1. Artificial Intelligent Agents, Multiple Robots & Swarms Exploring Mars and Performing On Site Data Analysis.
2. Virtual Astronaut Simulation, Modeling & Training Via "Serious Games."
3. Focus on Data Analysis of Large Data Sets Using Artificial Intelligence
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Intelligent Life Beyond Earth? We may send it.
Simulation:
ARRIVE ON MARS AND BEGIN BRIEFING ON THE CURIOSITY AI PROJECT
Humankind has often wondered, “Is there intelligent life beyond Earth?” With the recent Augustine Report findings and the New NASA Plan that stresses unmanned exploration, the demand and use of humanlike and non-humanlike machines to be the robotic explorers in our solar system and beyond has become increasingly important. Robotic explorers, both humanlike and non-humanlike in appearance, can reduce the danger to humans by gathering environmental data and sending that data back to Earth for detailed analysis. Perhaps of greatest importance, AI robotic explorers have the potential to serve as “intelligent assistants” to aid those working in “the field.” These hypothetical scenarios are modeled in the virtual world Second Life project “Curiosity AI.” In particular, the ability of AI machines to control other machines; to sense, transmit and remember environmental data; and to perform tasks in groups are explored.
SIMULATION OF IN-SITU AI DATA REQUEST AND PROCESSING (PHOENIX)
In a presentation given by Tara Estlin, one of NASA’s Artificial Intelligence programmers whose work has been useful for several Mars rovers, one of the problems identified is the need for In-Situ data analysis. Data transmitted by the rovers only has a certain window of dish time when transmitting to the DSN receivers on Earth, so reducing the amount of data sent to only the most relevant is an important goal. The ability for an AI to summarize data therefore would be an asset. This demonstration shows Curiosity Scientist delegating to the rover a request to the Phoenix lander---to calculate and report the sum the first 20 readings of atmospheric pressure data for day 5 of the Phoenix mission. One way this type of in-situ analysis could be used is to detect extreme pressure drops which may be a sign of dust devils. If these spontaneous dust devils were detected, more than one robot could be coordinated so as to record these interesting phenomena while they are occurring.
SWARM BEHAVIOR SIMULATION
The simulated Mars Embla is an example of an expert machine. AI can be used to identify other AI and delegate responsibility to a machine with a specific expert capability, perhaps one that it lacks itself, like the previous example. One of the possibilities for future systems is an expectation that AI may serve as emissary exchange agents for collection and routing of other AI queries. This type of cooperative behavior allows communication with each other and the coordination of behavior to jointly accomplish tasks. In Second Life one way this can be accomplished is by programming robots to listen for certain commands while others ignore them. Another way is to program robots to only listen to certain AI agents, and ignore all other agents. In real life, the Curiosity rover is limited by its size, speed, and need to travel along a sometimes difficult terrain. In this simulation, Curiosity Scientist tells the rover to launch the Mars Embla swarm. The Mars Embla, modeled on the actual Embla, is small, travels much faster than the rover (50 mph compared to .6 mph), and hovers above the ground capable of flying up to 10,000 feet (which is above Mars’ dust devils). The Embla swarms quickly spread out to cover a lot of territory. The swarms are programmed to maintain a certain distance from each other. The swarms might be used to return simultaneous, multi-location readings back to Curiosity Scientist. In this case they are temperature readings, but they could be any type of readings or video capability for which the Embla is equipped. These readings might then be processed by Curiosity Scientist for in-situ analysis.
CURIOSITY’S HUMAN LIKENESS
Generally, the capabilities of AI agents can help people better manage “information overload” and to interact with data on a more “human” level. That is, an AI should be able to navigate the information superhighway reducing the information flow to meet the requester’s needs, communicate in natural language, and generate an emotional response. This attempt for computers to have a human-like response, was made famous by Alan Turing in 1950. So where is AI today? What’s beginning to occur is a paradigm shift from software-as-tool to software-as-assistant, performing tasks based on less specific requests. From the user's perspective, it means less work and help finding information while still lacking a good understanding of the subject matter during the process of learning and decision making. Say I’m a student and I want to write a report about quasars. I don't know anything about quasars yet, and I'm not sure where to look to find the best information available. Normally, I might turn to Google and use some resources that might in fact be unreliable. Here, Curiosity Scientist, an intelligent agent, can perform a search for my keyword in natural language. I can, of course, make a specific request to "Google quasars" and have the AI return the search result. But what is better is to have the ability to tell the AI to "Find astronomy resources on quasars." The AI is programmed to return results from authoritative, highly respected resources that professional astronomers (experts) turn to, revealing the latest research and findings in the field--sources I as a student probably did not know about. Like a library's pathfinder, the AI guides the learner to trustworthy, targeted academic resources without the student needing to evaluate what is trustworthy and what is not. Curiosity can also simulate human emotion not only through his words but his actions and facial expressions that are triggered when conversing in natural language—an aspect that was not a consideration for Turing. Turing also assumed that the computer would be honest. But just ask Curiosity and he will tell you he is alive.
OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE AND MOVEMENT
Curiosity can move autonomously, navigating around obstacles when needed. When called, he avoids the tall crater and rover to go to Archivist. He rezzes the Odyssey satellite which immediately goes into orbit around Mars. Afterwards, Curiosity can command both the rover and the orbiting satellite to communicate with one another (in this case communication is simulated as green “UHF” waves). Next, Curiosity tells the rover to go to Spirit. The rover responds by moving to a waypoint location near the Spirit rover. Both Curiosity Scientist and the Curiosity Rover are able to go into an “Explore” mode, where they move in pseudorandom motion within a limited range. Here, Archivist tells Curiosity Scientist to wander about, meaning he can move around within a 50 meter range. In this case, he unexpectedly wanders outside the Mar sim and falls into a pit. Without assistance, Curiosity navigates his way out of the pit and back into the Mars sim.
In addition to the movement skills demonstrated, Curiosity Scientist has many capabilities that just can’t be covered in this short video. For example, Curiosity can perform 133+ animations, communicate in both local chat and IM, and Tweet his location. He can make observations about avatars , such as performing “facial recognition” of sorts, to associate an avatar with their photograph. Curiosity even has his own group—and, on a timer, detects nearby avatars and automatically invites them to join. The rover also has a laser, which simulates the actual Curiosity rover’s ability to detect the chemical composition of targeted rocks when rocks and the laser come into contact. Generally, agent actions can be immediate or scheduled. In Second Life, immediate questions are asked in local chat while scheduled tasks offer and on and off feature. Finally, for those without access to Second Life, a video stream to UStream (when broadcasting) simulates machine vision where viewers can watch the action live.
Thanks for watching the video. If you have any questions about Curiosity Scientist or the Curiosity AI project, please contact Archivist Llewellyn in Second Life or Shannon Bohle (shannon [underscore] bohle [at] yahoo [dot] com.
For more information, listen to my radio interview: “Researcher Discusses Virtual Worlds, Artificial Intelligence and Mars Exploration” (Part 1, Part 2).
Monday, September 19, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
"Curiosity AI" Won 2nd Place in White House/DoD Challenge for Artificial Intelligence
Shannon Bohle's project “Curiosity AI” was a winner in a White House Challenge for Artificial Intelligence. Specifically she won second place for “AI Concept Exploration” in the DoD/US Army’s international 2011 Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge, including a check for $3,000, an engraved trophy, a ribbon, and a medallion from the DoD / US Army for “Simulation, Training & Research.”
The Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge is "an open, global Challenge to the world for the best of the best implementations as demonstrated in a virtual environment. The Challenge is an annual event led by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory - Simulation & Training Technology Center. The event is conducted to explore innovative and interactive solutions in virtual environments. The criteria are intentionally unbounded to encourage creative results."
Curiosity AI explores how artificial intelligence can communicate R&D concepts to be used in our future exploration of Mars. Curiosity AI focuses on a human controlling one AI which then controls many other AIs. Specifically, it proposes the use of a UAV flying hovercraft such as the Embla UAV. A UAV hovercraft like this would be capable of speeds of 50 miles per hour or more and would not limited by difficult terrain and could also navigate into caves on Mars and the Moon. The videos depicting a futuristic Mars Embla swarm were published in February (in a new media format on YouTube), and a presentation given at the IEEE Oregon Virtual Worlds Symposium on March 11, and submitted (as part of a larger project) for an AI contest in December of 2010.
Curiosity Scientist claims to not be afraid of IBM's Watson:
Curiosity Scientist behaves as an AI emissary agent, commanding a swarm of expert machines:
Curiosity Scientist performs in-situ data analysis and calculations from NASA's Mars Data Archive:
Curiosity Scientist shows emotional responses, gestures, actions in response to dialogue:
Curiosity Scientist performs federated searches across military databases based on natural language commands:
Satellite data communications:
Rover performs simulated spectroscopy to detect chemicals in Mars soil:
About the project
How to control the robots
In terms of defense applications, the project simulates how one human could operate many drones, including swarms. According to Tim Owings, deputy project manager for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office, “Right now, it takes two Soldiers to operate an unmanned aircraft,” he said. “We want to take that to one-to-one and even to one-to-four. We will need higher levels of autonomy in our unmanned aircraft systems if an operator controls multiple vehicles” (March 24, 2011). Shannon also had a chance to demonstrate the project and be on a panel discussing “The Future of AI” at the 2011 Defense Gametech Conference in Orlando and the 2011 Federal Consortium of Virtual Worlds at National Defense University in Washington, DC.
Serious Games Background:
* Nature Publishing Group, & NASA JPL — Second Life: https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/User:Archivist_Llewellynjavascript:void(0)
* Tech@State — http://tech.state.gov/profile/ShannonBohle
Following the Challenge, Bohle, chaired/organized/co-sponsored the National Robotics Week IEEE events in Second Life. She delivered a hands-on tutorial on the Artificial Intelligence Markup Language (AIML) during National Robotics Week. Her robotic design also won Honorable Mention in the international Gogbot 2010 Singularity Art & Design Show held in the Netherlands (below):
Bohle's commentary about "Curiosity AI" can be heard on the "The Mark Johnson Show" (WDEV FM 96.1 and AM 550) (Part 1, Part 2) in an episode called, "Researcher discusses virtual worlds, artificial intelligence and Mars exploration."
Virtual Excellence AWARDS 2011 - Nominated in SciTech Category
Shannon Bohle holds the Master in Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree and is a professional librarian and archivist.Her background includes approximately 15 years of work experience in informal education (library, archive, museum) and formal education (K-16). She is a writer, editor and presenter. Shannon has over 50 publications in various media formats. During her graduate study for the MLIS, she completed a project relating to the history of the U.S. Space Shuttle Program at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
Nominated by Riyaaz Shaik, RSDE – Microsoft Research
Prior to obtaining her graduate degree, Shannon worked at the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum assisting with the education programming and working as a tour guide. Later, Shannon worked with the collection of one of the founding members of NACA (the precursor to NASA) located in the Oberlin College Archives.
Shannon then served for a year at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory as the archivist of a living Nobel Prize winning scientist’s collection (James D. Watson, co-discoverer with Crick and Wilkens of the structure of DNA) in the area of molecular biology. This included the official compilation of his books in translation in 26 languages.
She has lectured on molecular biology digital resources at the University of California, Berkeley (2007) and science archives and history at the University of Oxford (2008).
Her publishing background includes Technical Reviewer (along with Brion Vibber, Chief Technical Officer, Wikimedia Foundation) for MediaWiki (O’Reilly, 2008), a bestselling book in Library and Information Science Automation, and editorial duties for two books published by Cambridge University Press (2004-5) as well as three other books. Shannon’s creative approach toward digital libraries and computing can be found in Library Journal.
Recently, Shannon was awarded a full scholarship for three years to attend the University of Cambridge in the UK, where she plans to complete her Ph.D. in the History and Philosophy of Science.
Additional accomplishments are noted in Marquis’ Who’s Who in American Education, Marquis’ Who’s Who of American Women, Marquis’ Who’s Who in America, and Marquis’ Who’s Who in the World.
VIRTUAL LIFE
Shannon is the founder of the Women in Science, Tech & Medicine group in Second Life, sponsoring speakers who emphasize the roles of women in STEM careers. Past lectures included female role models such as geneticist and Nobel laureate, Barbara McClintock.
She or her avatar has appeared in numerous science and technology publications and participated in talks with people including: Nature, Discover Magazine, The BBC, Bill Nye the Science guy, Jeremy Bailenson, Nobel laureates (former Chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory James D. Watson, NASA Astrophysicist John C. Mather, Professor at the Université Paris-Sud Albert Fert, former President of Caltech, David Baltimore) as well as astronauts.
Space and Astrophysics
Shannon presently serves at the volunteer Director of the Library and Archives at NASA CoLab in Second Life, a public-private collaboration with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It is the first library or archives in a synthetic immersive environment recognized by the Library of Congress (MARC Code: CaPsLAN). The project received various media coverage, including an article on CNN’s website. Her Second Life machinima video, “Can Results from Planck Prove the Inflation Paradigm?” with physics Nobel laureate John C. Mather, received a special showing at the Nobel Museum in Sweden. Mather’s research led to strong empirical support to The Big Bang Theory. After the video, Dr. Mather was a speaker to a sizable audience in Second Life at NASA e-Education island and Stella Nova. A second machinima video, with physics Nobel laureate Albert Fert also aired on the NobelPrize.org channel.
Shannon has co-presented about the library at National Defense University during the Federal Consortium of Virtual Worlds conference (2010), and it also gained attention at the Defense Technical Information Center conference. She presented “The Neil A. Armstrong Library and Archives: That’s One Small Step for a Virtual World Library, One Giant Leap for Education” at the 2010 Virtual Worlds Best practices in Education Conference with this Slidecast that has over 4,500 views.
Shannon presented at the national convention for The Mars Society about Mars in Second Life. She was awarded the Linden Prize “Top 10″ in 2010 by Linden Lab’s CEO to “formally recognize the best of-the-best” for having “greatly enhanced and changed thousands of lives around the world.” For her Linden Prize nomination, she was recognized as a distinguished alumnus from Kent State University. Shannon also co-sponsored and organized a machinima contest for the National Space Society.
Digital Preservation
Shannon has lectured on the subject of machinima at two conferences, Innovation for Libraries in the 21st Century (2010) and the 2011 Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education, having written a Best Practices Guideline in accordance with The National Archives and Records Administration Guidelines for Audio and Visual Materials. She is the leader of the Archivists of Second Life group, and her avatar made the cover of The Metropolitan Archivist (New York City).
Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, and 3D Data Visualization
Shannon’s 3D visualization of p53 protein using data from the Protein Data Bank was published on the website of the journal Nature.
Engineering, Robotics, and Artificial Intelligence
Shannon is a member of the IEEE Virtual Worlds Standard Working Group and chaired/organized/co-sponsored the National Robotics Week IEEE events in Second Life. She delivered a hands-on tutorial on the Artificial Intelligence Markup Language (AIML) during National Robotics Week. Her robotic design won Honorable Mention in the international Gogbot 2010 Singularity Art & Design Show held in the Netherlands.
Her current project “Curiosity AI” was a winner in a White House Challenge for Artificial Intelligence. Specifically she won second place in “AI Concept Exploration” in the DoD/US Army’s international 2011 Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge, including a check for $3,000, an engraved trophy, a ribbon, and a medallion from the DoD / US Army for “Simulation, Training & Research.” Curiosity AI explores how artificial intelligence can communicate R&D concepts to be used in our future exploration of Mars. Curiosity AI focuses on a human controlling one AI which then controls many other AIs. Specifically, it proposes the use of a UAV flying hovercraft such as the Embla UAV. A UAV hovercraft like this would be capable of speeds of 50 miles per hour or more and would not limited by difficult terrain and could also navigate into caves on Mars and the Moon. The videos depicting a futuristic Mars Embla swarm were published in February (in a new media format on YouTube), and a presentation given at the IEEE Oregon Virtual Worlds Symposium on March 11, and submitted (as part of a larger project) for an AI contest in December of 2010.
In terms of defense applications, the project simulates how one human could operate many drones, including swarms. According to Tim Owings, deputy project manager for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office, “Right now, it takes two Soldiers to operate an unmanned aircraft,” he said. “We want to take that to one-to-one and even to one-to-four. We will need higher levels of autonomy in our unmanned aircraft systems if an operator controls multiple vehicles” (March 24, 2011). Shannon also had a chance to demonstrate the project and be on a panel discussing “The Future of AI” at the 2011 Defense Gametech Conference in Orlando and the 2011 Federal Consortium of Virtual Worlds at National Defense University in Washington, DC. Currently she is volunteering to help develop the OpenSim project, MOSES (Military Open Simulator Enterprise Strategy).
Serious Games Background:
* DoD/Army — MOSES/STTC: http://107.7.21.240:8002/wifi
* DoD/Army, Nature Publishing Group, & NASA JPL — Second Life: https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/User:Archivist_Llewellyn
* IEEE — http://www.metaversestandards.org/index.php?title=User:Shannonb
* Tech@State — http://tech.state.gov/profile/ShannonBohle
Saket Singh Kaurav says:
May 27, 2011 at 12:41 am
Shannon Bohle is deserving candidate for the outstanding award. This will encourage her to introduce new innovative ideas in the field of library science. This appreciation will allow her to extract science and technology from library to in-front of world using Virtual World. We all should encourage her.
with regards
Saket Singh Kaurav
Robert E. Bennett says:
May 27, 2011 at 4:20 pm
I know Shannon from her work at the Lima Public Library in Lima, Ohio. She provided me with significant assistance on a research project concerning the last flight of Amelia Earhart. With her guidance, the Library was able to create a display of the collected works concerning the famed aviator and her navigator Fred Noonan. I would give her five stars for reference research.
James Davis says:
May 31, 2011 at 11:45 am
Shannon is a skilled craftsman in the realm of AI and Virtual Environments. I highly suspect she will be a significant contributor to next generation reference librarians. Her work on bridging virtual AI Agents into specific knowledge domains is impressive and I look forward to reading about Shannon’s future successes.
Nyra M. Bottley says:
June 12, 2011 at 12:05 am
Shannon Bohle is a dynamic lady and I highly recommend her for this award. I am working on my MBA currently in a Project Risk Management class, and Shannon assisted me with my research for my project on the Human Genome Project.
Click here to vote before Virtual Worlds Day, August 20, 2011.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
NSS Machinima Showcase and Award Ceremony
NSS Machinima Showcase and Award Ceremony
ADVERTISEMENT
SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 2010
2 PM SLT
University of Western Australia’s BOSL Amphitheater
http://slurl.com/secondlife/University%20of%20WA/72/72/1646
The National Space Society is pleased to present the first “NSS in SL” machinima contestant exhibition showing and award ceremony. Please join us for this wonderful event that combines Second Life arts and sciences. Celebrating the mission of the NSS for space exploration and the technical and artistic expertise of machinima artists is what this event is about. If you are interested in space, science fiction, animated films, music in Second Life, or filmmaking in a virtual world, please join us for this event! One winner will walk away with 100,000 lindens! There is plenty of room at the UWA’s BOSL Amphitheater—I’m told it seats 200 with no lag—so bring a friend!
This unprecedented machinima event sees the teaming up of two Linden Prize Finalists (Archivist Llewellyn of the Library and Archive at NASA CoLab (NASA JPL/Caltech), and Taralyn Gravois and Jayjay Zifanwe of the The University of Western Australia, along with with Archivist Llewellyn and Ariel Miranda of the National Space Society. This partnership is another exercise in serendipity as the NSS Machinima event was inspired by UWA's own Machinima Challenge which completed early this year.
The winner of the 2010 NSS in SL Machinima Contest was selected by the Executive Director of the National Space Society, Gary Barnhard. The event and videos will be featured on the NSS website, the NSS magazine AdAstra, the Society's newsletter and other media outlets.
CraigLyons Writer, who graciously permitted his music to be used in the videos, will be performing LIVE during the event. Craig is a professional musician whose music has been featured on national television programs in the United States (So You Think You Can Dance, The Real World) and on Japanese television. He has licensed music with Universal Music, FOX TV and MTV. Recently, Craig's performances in Second Life received coverage in the LA Times.
Website: http://www.craiglyons.net/
LA Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/09/entertainment/la-et-secondlife-concerts-20100609
Guest speaker, Rysan Fall, has made some real *waves* in the machinima community. He will be speaking about the upcoming U2 Concert in RL (Glastonbury, England) which will show his video, followed by a showing of what First Life Audiences will see at the U2 concert.
Fall Films: http://www.youtube.com/user/FallFilms
Glastonbury Concert: http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/news/u2-confirmed-for-glastonbury-2010
Today's venue is sponsored by the University of Western Australia & BOSL Group. We are grateful to LaPiscean Liberty & Aview TV for his technical expertise and assistance and all of the contestants who participated.
Questions about the event?
Please IM or drop a note card to Archivist Llewellyn.
EVENT SUMMARY
(Minor editing changes were made to improve readability)
Archivist Llewellyn
Introduction:
Welcome to the first “NSS in SL” machinima contestant exhibition showing and award ceremony. Thank you for participating today in what is an unprecedented machinima event--two Linden Prize finalists, four linked sims, 200 seats, and 11 amazing videos! If you enjoy space, science fiction, animated or scifi films, music in Second Life, or just want to learn more about filmmaking in a virtual world, this event will not disappoint. Let’s take a moment to reflect on the significance of this year, 2010, and science fiction film making. With today’s technology, and a virtual world environment like Second Life, average people can bring their vision for the future of space travel to life on the big screen, just as they can imagine and build them in Second Life. Filmed at the National Space Society island and other locations, the machinamatographers featured today have successfully combined the art and science of virtual film making to show us their visions of the future of human spaceflight. The imagination, curiosity, and desire to explore the universe underlies the heart of the National Space Society’s mission. If you or your organization would like to learn more about machinima, I will be giving a talk on this topic at the United States Air Force’s “Lunch and Learn” at Huffman Prairie (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Huffman%20Prairie%20Delta/69/61/28) on August 6th. I am also available to give presentations to groups about science education in Second Life and the Neil A. Armstrong Library and Archives at NASA CoLab as well as tours of the library. I’d like to thank the University of Western Australia and LaPiscean Liberty and Aview TV for providing this wonderful venue and the technology behind today’s event. Please stay until the end, where one winner will walk away with 100,000 lindens! We will also have a meet and greet “after party” at NSS where you can meet the people here today and ask questions. For those of you who are looking for voice, no it is in text due to the 4 sim regions. We will use video to show the videos of course, and it is compatible with both Viewer 1 and Viewer 2.
I would like now to introduce Ariel Miranda from the National Space Society who will say a few words.
Ariel Miranda
Hello everyone and thanks for joining us today! The National Space Society is a grass-roots, International organization (despite the name) dedicated to promoting the exploration and development of space. We're really excited about our presence here in the virtual world, and now we're pleased to have this opportunity to showcase our efforts and look to the future. Thanks to all the entrants who have participated. We have some great stuff here for us today!
With that, I'll shut up and return the floor to Archivist.
Archivist Llewellyn
Next, I'd like to introduce CraigLyons Writer, who graciously permitted his music to be used in the videos.
Craig is a professional musician whose music has been featured on national television programs in the United States (So You Think You Can Dance, The Real World) and on Japanese television. He has licensed music with Universal Music, FOX TV and MTV. Recently, Craig's performances in Second Life received coverage in the LA Times.
Website: http://www.craiglyons.net/
LA Times:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/09/entertainment/la-et-secondlife-concerts-20100609
CraigLyons Writer
Hi everyone! I'm so glad to see you all here! Let me start by saying what a huge honor it is to be involved in this event at all, let alone the extent that I am. Machinima is the future, and I'm so excited about this contest. As far as I'm concerned, everyone is already a winner—The attention on low-impact filming, space exploration, and music is amazing! I should point out quickly – I was supposed to perform today, but I'm traveling and wasn't able to get my stream working remotely. I am happy to announce I will be performing soon in celebration of this event though. Furthermore, I'm here meeting in RL with Rysan Fall, the director/producer of my Across The Universe video! This is just an indication of the power behind everything that's happening here today. I won't take up any more time, but I'm so proud of everyone involved here, and I'm so excited about all the videos I've seen. This is the future, and you all are on the edge of making great positive change to our world and beyond. Thank you!
Archivist Llewellyn
Yes, but please tell us about your tour!
CraigLyons Writer
Oh, I'd love to! I'm in the process of putting together my ECOnection tour. Many of you know me as an environmentalist. This summer, I will begin a low-impact RL tour to help educate the world at large about virtual performances, telecommuting, and machinima. These RL performances will be broadcast into SL so I can continue my quest to make mixed reality events a staple in the future. Please check out my new LA Times article as posted above to see the press that's already rolling in . . . and everyone involved today will undoubdetly be recognized too! And please visit my Across the Universe music video on youtube to see my exploration into space and machinima. Rysan is sitting here next to me in RL, and he says thank you all so much! Time for me to have a seat and enjoy the show!
Thank you so much Archivist and everyone!
Archivist Llewellyn
Thank you so much Craig! Next up is Ian Pahute. Ian is going to introduce his video.
Ian Pahute
As an artist, I am fascinated by the notion, ‘What defines me?’ And virtual worlds–such as Second Life–present a really exciting medium for creative practice . . . I believe that as technology blurs the boundaries of our perceived reality, we have to make it part of ourselves. But as in the real world, we need balance. Technology can so easily become an onslaught of the novel and we need more than this. My aspiration as an artist is to create virtual spaces where—like in the ancient, sacred, hidden and secret places in the real world—we can stop and just be. I'm also completely fascinated by the space program. And have followed it avidly since childhood. Although, my biggest childhood regret is that my mother and father sent me to bed while Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon. To be fair to Mum and Dad, I was only nine at the time and here in the UK it was something like two o'clock in the morning! So I thank NSSinSL and this competition for presenting an opportunity to create space inspired art! My machinima takes a very human angle on the realities of space exploration. And is, I think, a little different to some of the others you will see here tonight. And I am REALLY relieved to be up first--so as not to interrupt the dancing! But before the dancing starts, I offer you an opportunity to reflect . . . To take a moment and imagine yourself as a little, technology-cocooned bubble of humanity, somewhere distant from our home planet Earth . . . And in that moment—in a space between the formal structures of mission communication—to stand back and be with yourself and contemplate the enormity of just where you are and to take a moment to reflect on the history that has helped you/us get there . . .
Ladies and gentlemen, I present A Reflection . . . Over to Archivist . . . Enjoy!
Archivist Llewellyn
Ok, so the next video is by Aiden Witrial.
Aiden Witrial
Hello everyone. I will say a few words about how and why I make videos "machinimalike." Many years ago i was working with oil on canvas and painted pictures in a way that nothing was planned and it was intuitive. Working with what came out of my mind in the moment I was painting. Since I started to make videos in secondlife over a year ago (I made over 150 videos here and you can watch them at http://www.youtube.com/aidenwitrial), I noticed one day that I do it the same way as the paintings before: intuitive and not planned, on one hand are the pictures I record from the moment and location and how I feel the scenery and then on the other hand. I use the music and let the music control the pictures when I cut and edit. I do that over and over until music and pictures of the movie go together to one new thing called a "machinimalike" music video with its own soul. So every video is like a catched moment. Also, it's animated. I see it more as a painting what is alive in a way. A last word to the Craig Lyons - Far Away—It’s about an astronaut who is outsite his spaceship and remembering the far away station on the planet he was living and working before and his dreams when he entered his way to be an astronaut. This video is inspired by the music and its title Spinning Slowly. The fast music and the title "slowly spinning" let me see the fast spinning possibility in camera movement and antigravity.
Archivist Llewellyn
Rocksea Renegade is the fourth entry. Rocksea would you like to say a few words?
Rocksea Renegade
Ok. This film is entitled Dreamer's Journey. This film is a metaphor of a person's need for self-discovery and exploration of their own beliefs. The famous phrase 'The Sky's the Limit' is a rule that's meant to be broken in order to achieve one's dreams. The film begins innocently enough in an observatory. The woman, as seen in the observatory, seems like an ordinary everyday worker. Deep down she harbours dreams of being outside the confines of her own world--being shown life outside and beyond her telescope's glass eye, to be able to view the Universe with her own eyes. Her romantic encounter with the spaceman, in her dreams, demonstrates her love and passion for exploring and discovering her subconscious desire to be more than what she is. We meanwhile see the spaceman in cutaway shots searching for the woman. As if we see his earlier attempts to locate her, before finally discovering her having danced alone—waiting for someone or something to finally show her the way to her heart. Thank you.
Archivist Llewellyn
Entry number five is also by Rocksea.
Rocksea Renegade
This one is called The Trip. Inspired by Stanley Kubrick's famous film 2001: A Space Odyssey, we journey through space and time to meet an alien race whilst recapping on some instances of man's technological advances in space exploration. This is actually intended as a tribute to man's ability to achieve the seemingly impossible, bringing with it the hope that one day humans will traverse far across the stars and make alliances with other races—for the betterment of humankind. Thank you. Thank you.
Archivist Llewellyn
Our next film maker is Chenin Anabuki. Unfortunately Chenin could not be here . . .
LaPiscean Liberty
In Thrust We Trust
LaPiscean Liberty
From Rysan Fall, U2in SL. This video was selected to play behind Real Life U2 at Glastonbury's 40th anniversary.
Archivist Llewellyn
Welcome Rysan, and what a great video! Rysan has been a great friend and mentor in the machinima venue. He has also collaborated on Craig Lyons video. Rysan worked on the Across the Universe video for about 8 months or so before its official release. We at NSS were just very pleased to have a pre-release showing not long ago. Rysan Fall's video is not part of this contest, but hopefully he will say a few words to us about machinima and his video.
Rysan Fall
Hello everyone. It is a pleasure to be here. I understand that you just saw my video. I am so sorry I am late. I also understand that we have a room full of great film makers here today. It is an honor to be here to speak to you all. Machinima is an art form that's time has come to be recognized by the main stream media as a legitimate art form and I believe that all of us as artists have a responsibility to continue with this art form of ours, to push it to the forefront. Machinima has been recognized in many other game engines. But SL machinima, to me, hasn’t been given the proper light. We create our content as well as story and try not to rely on engines to produce content. One of my videos, entitled U2 in SL was chosen by the actual band to play behind them during the Glastonbury Music Festival. Unfortunately Bono suffered a spinal injury, and had to cancel their tour dates including the Glastonbury Festival. But when he recovers, I’m sure they still plan to use the video in some capacity their song, “Even Better Than the Real Thing." But that just just goes to show the posibilities for machinima and what it can be used for. Thank you so much for watching my video. So glad you liked it!
Archivist Llewellyn
Thanks Rysan for coming and sharing your video.
Next up is Flurry Fargis . . . Please give her a warm welcome.
Flurry Fargis
Hi all. Blow Into is the title of my machinima. Blow Into is a representation of the breath of life that goes through SL beyond the pretense of the pixel to blow within in this world, that pushes us toward the future, toward the exploration of unknown worlds, worlds that are inside and out of us, SL and RL. Thank you, master lute, who has allowed me to compose this music, liuto Karu.
Archivist Llewellyn
Up next is Al Peretz . . . Please welcome AL to the stage.
Al Peretz
Hello to all. Explore the universe with your feet on the ground. The idea I express in my work is this: “It is very important to understand the universe, explore the secrets of the wilderness, and seek new worlds.” We work to discover the source in the video and understand the existence of man in the universe. All with his feet firmly on this wonderful world we live in, and with the greatest respect for the planet Earth. Since the beginning of our existence we were explorers, curious and thirsty for knowledge. This is the nature of the human species. Through our history we have made great discoveries and scientific and technological achievements. From the invention of the wheel, to sending a human into space, we have shown that we are great artists. We look into the vastness of space, from the earliest of civilizations. We decided to discover that He was up there. We represent space with drawings; we gave the stars the representation of God, and found time, with his steps into the horizons. As we wake up from our naps, we leave our home, and begin to discover the outdoors and we are the explorers of the universe. Explore the area with their feet on the ground, means that we must continue our search for new worlds, but the starting point should be the maximum care of natural resources, prepare to live on earth in the most green, take care of our planet and love above all things. Browse space as a need to satisfy our curiosity and thirst for knowledge, not that one day we get to explore space that destroyed our home. Love of the Earth means understanding the nature of the universe. Which in some wonderful way and with the intelligence God gave us, as the planet is the most beautiful gift of the universe we know. Care for our planet and explore the universe, so that mankind can live in harmony, peace and happiness. Special thanks to all the crew who participated in this film and especially to Pondy Loopen who made the music. There are two versions; they are each different. Thanks.
Archivist Llewellyn
There are two very different versions of the same footage, an excellent example of how editing plays an important role in the final product.
LaPiscean Liberty
Explorers, versions A & B by Al Peretz.
Archivist Llewellyn
Earth Primbee could not be here but he asked me to say these words for him:
"When I was a child I dreamed of space. Virtual worlds help me analyze what space is and how I relate to it. In this way I draw a deeper understanding of our place in the universe. I made this machinima to spread the goals of the National Space Society in that magic way that the web can deliver. I believe in the NSS's mission and I hope the world will too. Thank you for the chance and motivation to create this machinima and I hope you enjoy. Thank you."
LaPiscean Liberty
From the Surface of the Earth by Earth Primbee
Archivist Llewellyn
Next up is Cisko Vandeverre. Please give a warm welcome to Cisko.
Cisko Vandeverre
Hi all. First I’d like to say thanks for accepting my film for this competion. I wish i had a bit more time to produce this. Watching space travel I am always astonished by the blast-off. That these giant spacecraft weighing tons of steel are able to lift off into orbit is the most amazing feat of engineering. It’s visually and acoustically spectacular. The story idea came directly out of the word Lift-Off. My main goal is to build a story with my characters rather than going for a documentary style. Visiting the NSS sim I discovered a great Lift/Elevator among many other interesting objects. That's when I decided to combine the story concept of "Lift" and "Lift-Off." After receiving an invitation to take part in this contest, I knew it was a good opportunity to send my two main characters off on another adventure. After all, they're at home in space. Filming the intense shaking inside of the lift cabin gave me a good example of what the Astronauts must be feeling during the Start. I merged real film and NSS sim footage for some impressions for both orbit and earth-based scenes. The acoustic atmosphere came about through hours of watching and listening to nss.org moviefiles, especially the recorded conversations between the Control Tower and the Cockpit. I recorded some of the more striking passages and composed it together to the final soundtrack. The entire composition was complemented with music from my Sample Library. Hope everybody enjoys watching it.
LaPiscean Liberty
OFF LIFT by Cisko Vandeverre
Archivist Llewellyn
Conclusion:
I would like to thank each and every contestant for their submission. Frankly I am glad I did not have to be the judge of such a difficult competition. Each of the contestants provided superior examples of machinimatography. In both technical and creative aspects I can say the videos we received were some of the best I’ve seen. So, I’d like to thank Executive Director of the NSS, Gary Barnhard for taking this decision off my hands, I mean . . . making this decision . . .
And the winner is . . . .
Ariel Miranda
Drumroll!
Archivist Llewellyn
Rocksea Renegade for Dreamer's Journey! Congratulations Rocksea! Rocksea, can you say a few words?
Rocksea Renegade
**!!Passes out!!** Sure when I get up off the flooor!
Thank you so much for this award. I am privileged to have been part of such a brilliant competition! So many wonderful entries to this contest, it has been an honour to have my work showcased amongst theirs. I would also like to say a special thanks to Archivist Llewellyn, NSS and really the entire team behind organising the contest! I am deeply fascinated with the idea of space exploration, I champion people's efforts to further our knowledge as well as attempts to expand our presence in the Universe. I well and truly believe we are not alone in the Universe, with such a massive expanse of space it is impossible to believe we are the only intelligent beings around. I hope that, one day, our dreams of being amongst the stars will become a reality. So here's to the future! Thank you all!
Archivist Llewellyn
I would like to thank the audience for attending today’s event! All of the videos can be seen on the National Space Society’s Website: http://www.nss.org/contests/2ndlifevideos.html.
They can also be seen on AView TV. LaPiscean, can you give the url?
LaPiscean Liberty
http://aview.tv/?page_id=1213
Archivist Llewellyn
In addition, the National Space Society will be having an after party. If you want to attend, Ariel has the SLurl.
Ariel Miranda
Everyone, when we're done here, you're all welcome to join us at the National Space Society sim for our afterparty:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/National%20Space%20Society/152/59/301
ADVERTISEMENT
SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 2010
2 PM SLT
University of Western Australia’s BOSL Amphitheater
http://slurl.com/secondlife/University%20of%20WA/72/72/1646
The National Space Society is pleased to present the first “NSS in SL” machinima contestant exhibition showing and award ceremony. Please join us for this wonderful event that combines Second Life arts and sciences. Celebrating the mission of the NSS for space exploration and the technical and artistic expertise of machinima artists is what this event is about. If you are interested in space, science fiction, animated films, music in Second Life, or filmmaking in a virtual world, please join us for this event! One winner will walk away with 100,000 lindens! There is plenty of room at the UWA’s BOSL Amphitheater—I’m told it seats 200 with no lag—so bring a friend!
This unprecedented machinima event sees the teaming up of two Linden Prize Finalists (Archivist Llewellyn of the Library and Archive at NASA CoLab (NASA JPL/Caltech), and Taralyn Gravois and Jayjay Zifanwe of the The University of Western Australia, along with with Archivist Llewellyn and Ariel Miranda of the National Space Society. This partnership is another exercise in serendipity as the NSS Machinima event was inspired by UWA's own Machinima Challenge which completed early this year.
The winner of the 2010 NSS in SL Machinima Contest was selected by the Executive Director of the National Space Society, Gary Barnhard. The event and videos will be featured on the NSS website, the NSS magazine AdAstra, the Society's newsletter and other media outlets.
CraigLyons Writer, who graciously permitted his music to be used in the videos, will be performing LIVE during the event. Craig is a professional musician whose music has been featured on national television programs in the United States (So You Think You Can Dance, The Real World) and on Japanese television. He has licensed music with Universal Music, FOX TV and MTV. Recently, Craig's performances in Second Life received coverage in the LA Times.
Website: http://www.craiglyons.net/
LA Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/09/entertainment/la-et-secondlife-concerts-20100609
Guest speaker, Rysan Fall, has made some real *waves* in the machinima community. He will be speaking about the upcoming U2 Concert in RL (Glastonbury, England) which will show his video, followed by a showing of what First Life Audiences will see at the U2 concert.
Fall Films: http://www.youtube.com/user/FallFilms
Glastonbury Concert: http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/news/u2-confirmed-for-glastonbury-2010
Today's venue is sponsored by the University of Western Australia & BOSL Group. We are grateful to LaPiscean Liberty & Aview TV for his technical expertise and assistance and all of the contestants who participated.
Questions about the event?
Please IM or drop a note card to Archivist Llewellyn.
EVENT SUMMARY
(Minor editing changes were made to improve readability)
Archivist Llewellyn
Introduction:
Welcome to the first “NSS in SL” machinima contestant exhibition showing and award ceremony. Thank you for participating today in what is an unprecedented machinima event--two Linden Prize finalists, four linked sims, 200 seats, and 11 amazing videos! If you enjoy space, science fiction, animated or scifi films, music in Second Life, or just want to learn more about filmmaking in a virtual world, this event will not disappoint. Let’s take a moment to reflect on the significance of this year, 2010, and science fiction film making. With today’s technology, and a virtual world environment like Second Life, average people can bring their vision for the future of space travel to life on the big screen, just as they can imagine and build them in Second Life. Filmed at the National Space Society island and other locations, the machinamatographers featured today have successfully combined the art and science of virtual film making to show us their visions of the future of human spaceflight. The imagination, curiosity, and desire to explore the universe underlies the heart of the National Space Society’s mission. If you or your organization would like to learn more about machinima, I will be giving a talk on this topic at the United States Air Force’s “Lunch and Learn” at Huffman Prairie (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Huffman%20Prairie%20Delta/69/61/28) on August 6th. I am also available to give presentations to groups about science education in Second Life and the Neil A. Armstrong Library and Archives at NASA CoLab as well as tours of the library. I’d like to thank the University of Western Australia and LaPiscean Liberty and Aview TV for providing this wonderful venue and the technology behind today’s event. Please stay until the end, where one winner will walk away with 100,000 lindens! We will also have a meet and greet “after party” at NSS where you can meet the people here today and ask questions. For those of you who are looking for voice, no it is in text due to the 4 sim regions. We will use video to show the videos of course, and it is compatible with both Viewer 1 and Viewer 2.
I would like now to introduce Ariel Miranda from the National Space Society who will say a few words.
Ariel Miranda
Hello everyone and thanks for joining us today! The National Space Society is a grass-roots, International organization (despite the name) dedicated to promoting the exploration and development of space. We're really excited about our presence here in the virtual world, and now we're pleased to have this opportunity to showcase our efforts and look to the future. Thanks to all the entrants who have participated. We have some great stuff here for us today!
With that, I'll shut up and return the floor to Archivist.
Archivist Llewellyn
Next, I'd like to introduce CraigLyons Writer, who graciously permitted his music to be used in the videos.
Craig is a professional musician whose music has been featured on national television programs in the United States (So You Think You Can Dance, The Real World) and on Japanese television. He has licensed music with Universal Music, FOX TV and MTV. Recently, Craig's performances in Second Life received coverage in the LA Times.
Website: http://www.craiglyons.net/
LA Times:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/09/entertainment/la-et-secondlife-concerts-20100609
CraigLyons Writer
Hi everyone! I'm so glad to see you all here! Let me start by saying what a huge honor it is to be involved in this event at all, let alone the extent that I am. Machinima is the future, and I'm so excited about this contest. As far as I'm concerned, everyone is already a winner—The attention on low-impact filming, space exploration, and music is amazing! I should point out quickly – I was supposed to perform today, but I'm traveling and wasn't able to get my stream working remotely. I am happy to announce I will be performing soon in celebration of this event though. Furthermore, I'm here meeting in RL with Rysan Fall, the director/producer of my Across The Universe video! This is just an indication of the power behind everything that's happening here today. I won't take up any more time, but I'm so proud of everyone involved here, and I'm so excited about all the videos I've seen. This is the future, and you all are on the edge of making great positive change to our world and beyond. Thank you!
Archivist Llewellyn
Yes, but please tell us about your tour!
CraigLyons Writer
Oh, I'd love to! I'm in the process of putting together my ECOnection tour. Many of you know me as an environmentalist. This summer, I will begin a low-impact RL tour to help educate the world at large about virtual performances, telecommuting, and machinima. These RL performances will be broadcast into SL so I can continue my quest to make mixed reality events a staple in the future. Please check out my new LA Times article as posted above to see the press that's already rolling in . . . and everyone involved today will undoubdetly be recognized too! And please visit my Across the Universe music video on youtube to see my exploration into space and machinima. Rysan is sitting here next to me in RL, and he says thank you all so much! Time for me to have a seat and enjoy the show!
Thank you so much Archivist and everyone!
Archivist Llewellyn
Thank you so much Craig! Next up is Ian Pahute. Ian is going to introduce his video.
Ian Pahute
As an artist, I am fascinated by the notion, ‘What defines me?’ And virtual worlds–such as Second Life–present a really exciting medium for creative practice . . . I believe that as technology blurs the boundaries of our perceived reality, we have to make it part of ourselves. But as in the real world, we need balance. Technology can so easily become an onslaught of the novel and we need more than this. My aspiration as an artist is to create virtual spaces where—like in the ancient, sacred, hidden and secret places in the real world—we can stop and just be. I'm also completely fascinated by the space program. And have followed it avidly since childhood. Although, my biggest childhood regret is that my mother and father sent me to bed while Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon. To be fair to Mum and Dad, I was only nine at the time and here in the UK it was something like two o'clock in the morning! So I thank NSSinSL and this competition for presenting an opportunity to create space inspired art! My machinima takes a very human angle on the realities of space exploration. And is, I think, a little different to some of the others you will see here tonight. And I am REALLY relieved to be up first--so as not to interrupt the dancing! But before the dancing starts, I offer you an opportunity to reflect . . . To take a moment and imagine yourself as a little, technology-cocooned bubble of humanity, somewhere distant from our home planet Earth . . . And in that moment—in a space between the formal structures of mission communication—to stand back and be with yourself and contemplate the enormity of just where you are and to take a moment to reflect on the history that has helped you/us get there . . .
Ladies and gentlemen, I present A Reflection . . . Over to Archivist . . . Enjoy!
Archivist Llewellyn
Ok, so the next video is by Aiden Witrial.
Aiden Witrial
Hello everyone. I will say a few words about how and why I make videos "machinimalike." Many years ago i was working with oil on canvas and painted pictures in a way that nothing was planned and it was intuitive. Working with what came out of my mind in the moment I was painting. Since I started to make videos in secondlife over a year ago (I made over 150 videos here and you can watch them at http://www.youtube.com/aidenwitrial), I noticed one day that I do it the same way as the paintings before: intuitive and not planned, on one hand are the pictures I record from the moment and location and how I feel the scenery and then on the other hand. I use the music and let the music control the pictures when I cut and edit. I do that over and over until music and pictures of the movie go together to one new thing called a "machinimalike" music video with its own soul. So every video is like a catched moment. Also, it's animated. I see it more as a painting what is alive in a way. A last word to the Craig Lyons - Far Away—It’s about an astronaut who is outsite his spaceship and remembering the far away station on the planet he was living and working before and his dreams when he entered his way to be an astronaut. This video is inspired by the music and its title Spinning Slowly. The fast music and the title "slowly spinning" let me see the fast spinning possibility in camera movement and antigravity.
Archivist Llewellyn
Rocksea Renegade is the fourth entry. Rocksea would you like to say a few words?
Rocksea Renegade
Ok. This film is entitled Dreamer's Journey. This film is a metaphor of a person's need for self-discovery and exploration of their own beliefs. The famous phrase 'The Sky's the Limit' is a rule that's meant to be broken in order to achieve one's dreams. The film begins innocently enough in an observatory. The woman, as seen in the observatory, seems like an ordinary everyday worker. Deep down she harbours dreams of being outside the confines of her own world--being shown life outside and beyond her telescope's glass eye, to be able to view the Universe with her own eyes. Her romantic encounter with the spaceman, in her dreams, demonstrates her love and passion for exploring and discovering her subconscious desire to be more than what she is. We meanwhile see the spaceman in cutaway shots searching for the woman. As if we see his earlier attempts to locate her, before finally discovering her having danced alone—waiting for someone or something to finally show her the way to her heart. Thank you.
Archivist Llewellyn
Entry number five is also by Rocksea.
Rocksea Renegade
This one is called The Trip. Inspired by Stanley Kubrick's famous film 2001: A Space Odyssey, we journey through space and time to meet an alien race whilst recapping on some instances of man's technological advances in space exploration. This is actually intended as a tribute to man's ability to achieve the seemingly impossible, bringing with it the hope that one day humans will traverse far across the stars and make alliances with other races—for the betterment of humankind. Thank you. Thank you.
Archivist Llewellyn
Our next film maker is Chenin Anabuki. Unfortunately Chenin could not be here . . .
LaPiscean Liberty
In Thrust We Trust
LaPiscean Liberty
From Rysan Fall, U2in SL. This video was selected to play behind Real Life U2 at Glastonbury's 40th anniversary.
Archivist Llewellyn
Welcome Rysan, and what a great video! Rysan has been a great friend and mentor in the machinima venue. He has also collaborated on Craig Lyons video. Rysan worked on the Across the Universe video for about 8 months or so before its official release. We at NSS were just very pleased to have a pre-release showing not long ago. Rysan Fall's video is not part of this contest, but hopefully he will say a few words to us about machinima and his video.
Rysan Fall
Hello everyone. It is a pleasure to be here. I understand that you just saw my video. I am so sorry I am late. I also understand that we have a room full of great film makers here today. It is an honor to be here to speak to you all. Machinima is an art form that's time has come to be recognized by the main stream media as a legitimate art form and I believe that all of us as artists have a responsibility to continue with this art form of ours, to push it to the forefront. Machinima has been recognized in many other game engines. But SL machinima, to me, hasn’t been given the proper light. We create our content as well as story and try not to rely on engines to produce content. One of my videos, entitled U2 in SL was chosen by the actual band to play behind them during the Glastonbury Music Festival. Unfortunately Bono suffered a spinal injury, and had to cancel their tour dates including the Glastonbury Festival. But when he recovers, I’m sure they still plan to use the video in some capacity their song, “Even Better Than the Real Thing." But that just just goes to show the posibilities for machinima and what it can be used for. Thank you so much for watching my video. So glad you liked it!
Archivist Llewellyn
Thanks Rysan for coming and sharing your video.
Next up is Flurry Fargis . . . Please give her a warm welcome.
Flurry Fargis
Hi all. Blow Into is the title of my machinima. Blow Into is a representation of the breath of life that goes through SL beyond the pretense of the pixel to blow within in this world, that pushes us toward the future, toward the exploration of unknown worlds, worlds that are inside and out of us, SL and RL. Thank you, master lute, who has allowed me to compose this music, liuto Karu.
Archivist Llewellyn
Up next is Al Peretz . . . Please welcome AL to the stage.
Al Peretz
Hello to all. Explore the universe with your feet on the ground. The idea I express in my work is this: “It is very important to understand the universe, explore the secrets of the wilderness, and seek new worlds.” We work to discover the source in the video and understand the existence of man in the universe. All with his feet firmly on this wonderful world we live in, and with the greatest respect for the planet Earth. Since the beginning of our existence we were explorers, curious and thirsty for knowledge. This is the nature of the human species. Through our history we have made great discoveries and scientific and technological achievements. From the invention of the wheel, to sending a human into space, we have shown that we are great artists. We look into the vastness of space, from the earliest of civilizations. We decided to discover that He was up there. We represent space with drawings; we gave the stars the representation of God, and found time, with his steps into the horizons. As we wake up from our naps, we leave our home, and begin to discover the outdoors and we are the explorers of the universe. Explore the area with their feet on the ground, means that we must continue our search for new worlds, but the starting point should be the maximum care of natural resources, prepare to live on earth in the most green, take care of our planet and love above all things. Browse space as a need to satisfy our curiosity and thirst for knowledge, not that one day we get to explore space that destroyed our home. Love of the Earth means understanding the nature of the universe. Which in some wonderful way and with the intelligence God gave us, as the planet is the most beautiful gift of the universe we know. Care for our planet and explore the universe, so that mankind can live in harmony, peace and happiness. Special thanks to all the crew who participated in this film and especially to Pondy Loopen who made the music. There are two versions; they are each different. Thanks.
Archivist Llewellyn
There are two very different versions of the same footage, an excellent example of how editing plays an important role in the final product.
LaPiscean Liberty
Explorers, versions A & B by Al Peretz.
Archivist Llewellyn
Earth Primbee could not be here but he asked me to say these words for him:
"When I was a child I dreamed of space. Virtual worlds help me analyze what space is and how I relate to it. In this way I draw a deeper understanding of our place in the universe. I made this machinima to spread the goals of the National Space Society in that magic way that the web can deliver. I believe in the NSS's mission and I hope the world will too. Thank you for the chance and motivation to create this machinima and I hope you enjoy. Thank you."
LaPiscean Liberty
From the Surface of the Earth by Earth Primbee
Archivist Llewellyn
Next up is Cisko Vandeverre. Please give a warm welcome to Cisko.
Cisko Vandeverre
Hi all. First I’d like to say thanks for accepting my film for this competion. I wish i had a bit more time to produce this. Watching space travel I am always astonished by the blast-off. That these giant spacecraft weighing tons of steel are able to lift off into orbit is the most amazing feat of engineering. It’s visually and acoustically spectacular. The story idea came directly out of the word Lift-Off. My main goal is to build a story with my characters rather than going for a documentary style. Visiting the NSS sim I discovered a great Lift/Elevator among many other interesting objects. That's when I decided to combine the story concept of "Lift" and "Lift-Off." After receiving an invitation to take part in this contest, I knew it was a good opportunity to send my two main characters off on another adventure. After all, they're at home in space. Filming the intense shaking inside of the lift cabin gave me a good example of what the Astronauts must be feeling during the Start. I merged real film and NSS sim footage for some impressions for both orbit and earth-based scenes. The acoustic atmosphere came about through hours of watching and listening to nss.org moviefiles, especially the recorded conversations between the Control Tower and the Cockpit. I recorded some of the more striking passages and composed it together to the final soundtrack. The entire composition was complemented with music from my Sample Library. Hope everybody enjoys watching it.
LaPiscean Liberty
OFF LIFT by Cisko Vandeverre
Archivist Llewellyn
Conclusion:
I would like to thank each and every contestant for their submission. Frankly I am glad I did not have to be the judge of such a difficult competition. Each of the contestants provided superior examples of machinimatography. In both technical and creative aspects I can say the videos we received were some of the best I’ve seen. So, I’d like to thank Executive Director of the NSS, Gary Barnhard for taking this decision off my hands, I mean . . . making this decision . . .
And the winner is . . . .
Ariel Miranda
Drumroll!
Archivist Llewellyn
Rocksea Renegade for Dreamer's Journey! Congratulations Rocksea! Rocksea, can you say a few words?
Rocksea Renegade
**!!Passes out!!** Sure when I get up off the flooor!
Thank you so much for this award. I am privileged to have been part of such a brilliant competition! So many wonderful entries to this contest, it has been an honour to have my work showcased amongst theirs. I would also like to say a special thanks to Archivist Llewellyn, NSS and really the entire team behind organising the contest! I am deeply fascinated with the idea of space exploration, I champion people's efforts to further our knowledge as well as attempts to expand our presence in the Universe. I well and truly believe we are not alone in the Universe, with such a massive expanse of space it is impossible to believe we are the only intelligent beings around. I hope that, one day, our dreams of being amongst the stars will become a reality. So here's to the future! Thank you all!
Archivist Llewellyn
I would like to thank the audience for attending today’s event! All of the videos can be seen on the National Space Society’s Website: http://www.nss.org/contests/2ndlifevideos.html.
They can also be seen on AView TV. LaPiscean, can you give the url?
LaPiscean Liberty
http://aview.tv/?page_id=1213
Archivist Llewellyn
In addition, the National Space Society will be having an after party. If you want to attend, Ariel has the SLurl.
Ariel Miranda
Everyone, when we're done here, you're all welcome to join us at the National Space Society sim for our afterparty:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/National%20Space%20Society/152/59/301
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Library and Archives at NASA CoLab is 2010 Linden Prize "Top 10" Finalist
Avatar Archivist Llewellyn in Second Life was selected as a 2010 Linden Prize Top 10 Finalist for her "Library and Archives at NASA CoLab in Second Life" project.
NASA CoLab is owned and operated by NASA JPL/Caltech.
According to Mark Kingdon (SL: M Linden), CEO of Linden Lab, the prize is designed to "formally recognize the best-of-the-best" for having "greatly enhanced and changed thousands of lives around the world." The winning project will be announced on June 1.
Interview with Archivist Llewellyn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lDgQx8OHn8
Related Information:
Nobel Foundation Videos and Images (Nobelprize.org)
* Dr. Mather: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN9uaAEXnbY&feature=channel
* Dr. Fert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uek8-TapUPs&playnext_from=TL&videos=keEfYkgmHjw
* Nobel Museum Special Exhibition (Stockholm, Sweden):
http://www.facebook.com/Nobelprize.org?v=photos#!/photo.php?pid=3095934&id=81239734102
CNN Article: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-301402
National Defense University (Washington DC) Poster:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35047286@N02/4611517063/
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Presentation:
http://www.slideshare.net/01archivist/archives-in-second-life
Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Featured Lecture:
http://www.slideshare.net/01archivist/best-practices-in-virtual-worlds-education-bpvwe-conference-talk
Machinima Best Practices: Preserving Virtual Worlds Through Video Documentation Webinar: http://www.learningtimes.net/innovation/bohle
Nature publication: "Studying the Causes of Cancer: Creating the First 3d Model of p53 in a Synthetic Immersive Environment":
http://blogs.nature.com/ub51cd45e/2010/03/12/studying-the-causes-of-cancer-creating-the-first-3d-model-of-p53-in-a-synthetic-immersive-environmen
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35047286@N02/
For more information about the Library and Archives at NASA CoLab in Second Life, 3d modeling, film making using avatars, or the Archivists of Second Life group, please contact Archivist Llewellyn in Second Life.
NASA CoLab is owned and operated by NASA JPL/Caltech.
According to Mark Kingdon (SL: M Linden), CEO of Linden Lab, the prize is designed to "formally recognize the best-of-the-best" for having "greatly enhanced and changed thousands of lives around the world." The winning project will be announced on June 1.
Interview with Archivist Llewellyn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lDgQx8OHn8
Related Information:
Nobel Foundation Videos and Images (Nobelprize.org)
* Dr. Mather: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN9uaAEXnbY&feature=channel
* Dr. Fert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uek8-TapUPs&playnext_from=TL&videos=keEfYkgmHjw
* Nobel Museum Special Exhibition (Stockholm, Sweden):
http://www.facebook.com/Nobelprize.org?v=photos#!/photo.php?pid=3095934&id=81239734102
CNN Article: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-301402
National Defense University (Washington DC) Poster:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35047286@N02/4611517063/
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Presentation:
http://www.slideshare.net/01archivist/archives-in-second-life
Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Featured Lecture:
http://www.slideshare.net/01archivist/best-practices-in-virtual-worlds-education-bpvwe-conference-talk
Machinima Best Practices: Preserving Virtual Worlds Through Video Documentation Webinar: http://www.learningtimes.net/innovation/bohle
Nature publication: "Studying the Causes of Cancer: Creating the First 3d Model of p53 in a Synthetic Immersive Environment":
http://blogs.nature.com/ub51cd45e/2010/03/12/studying-the-causes-of-cancer-creating-the-first-3d-model-of-p53-in-a-synthetic-immersive-environmen
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35047286@N02/
For more information about the Library and Archives at NASA CoLab in Second Life, 3d modeling, film making using avatars, or the Archivists of Second Life group, please contact Archivist Llewellyn in Second Life.
Archivist of the United States Makes Citizens National Treasure Hunters
Archivist of the United States Makes Citizens National Treasure Hunters
Question: How can we improve Citizen Archiving in Second Life?
Original Webstream: http://www.sil.si.edu/lectures_ferriero_20100526.html
Archived Webstreams: http://www.sil.si.edu/digitallibrary_browse.cfm?category=webcasts
(Washington DC) 10:30 AM EST today - David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States discussed social media at the Smithsonian in a live broadcast via UStream in a talk called “Democracy 2.0: A Case Study in Open Government: How the National Archives' own Open Government Plan is reaching out to new audiences through social media.” During his talk Ferriero discussed his new blog, AOTUS: Collector in Chief: http://blogs.archives.gov/aotus/. One of the articles in his blog is about launching a new, controversial project called "Citizen Archivists," where the public users can participate in managing government data and archives. He detailed the case study of where a "Citizen Archivist Discovers National Treasure in the Stacks" http://bit.ly/d2X4vk. For those who have seen the movie, National Treasure, in Ben Gates-style, citizens can now be more engaged in the use and application of our nation’s archival documents and data sets.
More and more, government documents are “born digital” that is, they are created in digital format and may not be available as paper documents, paper-based photographs, or other 3D formats. Ferriero joked that when he was at MIT, he (like most other archivists in the U.S.) were waiting to see how to handle the archiving of electronic records issue by waiting to see what the ERA would do. Now that he is the AOTUS, laughed, he no longer has that luxury.
In terms of faster, more efficient declassification of government documents, Ferriero said that the new Director from the CIA will be using their computer declassification system to make the declassification process simpler. The major change will be that classification of new documents will be Classified solely based on national security issues.
Another major breakthrough, Ferriero said, was that previously certain areas of the government dealing with records did not work closely enough with each other. To facilitate better collaboration between government agencies, Ferriero stated he called for a meeting with CIO Council (Vivek Kundra) and the Records Management Council.
In terms of archiving of documents, email, and social media entries by government employees, Ferriero referenced the archiving of both official and personal documents, as well as the archiving of Twitter and Facebook entries.
For more information on these and related issues, like open government and data.gov, check out the following Twitter tags: #vgov, #LAMfutures, #g2e, #Ferriero. Learn about the new White House program to use government datasets: “Data.gov is leading the way in democratizing public sector data and driving innovation. The data is being surfaced from many locations making the Government data stores available to researchers to perform their own analysis. Developers are finding good uses for the datasets, providing interesting and useful applications that allow for new views and public analysis” http://www.data.gov/. VGOV (http://www.ocio.usda.gov/vgov/index.html) is a federal government virtual world project. The purpose of which is to “provide a secure virtual world environment” and includes the USDA, USAF, Dept. of Homeland Security, National Defense University, and the US Dept. of State.
Question: How can we improve Citizen Archiving in Second Life?
Original Webstream: http://www.sil.si.edu/lectures_ferriero_20100526.html
Archived Webstreams: http://www.sil.si.edu/digitallibrary_browse.cfm?category=webcasts
(Washington DC) 10:30 AM EST today - David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States discussed social media at the Smithsonian in a live broadcast via UStream in a talk called “Democracy 2.0: A Case Study in Open Government: How the National Archives' own Open Government Plan is reaching out to new audiences through social media.” During his talk Ferriero discussed his new blog, AOTUS: Collector in Chief: http://blogs.archives.gov/aotus/. One of the articles in his blog is about launching a new, controversial project called "Citizen Archivists," where the public users can participate in managing government data and archives. He detailed the case study of where a "Citizen Archivist Discovers National Treasure in the Stacks" http://bit.ly/d2X4vk. For those who have seen the movie, National Treasure, in Ben Gates-style, citizens can now be more engaged in the use and application of our nation’s archival documents and data sets.
More and more, government documents are “born digital” that is, they are created in digital format and may not be available as paper documents, paper-based photographs, or other 3D formats. Ferriero joked that when he was at MIT, he (like most other archivists in the U.S.) were waiting to see how to handle the archiving of electronic records issue by waiting to see what the ERA would do. Now that he is the AOTUS, laughed, he no longer has that luxury.
In terms of faster, more efficient declassification of government documents, Ferriero said that the new Director from the CIA will be using their computer declassification system to make the declassification process simpler. The major change will be that classification of new documents will be Classified solely based on national security issues.
Another major breakthrough, Ferriero said, was that previously certain areas of the government dealing with records did not work closely enough with each other. To facilitate better collaboration between government agencies, Ferriero stated he called for a meeting with CIO Council (Vivek Kundra) and the Records Management Council.
In terms of archiving of documents, email, and social media entries by government employees, Ferriero referenced the archiving of both official and personal documents, as well as the archiving of Twitter and Facebook entries.
For more information on these and related issues, like open government and data.gov, check out the following Twitter tags: #vgov, #LAMfutures, #g2e, #Ferriero. Learn about the new White House program to use government datasets: “Data.gov is leading the way in democratizing public sector data and driving innovation. The data is being surfaced from many locations making the Government data stores available to researchers to perform their own analysis. Developers are finding good uses for the datasets, providing interesting and useful applications that allow for new views and public analysis” http://www.data.gov/. VGOV (http://www.ocio.usda.gov/vgov/index.html) is a federal government virtual world project. The purpose of which is to “provide a secure virtual world environment” and includes the USDA, USAF, Dept. of Homeland Security, National Defense University, and the US Dept. of State.
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