There are a series of posts over on Architectradure – “Wearable Robotic” (Link), “A Living Sculpture” (Link), and “Inspiring book : the Prosthetic Impulse” (Link) – that I’m finding fascinating. They’re generally concerned with the topic of prosthetics but also touch on issues of identity (one of my current favorites) and human augmentation (reminding me a little of the “wearable stomach” shown in the recent Sterling/Klinker GoogleTech video – Link).
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For whatever reason, it seems to me that the writer(s) for the long-toothed upFront.eZine has an unfortunate personal problem with Second Life and the activities of 3D application companies like UGS who are trying to leverage it. This is something I actually noticed with a WorldCAD Access blog entry (Link) a couple of weeks back regarding UGS’s efforts inside what was described as a “sexually-loaded” Second Life (the blog is part of upFront.eZine’s web presence). Based on what I read today, objectivity remains an issue.
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Since I expect Nussbaum to once again censor a comment of mine on his most recent blog post (Link) discussing Second Life and managing brands in virtual worlds, I’m just going to post it here:

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Although you’ll probably censor this, it’s worth pointing out to you that you’re inappropriately skewing Verdino’s comments. He doesn’t say “build community”. He says “build relationships”. Not the same thing.
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Just read a mind-boggling entry on the Core77 blog. Designers: read this post, “Design changes in real hotels modeled after virtual ones” (Link), and feel free to explain this class of inbred thinking:

If you want to spruce up your hotel chain, you could hire a team of designers…or you could sign on to Second Life.

Aloft Hotels, a subsidiary of Starwood (and sibling to the swanky W Hotels) has been implementing feedback from Second Life users on how to revamp their virtual hotel. For several months they’ve been redesigning everything from color palettes to actual space layouts based on what SL users have been telling them, and today, May 8th, is launch day.

Why is this notable? Because Aloft is planning on implementing the design changes in their real hotels, too. Fate is a cruel mistress, friends; four years of design school, and we designers may be put out of work by a bunch of transgender teenagers with batwings for ears.

I can’t express how embarrassed I am for the entire design community. Words fail me.

I’m a firm believer that spatial immersion can occur in even primitive virtual worlds. And I’ve argued (reLink) that what’s available now – technologically speaking – is more than adequate. That said, I find it somewhat odd that people map real world limitations so completely on virtual worlds. Such was my bewilderment while reading some of the recent crop of blog entries on branding inside virtual worlds, that on the Business and Games Blog, which posted an entry called “Brand Traffic in Second Life” (Link), I’ve struck up a conversation with Alain Thys regarding a key aspect of this transference.
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