Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
available services for the disabled is HealthInfo
Island. Another location catering to users with
disabilities is Virtual Ability Island, where you
can find a carefully constructed pathway for us-
ers to learn basic SL skills. Text on signs is large
and key information is highlighted in yellow. An
enclosed pathway prevents users with disabilities
from losing control of their avatars while learning
to fly. There are visual and auditory reinforcements
for skills learned all along the way. Deaf people
can use the text-based communication tools of SL.
People who are homebound or otherwise limited
in their movement can use SL to participate in
events that take place at remote First Life locations.
Some people with disabilities are even using SL
to earn a living. Support groups of various kinds
are developing, as well as centers within SL for
helping people with disabilities to find people with
similar disabilities or with an interest in helping
them. Interfaces are being created that even allow
thoughts to control the movement of an avatar in
SL, which will be particularly useful for people
with quadriplegic paralysis. One remaining issue
is that the SL interface is not currently usable by
people with visual disabilities. However, since
the SL client software is now in open source, it
should be possible to build a version that follows
the guidelines set forth by the W3C Web Acces-
sibility Initiative.
An interesting technique that is being used
more often is the provision of specialized HUDs
that attach to the Second Life user interface and
contain information about a given topic or task
and that respond appropriately to user actions
or movements. HUDs are used, for example, to
display information about velocity, bearing, and
distance traveled while flying an airplane in SL.
Another example, mentioned above, is a HUD that
offers a tour of various art galleries in Second Life.
A third is a HUD given on the island run by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion that guides users through the various exhibits
and resources on the island. A good educational
HUD example is S.L.E.U.T.H., which offers help
to newcomers to Second Life on navigation and
communication. Another is Treasure HUD, which
allows an instructor to create quizzes or treasure
hunts in which students who answer questions
correctly get a landmark that takes them to the
next question. HUDs can be developed to deliver
almost any information that can be imagined,
and to give the user more precise control over
any activity (for example, facial expressions).
They can contain helpful information, tutorials,
images, customized maps; interfaces to web sites
or blogs; interfaces to in-world games such as
poker and swordfights or recreational activities
such as swimming and sailing; notifications about
new products; or the location and/or availability
of other users.
Many online courses utilize what is known
as a learning management system (LMS) such
as BlackBoard or Moodle, which provide such
tools as calendars, chat rooms, discussion boards,
quizzes, and other means for tracking information
about student participation and learning. While
Second Life itself does not offer these tools,
Sloodle—a “flavor” of Moodle designed for Sec-
ond Life—has been developed to facilitate use of
SL for online courses. Sloodle is open-source, and
free to users (who must supply their own servers).
Sloodle includes a HUD to support blogging to
the Sloodle web site, as well as some classroom
gestures such as raising the hand, several in-world
tools that link to the course database to facilitate
enrollment and access, and a Chat Logger to
synchronize chat discussions between the Moodle
web site and SL itself. This has been used to allow
teens to participate with adults in a discussion in
which the teens are in the Teen section of SL and
the adults are on the web.
Simbiotic Translator V2 is a tool that allows
users in SL to communicate via text with speakers
of more than twenty languages. Volunteer docents
on the International Society for Technology in
Education (ISTE) island find the translator helpful
when working with international educators. Worn
as a HUD that works with local chat, Simbiotic
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