There's some cool virtual worlds news this week, including a MMOG used to teach language lessons. Plus, those broadcasters can't get enough of 'em. Both MTV and the BBC announce moves into cyber-neighbourhoods near you.
First up, via Joystiq, the education juggernaut continues to find new and exciting applications for virtual worlds. A MMO created by Michigan State's Confucius Institute aims to teach people Mandarin Chinese.
The Institute, which offers DIY Chinese and more formal Chinese language and culture education, has moved into the virtual realm with the support of the Chinese government to create Zon - The New Chengo Chinese, according to this report in Investors Business Daily :
The five-level, massive multi-player online game weaves Chinese history and geography into an immersive environment aimed at middle- and high-school students. ... Students travel through villages and cities and finally make their way to the game's highest level. There they take roles of residents who can negotiate business and serve as tour guides.
In the process, they encounter characters from history and folklore, including "the woman who cried the Great Wall down." According to legend, the emperor drafted her husband to work on the Great Wall, but he died in the effort. Thus her tears.
There are many educators interested in the virtual world, and as yet I've not heard of a game specifically aimed at developing a language (though Alice considers the possibilities here). The situated elements and in-built support mechanisms should provide a good learning environment for whoever wants to learn Chinese. I've always fancied it myself...
Meanwhile, MTV continues to expand into the There.com universe by bringing more of its TV properties to the digital screen. Virtual Laguna Beach has been a success in the eyes of the broadcaster, supporting the reality TV show property with online escapades and branded experiences. Now they're hoping to repeat the trend with their new series The Hills, another reality-TV type of product.
Via CNet:
MTV Networks on Monday announced the launch of Virtual Hills, a new custom virtual world created using the There.com platform, and which is based on the network's hit show, The Hills. And in an interesting twist, fans of another hit MTV show and its virtual counterpart can teleport right in.
This is MTV's second go-round with There. Last year, the network and the virtual world creator teamed up on Virtual Laguna Beach, a digital, 3D environment based on Laguna Beach, another of the network's shows.
As the article rightly says, the really interesting thing about this is that Virtual Hills players can go to Virtual Laguna Beach to hang by the seaside for the day. Meta-identities?
But I ask, why must they only do reality TV properties? Surely something really interesting could happen if someone brought, say, Green Wing to these spaces? I'm sure someone's working on it. Maybe someone with a big, long-running science fiction property that features time-travelling warlords and dainty yet tough female assistants...
And speaking of the BBC, they announced yesterday that they're launching "a Second Life for kids," according to this Guardian article:
CBBC World will offer youngsters a safe environment to explore, and provide them with different zones offering CBBC content.
The project is one of the keystones of BBC Children's move to become truly cross-platform. ... The BBC Children's controller, Richard Deverell, said that CBBC World will have a soft launch over the summer, then roll it out in September to coincide with the planned revamp of the CBBC digital TV channel.
"CBBC World will be a space where children can find radio, TV and on-demand content.
"Over time we hope to enrich the world with better software. We hope then it can be adapted to make it more personal so it understands what kind of person you are ,and offers you things you might like, such as our new show MI High...."
Hmmm, more cross-media fun. But at the minute, it's all too one-way. TV stuff going into virtual worlds. What'll happen when that process is reversed and we start getting mainstream media entertainment that's changed by online actions?
