The final three sessions from X Media Lab today contained further dissertations on virtual worlds from different perspectives. Lisbeth Goodman from the SMARTlab Digital Media Institute in London gave a fascinating talk about use of body movement mapping in work with the disabled. The SMARTlab also has a Second Life island, and has spent a lot of time looking at alternative platforms, including Microsoft Virtual Earth for mapping spaces for people with disabilities.  

Keren Flavell from the Second Life Cable Network discussed her team’s work in promoting the activity in Second Life into the real world, along with various insights about activity in the virtual realm. She also discussed how virtual worlds satisfy an innate human desire that has not been satisfied before in terms of social interaction.

Bruce Joy discussed his VastPark initiative, which seeks to bring together many virtual realms into a web. His vision is one of shared realities, through letting consumers create their own virtual worlds, that they can use on their own or connect to others. Each creator maintains responsibility for their own world, with their own rules.