Skinningrove jetty
Steve Thompson at Univ. of Teeside is well known in community informatic circles for his work with local communities. His work to assist a campaign to renovate a disused jetty in the village of Skinningrove has made perhaps the most imaginative use of Second Life that I’m aware of. Firstly, they built an SL version of what a renovated jetty might look like. Secondly, he worked with people from the village to create some rather realistic avatars, and familiarised them with SL. Thirdly, they staged an opening of the virtual jetty, complete with a speech from the (avatar of) local MP Ashok Kumar, and songs from schoolchildren. And fourthly, edited all of this into a film, available at:
http://www.ecol.org.uk/?p=149. I’m not a great fan of SL, but this is a fantastically imaginative use.
