Ludic Second Life Narrative
Ludic Second Life Narrative © Charlotte Gould
Ludic Second Life Narrative is designed for the BBC Big screen by Charlotte Gould and was shown as part of moves09. It is a playful environment, encouraging interaction both with the content and urban environment allowing users to explore alternative networked spaces and develop uniquely personal narrative events. Ludic Second Life Narrative questions the way that the public embody themselves in virtual worlds.
Staged in an enchanted wood as a virtual retreat within the actual public realm, the aesthetic of the space and the avatars question the convention of realism in virtual environments. It offers an alternative to the stereotypes which prevail in Second Life. The avatars in this installation have a puppet like quality rather than the stereotypical Barbie and Ken analogy. So while the user’s body controls the puppet in a natural and intuitive way the avatar does not attempt to resemble a first life human.
The control is instinctive as movement of the avatar is controlled through motion tracking. A member of the public is assisted in putting on a bright red fairy tale cape, and must pull the hood over the head. The solid block of colour is distinct from the largely monochrome and dull-hued mass of most contemporary clothing and allows for a remote and unseen operator to track the participant through the space.
Ludic Second Life Narrative © Charlotte Gould
When they take a step forward wearing the cloak, or a step to the side, so too does their comparable character on screen. Encouraged to discover a hidden hut within the forest, upon discovery and entering the interior walls are wrapped in a live video feed of a second camera located in the public space, albeit hidden. This wraparound, video wallpaper further blurred the boundaries between the real and false, the fabricated and physical world, literal and imaginary playspace.
Ludic Second Life Narrative explores urban play and the way fun and enjoyment interact with and enhance new media technologies both in its design, creative development, everyday uses and discursive articulations. This is an area of research that has had little exploration, the interactions between technological developments and the pleasures described as 'fun', are few and far between.
Created by Charlotte Gould, member of the Creative Technology Research Group at The University of Salford Adelphi Research Institute for Creative Arts & Sciences with motion tracking by Alasdair Swenson, with special thanks to Second Places for Second Life Programming. See also Picnic on the Screen, part of Glastonbury Village Screen by this same artist.