Thursday, January 19, 2012

Storytelling in the Virtual World? What does that look like?

Part III of Anne Usru's "Breadcrumbs" 1.16.12
It is difficult to describe what a virtual presentation of literature or traditional storytelling looks like.  It really involves seeing it to understand how the virtual world can be a tool for presenting and promoting reading and literature.  It is already used as a resource by people with disabilities, and educational institutions to overcome boundaries of physical space and distance.

Here are some YouTube videos produced by a gentleman in Holland of live story/literary presentations.  They do not include audio of the events, so they are an incomplete example.  Hopefully they are a starting point in answering the questions posed in the post title:

  • Caledonia Skytower reads Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol at the Evolution Kingdom, December 2010.
  • The Seanchai Library celebrates Chinese New Year 2011.
  • Bard on the Virtual Beach: a virtual festival of the works of William Shakespeare (produced by me).  The event presented over four hours of readings from Shakespeare involving eighteen different perfomers from three continents, and was attended by over 100 residents of Second Life.

The Conclusion of Anne Ursu's "Breadcrumbs" 1.23.12

Second Life viewers are free to download.  System requirements are available at the download page.  There are also Third Party Viewers available that are not the direct property of Linden Labs, and are also free to download.

If you are interested is stepping into the virtual world to evaluate its potential yourself, I would be happy to assist you.  I am hoping to add live video (with audio) of a presentation of works in the public domain very soon.

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