USC’s Network Culture Project Awards More Than $1 Million Lindens for “Second Life and the Public Good Community Challenge”07.01.08 | |
News Release
USC’s Network Culture Project Awards More Than $1 Million Lindens for “Second Life and the Public Good Community Challenge”
Project Highlights Potential of Community Development in Virtual Worlds
The University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication’s Network Culture Project is proud to announce the top three teams in the Second Life and the Public Good Community Challenge. Over the course of the past two weeks, five finalists selected from twenty-seven initial entries have worked in Second Life to create spaces devoted to philanthropic causes. In addition, each team has advocated for additional funding, encouraging visitors to vote in support of their project.
Each of the top three community-supported teams will receive L$300,000 Lindens and land in Second Life through the end of 2008. With a total of 409 votes counted, the three winning teams - in no particular order – are Ability Commons, Native Lands Cultural Outreach, and Texas Obesity Research Center. Their projects are as follows:
· Ability Commons: A virtual space dedicated to providing support for those living with disabilities. The purpose of the project is to provide a space for educating people about a wide range of disabilities, and to provide a common safe space for discussion and socialization.
· Native Lands Cultural Outreach: The Native Lands project will work to develop a comprehensive virtual community in Second Life for native groups throughout the world. The project will provide educational information and social services to support the community.
· Texas Obesity Research Center: The Texas Obesity Research project plans to create a virtual space for discussion and education about issues related to, and treatment of, obesity. By removing physical barriers, the project hopes to education in a neutral environment.
Each of these teams is to be commended for a job well done, having garnered a significant amount of support for excellent projects. These projects exemplify the potential for philanthropic endeavors in virtual spaces and represent a first-of-a-kind attempt to generate philanthropy through virtual communities.
In addition, the Network Culture Project is pleased to announce that we will be providing additional support to the remaining two finalists. In the spirit of philanthropy, the Interactive Accessible Home and the Mauerkrankheit/Wallsickness projects will each receive L$50,000 Lindens and land in Second Life to continue development of their projects.
The Interactive Accessible Home is a project devoted to creating awareness about the challenges faced by those who suffer from physical disabilities. The Mauerkrankheit/Wallsickness project is a virtual reality installation, set in Second Life, of current and historical walls dividing nations
More information about the challenge participants, and about the Network Culture Project, can be found at networkculture.usc.edu.
University of Southern California
Network Culture Projects
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Contact:
Tori Horton
Program Manager
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