2007 Headlines
Cornell Professor Mixes Realities in Study of Virtual World "Metanomics"
September 19, 2007 | Ithaca, NY The Johnson School at Cornell University has partnered with Metaversed.com, a clearinghouse for information on business and technology in virtual worlds, to launch a series of mixed reality events in Second Life focusing on business and policy in the so-called "metaverse." The series, called "Metanomics," is led by Cornell professor Robert Bloomfield, and launches on September 20 at 3:00 pm with an interactive presentation from Sandra Kearney, IBM's Global Director for 3D Internet (3Di) and Virtual Business who will be speaking about the use of virtual world technology for global business.
Integrating the real world and virtual worlds in a way that even IBM has never tried before, this Johnson School event stretches the boundaries of technology by integrating three worlds. Ms. Kearney will be presenting from Cornell University's Sage Hall, home of the Johnson School, and will control an avatar in IBM's space in the virtual world Active Worlds, while Nick Wilson of Metaversed.com, will be on Metaversed Island in Second Life, giving introductions and asking questions. All three worlds will be streamed together into a live broadcast on http://slcn.tv, with the resulting video archived on the web.
More information and registration for the Metanomics event with Sandra Kearney
Metanomics '07 is a landmark series of events in Second Life that explore virtual business and policy in the Metaverse, hosted by Cornell University's Robert Bloomfield, and Metaversed.com. While the events will take place in Second Life, SLCN.tv will broadcast them live for anyone unable to attend in-world. The Metanomics series will include interviews, debates and panel discussions with leaders of virtual world businesses, experts on legal and regulatory matters, companies doing business in virtual worlds, and metaverse visionaries. Through this series, Bloomfield will analyze virtual worlds, as well as ways that businesses and regulators are treating the metaverse, including social networking platforms and collaboration tools, as well as virtual worlds.
The Metanomics '07 speaker series includes:
September 24, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm (Eastern): Joshua Fairfield, associate professor of law at Indiana Law School will address the uses and limits of contracts in governing interactions in virtual worlds.
October 8, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm (Eastern): Dan Miller, Senior Economist of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, will discuss congressional involvement in virtual world regulation. Stay tuned for details.
October 15, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm (Eastern): Jack Myers is editor and publisher of Jack Myers Media Business Report, www.JackMyers.com and www.MediaVillage.com, the online community for intelligent TV fans. He is also the author of Virtual Worlds: Rewiring Your Emotional Future.
October 22, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm: Bryan Camp, Professor of Law at Texas Tech University, will discuss the taxation of virtual world commerce.
November, Date and Time TBD: Edward Castronova, Professor at Indiana University and author of Synthetic Worlds and the paper Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier (2001). He is a recipient of a grant from the MacArthur Foundation's digital media and learning initiative for his work in the Metaverse, and is currently in development of the virtual world Arden - the World of William Shakespeare. He will discuss his new book as it launches in November.
Date and Time TBD: Julian Dibbell, journalist for Wired Magazine and author of the famous 1993 article A Rape in Cyberspace.
Date and Time TBD: Anshe Chung, the famous avatar of Ailin Graef represents a virtual world empire spanning Second Life, IMVU and Entropia Universe.
Date and Time TBD: Richard Bartle, author of Designing Virtual Worlds, and one of the co-designers of the "MUD," the Multi-User Dungeon, which forms the basis of virtual worlds today.
