teaching tool. Paul Bourke, Senior Research Fellow at the University's West Australian Supercomputer Program (WASP) is using the 3D interactive world as part of his Collaborative Visualisation research.

The launch of the UWA Second Life campus is the culmination of two years' work by Manager of the School of Physics Jay Jay Jegathesan and Honourary Research Fellow Dr Chris Thorne.

WHAT: Launch of UWA's virtual Second Life campus

WHEN: 3pm Friday October 2

WHERE: Ross Lecture Theatre, Physics Building (Carpark 16, Fairway Entrance 2)

RSVP: Jay Jay Jegathesan, [email protected]

Media references

Jay Jay Jegathesan (Manager, School of Physics) (+61 8) 6488 2740 / (+61 4) 17 180 564
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs) (+61 8) 6488 5563 / (+61 4) 32 637 716

Tags

Channels
Events — International — Media Statements — University News
Groups
Cultural Precinct