SL Internship, month one

I am now officially one month into my internship with The Tech, and I think things are going well. I am teaching building classes twice a week, and leading tours on weekends. People always say that you learn better when you teach someone else, and I think that holds true here. I continue to feel more and more comfortable with simple building, navigating, and explaining just what the heck we are doing here.

My first class was - less than great. Had 2 people show up 30 minutes late, and neither one really needed a basic class. That prompted me to add a description of just how basic - basic was. Its like, make a cube. Change its size. Change its color. Voila! Simple stuff. I dont want people to come in thinking I am going to teach them how to create buildings and steampunk engines, etc. Nope, just boxes and balls. But...look what we did with boxes and balls!

Tonight, between 4 of us, we experimented our way to a greater understanding of some of the intricacies of prim building. And this, I think, is a point in favor of SL.

Even on the most cohesive exhibit team, not everyone gets to be part of every step. The developer spends a great deal of time coming up with the ideas, while the curator combs the archives. The designer locks herself away to sketch and draw, while the production team asks you to stay out of their hair while they build. Its necessary to have specific skills on the team, and you cannot expect every team member to be able to contribute to every step along the way.

Imagine a team building an exhibit - they all go into a room that is filled with every substance imaginable. They can all build, as very few skills are required. They take time to experiment with wild ideas. They play. Imagine what kind of exhibit could come from that? I dont see SL as an analogue of the RL design process, but rather as a tool for building creativity.

In RL I am currently working on a new exhibit. Our exhibit process is very open and creative, and we spend lots of time brainstorming, refining ideas, etc. What we dont get lots of time to do is play around with the physical. I can suggest changes, but those need to go to the developer, then to the designer, then to the CAD designer, then to the production engineer and graphics designer, then back to me for approval. Whew! And what if I dont like it after all? It becomes like the classic comedy scene - move the couch over here. No maybe here. No maybe back there after all.

But in SL - I can be working away and suddenly think - Hm, would this look better with a curved surface? Or, what if it were stone? And I can change it in a flash, and change it back. No harm, no foul. And everyone on the team could have their say. And, as the budget manager in me has to say it, you havent spent a dime.

Could museums use SL as a brainstorming lab? A place where they could go to play with ideas?