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Virtual Information Technology (VIT)
The computational hardware, software, and human systems will process an ever-increasing amount of available information. The management, analysis, and interpretation of such massive streams of information necessitate some new perspective. The technological applications derived from this process are likely to result in new patterns of living; possibly even a difference in what we see as “life.” These changes point to a coming refresh in the way we work, interact, communicate, collaborate, and play, and are being considered collectively as Virtual Information Technology.

The VIT World Group is an effort to stimulate development and promote collaboration within an integrated platform, which includes such environments as email, wikies, websites, social networks, blogs, virtual worlds, etc., to anticipate the changes mentioned in the preceding paragraph. Simply put, the VIT World Group is a group of people, in Second Life, with different skills, learning, sharing knowledge and enjoying their work with a common vision to look to the future of things.

Our vision is that everything boils down to information and with the right information one can do anything. The VIT World Group is all about the future of things. We are a professional organization that’s designed as a center for the collection of information and knowledge that encourages collaboration, for both private and commercial product development.

Our mission is to be the definitive source for the gathering of knowledge of emerging Virtual Information Technology. Our focus is on the future of things, currently working in such areas as Knowledge Collection and Creation, Education & Learning, Decision Support Systems, Human Expression and Visual Thinking. Through research and development in these and many other areas we hope to greatly benefit all of mankind. The following are the current active project on VIT World.

Rockcliffe University

VIT World is part of Rockcliffe University's Research Park. The Rockcliffe University Consortium a non-profit institution for the promotion of education and research using virtual models. First formed in SecondLife in October 2006, Rockcliffe has since grown from a modest 4000 sq. m. to encompasing seven sims (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rockcliffe%20I/100/101/24). This project is the brainchild of Knomaze Corporation CEO and founder Kevin Feenan (SL: Phelan Corrimal). Kevin is a graduate of the University of Toronto's EMBA program and is currently working towards a Doctorate in Organizational Design and Leadership through the University of Phoenix.

The Knowledge Base Project

Our Current 2D Knowledge Base (Mind map) is a "big picture" view of the virtual space. We are adding between 10 to 25 new items to it per day. We want to identify all of it's components. We use the mind map to identify trends. What is the next big thing? Where is the big money going to be made? What will be the next Google or Microsoft? Plus, we use it as a knowledge base to learn from. It contains hundreds of links to web sites, articles, conferences, books etc.

The interactive 3D version is a proof of concept. We built it to prove that we could bring the information into Second Life. It is a fully interactive version of our 2D model in Second Life.

Version 2 will be an exciting presentation of knowledge that will enhance our ability to absorb and interpret information and to identify developing trends.

Visual Thinking Research

Mindsystems® research into information handling is focussed on the visual aspects of this topic. The goal is to develop and build a world class software suite which enables users to plan projects, manage time and information while enabling groups of people to communicate and interact more effectively. The basis of this development is their existing product KnowledgeLink™ and the aim is to develop it into the ‘Swiss army penknife’ of planning applications.

Human Expression Research

Studio 33 at VIT World provides thought leadership in the area of human expression. Exploring new media methods to express human emotion through 3d, kinetic, and full emersion exhibits, the studio is unique in it's diversity and richness. Currently 18 different artist exhibit at Studio 33 with several more to follow. These artists are some of the most talented in all of Second Life. Their work inspire information technologist in their exploration of new methods to access information in 3d models.

Decision Support World Research

Decision Support World (DSW) is both a website (decisionsupportworld.com/) and a Second Life research and development facility. The broad purpose is to provide a "knowledge repository about decision support using virtual reality simulations" and encourage innovative development of decision support capabilities using Second Life. One project is a Decision Support Theater with real-time data. The other involves building scale models in Second Life with animation, simulated or even potentially real-time data for real-world decision support. At DSW a main floor exhibit hall showcases products, services and facilities for various types of decision support.

Education & Learning Research

Literature Alive! in Second Life is an academic project aimed at collecting and distributing resources for the development of literary projects of collegiate worth in SL. It began in December 2006 as a voluntary effort and continues to exist on a voluntary basis. Land donors like the VIT World campus make it possible for us to create and present materials to the resident and academic publics within Second Life. The Open Air Classroom hosted at VIT is used to teach Progressive Era literature and history. Students will be working on creating a virtual tenement museum, building am interactive Progressive Era Timeline, creating a Free Fall drop virtual representation of Stephen Crane's novella, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, and creating materials on the industrial revolution and sweat shops. The mission of Literature Alive! is to distribute resources for the teaching of immersive literature on the teen and adult grids of Second Life. Our goals are to help faculty create ethical and immersive learning environments that provide "added value" to students in composition, professional writing, and literature courses: to help students use the resources of a 3D world to add to the depth and breadth of understanding literature; to foster a community of open access educators dedicated to the sharing of teaching content through the Open SLedware Project; and, finally, to promote a lifelong love of learning through a lifelong passion for reading.

Pages

  1. Project Concept Document (Description)
  2. Project Overview
  3. 2D Knowledge Base (Mindmap)
  4. 3D Knowledge Base Design
  5. Future Projects
    1. Virtual Assistant
  6. Media
  7. Invitation to Join


The original start page had some useful information, and links, and can still be seen here.

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