When I first joined Second Life in 2006, I used a skydive setup built by “Cubey Terra” (Steve Cubey Cavers) to demonstrate some of the features of Second Life to colleagues and friends. Some images from those early days are here…
VATAR – Virtual Avatar Training and Recreation
The Virtual University of Edinburgh (Vue) group ran a series of sessions entitled “VATAR”. The Virtual Avatar Training and Recreation programme (VATAR) was a regular opportunity to get together in Second Life and meet others involved using virtual world for education. There were regular sessions where people could meet others from across the community who were involved in virtual worlds and discuss what they were doing, ask for hints and tips and learn new skills.
VATAR helped users gain experience with their avatar in fun sessions:
- Skydiving
- Scuba Diving
- Winter Festival
- Vehicle Trips
These sessions helped new users gain basic virtual world skills like:
- Get used to their avatar
- Text chat to others
- Open boxes and get inventory
- Wear attachments
- Use active objects
And rather more serious tutorials were used to help people get the most out of attending events in the virtual world:
- Avatar Appearance
- Building and Texturing
- Inventory Management
- Voice/VoIP
Skydive at Abbots Airfield in Second Life
You can go to at Abbots Airfield in Second Life to try out Skydiving. A free simple chute is available near the Skypod launch system. And sports chutes can be bought nearby.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Abbotts/159/119/47
Skydive in VR
Using the CtrlAltStudio viewer and the Oculus Rift, it is rather easier to look down as you approach the landing spot while steering the more recent “Starburst 1.1.1” chute from Cubey Terra…
