Big and blue, the motorcycle hints at speed, daring and adventure -- but only imagination powers this bike.

Imagination drives much on ISTania, too, the College of Information Science and Technology's (IST) island in the virtual world of Second Life.

Like the motorcycle, ISTania bears some resemblance to the real world, known in Second -Life parlance as ''First Life'': People can find the Nittany Lion logo, a Cybertorium-like space, the cafe at the Penn State Berks campus and IST contests including ''Build Your Own Motorcycle.''

Some of the inhabitants of ISTania may look familiar, too, as some IST students and faculty members have created their avatars or virtual selves in their own image.

But whether ISTania takes off remains as up in the air as the avatars who teleport from building to building, island to island. The possibilities, say those who inhabit this space, are many -- classroom of the future; recruiting venue for prospective students; online site for speakers and tutorials; medium for hosting inter-campus projects.

And a host of other applications still in the imagination.

''When the first Web page went up in the early 1990s, no one would have dreamed we would have the range of e-commerce, entertainment and news sites we have today,'' said Mike Bartolacci, an IST associate professor at Penn State Berks who has led the development of that campus' island.

''We're at a similar frontier with virtual worlds.''

Launched in 2003, Second Life developed by San Francisco-based Linden Lab is a leader in the development of virtual worlds. Registered users number more than 10 million with the number who log in daily thought to be significantly less.

Anyone can participate by signing up, and unlike games which involve quests or scripted behavior, almost anything goes in Second Life — although questions have been raised recently about whether First-World copyright and patent protection have a place in cyberspace.

With no instructions or rules guiding what goes on, Second Lifers come for a variety of activities. Some enjoy networking with people from all around the globe. Others like the challenge of the technology and spend their online time using the tools to create buildings, landscapes and meeting places.

Still others are intrigued with the tsunami and earthquake simulations, retail stores and company islands. IBM, for instance, is one of the biggest corporate players in Second Life, holding training and interview sessions on its island.

Bart Pursel, IST Solutions Institute designer and IST instructor who also serves on the University's Second Life initiative, sees new teaching and learning opportunities in virtual worlds. He's been exploring Second Life for about three years and advocated IST's purchase of an island last January.

''The dream I have,'' he said, ''is to make education and training environments as engaging and interesting as these online virtual worlds.''

That opens up options from organizing field trips to places like ancient Rome to hosting speakers for IST students throughout the Penn State system. A virtual experience with a more IST focus could involve networks, where students become packets and move through routers to ''experience'' network security.

Or students can experiment with designing a virtual retail store with a secure computer system which can thwart a security attack involving identity theft. That's actually a real-world project being designed for Second Life by Dongwon Lee and Angsana Techatassanasoontorn, assistant professors at University Park, and Jungwoo Ryoo, an assistant professor at Penn State Altoona.

Bob Avanzato, an associate professor at Penn State Abington who has IST 110 students working in Second Life, anticipates the technology will provide the means for collaborative projects among IST students across the campuses. Since his first venture into Second Life in early August, he has met educators from around the world at events from the recent launching of the Space Shuttle to National Public Radio's science broadcasts.

''I see no reason why students can't interact in Second Life with other students and professors from all over the country and all over the world,'' said Avanzato. ''That type of networking will be a big bonus.''

Like Pursel and Avanzato, IST student Greg Lund envisions a new educational model through virtual worlds. A senior at Penn State Berks, Lund is researching the integration of Second Life technology into distance learning for his Schreyer Honors thesis.

Second Life provides an immersive environment and gives students in online courses a way to have all the good qualities of face-to-face classes, Lund said.

''It's tangible,'' he continued. ''You have someone you can talk to and associate with just as if you were standing with them in a boardroom or a classroom.''

Or in Purgatory — because along with ISTania, IST is creating Purgatory as a 3-D tower with a Las Vegas look and populated with creatures right out of Dante's cantos (Paradise looks much like Beaver Stadium, thanks to one of the students on the project). Gerry Santoro, IST assistant professor, has been overseeing the Neo-Dante project which is less about literature and more about providing IST students with the tools of the future.

Virtual environments, Santoro said, are where PCs were 30 years ago.

''This is an emerging technology which will be a big player in 10 years to 20 years,'' Santoro insisted. ''A lot of the technology is still primitive, but it will evolve.''

So to spark curiosity about virtual environments, Santoro incorporates Second Life into the IST classes which he teaches, requiring students to visit ISTania as well as other locations. For some, the virtual environments hold little appeal. Others, like Tonya Podkuiko, dove in after the initial introduction.

A junior security and risk analysis major at University Park, Podkuiko estimates she spends a couple of hours a day in Second Life, sometimes building new objects for the Penn State Berks campus and other times chatting with any of the dozens of people she — or rather her avatar — has met.

''It's kind of like one big dollhouse with 40,000 other people,'' said Podkuiko who enjoys talking with people in different parts of the country. ''I find it interesting to learn about what goes on in other people's lives.''

For Dan LaBrecque, the simulations hold the most appeal. He toured the Sistine Chapel without having set foot in Vatican City.

''Second Life gives the chance to go places without having to buy the plane tickets,'' said LaBrecque, a junior IST major at University Park and designer on the NeoDante project.

While First World-wonders may take on new life in virtual worlds, not every transition is smooth. Several retailers who set up shop early on Second Life have closed their doors as the virtual retail experience hasn't translated into real-world sales.

Andrea Tapia, assistant professor, thinks Second Life may have a short shelf life for other reasons. The environment is rich, she said, for people with technological skills and interest, but building items has less interest for the casual, non-technical user.

Still Tapia will challenge students in her classes this fall to explore Second Life.

''I am positive that completely immersive virtual worlds which are not gaming environments will play a huge part in our society's future,'' Tapia said. ''However, Second Life is just the 'practice version' of what is to come.

''We must be involved with the generation of this new virtual world, so that we can shape it rather than be shaped by it.''

Share: