fourworlds

I’m going to be on a panel this afternoon in Second Life discussing the Avatar movie and its implications on the future of virtual worlds. Most of the VW-related commentary I’ve read to date focuses on:

• how the film will motivate neophytes to give virtual worlds a try; or
• how new technology will enhance virtual worlds.

Although Botgirl commented in a prior post, my bio-centric view of the movie’s theme is that technology-driven disconnection from the natural world is the primary sickness at the heart of the human soul.

Imagine how the Na’vi would view the hundreds of thousands of humans around the globe who spend many of their waking hours staring at computer screens in darkened rooms, imagining themselves to be in a “better” world, psychologically separated from the natural environment, their physical bodies and their human identities. I think it would chill the Na’vi to the bone.

Although the finished version of the movie alludes to the Earth’s compromised environment, earlier script treatments set the initial scene on an ecologically devastated earth:

“The human race, using its technical ingenuity, has learned to keep itself alive, but it has lost almost all contact with the natural world, which it has strangled and crushed out of existence.”

Escaping to virtual worlds while the Earth’s biosphere is dying from our technology-based activity is the antithesis of the action called for in the film. Avatar (the movie) asks digital avatars to unplug, reclaim their human connection to Gaia and tune themselves to the pulse of physical life on the planet.

That said, please join me (fourworlds Ra) in Second Life today for what should be a lively conversation on the topic:

Jan 5, 3:00-4:30 PM PST
Rockcliffe University  : Inside the Avatar Studio
Corrimal Hall, Rockcliffe X
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rockcliffe%20X/200/200/30

The visual appeal of the movie “Avatar” has taken away the breath of just about everyone who has seen the film. The movie is an
ultimate example of a graphic novel brought to life.

Please join us as our panelists discuss which implications “Avatar” will have as virtual worlds continue to gain traction and what future
avatars may gain from the stunning futuristic vision James Cameron has offered up… Inside The Avatar Studio.

This event will be filmed live by Stuart Warf of Rezzed TV.

Facilitated by Phelan Corrimal/Kevin Feenan - Dean of Rockcliffe University

• Beyers Sellers/Robert Bloomfield - Metanomics Host, Cornell University
• Dirk Talamasca - Virtual Real Estate Developer, Builder
• Doubledown Tandino - Social media marketing, Second Life specialist, music, and DJ
• fourworlds Ra. Botgirl Questi’s human alt  - A beautiful thought experiment personified through the imagined perspective of a self-aware avatar.

Links:

Thoughts on How The Avatar Film Relates to Avatars in Virtual Worlds by Botgirl Questi -

I Saw Avatar Today by Doubledown Tandino -

James Cameron’s Avatar is about Transhumanism

Avatar Review : Yes it Changed Everything

Understanding Interaction in Virtual Worlds