Luna Philosophie (NASA Colab) #3: From Avatar Space to Outer Space July 30, 2007

WHAT:The third Luna Philosophie will aim to establish a link between virtual worlds and their application to space. Also featuring a virtual tour of CoLab's island in SecondLife!

As suggested by attendees from the first Luna Philosophie, we will first begin with a short (~20 minute) presentation to set the tone for the subsequent discussion.

Some topics for discussion include:

* the concept of virtual worlds and their origins
* how we can help the average user cross over into outer space

From Avatar Space to Outer Space

Bruce Damer will take us on a sweeping visual journey through the origins and evolution of multi-player gaming, avatars and social virtual worlds up to the present "main-streaming of the metaverse" in platforms such as Second Life. From there we will boldly go where no virtual world has gone before... into the real-time 3D design engineering of NASA's architectures for robotic and human exploration of the solar system in the first quarter of this century. Some never-before-seen mission scenarios, developed by Bruce's company DigitalSpace working with NASA, will be presented during this session. Bruce will also dip into Project Biota, a ten-year initiative in artificial life and hyper-evolution. Bruce will conclude by suggesting pathways to combine the power of avatar cyberspace and serious engineering environments for the public understanding and support of space.

SCHEDULE:
6:30-7:00: Food, drinks, networking
7:00-7:30: Bruce Damer Presentation
7:30-8:30: Discussion
8:30-9:00: Socializing

WHO: All are welcome, from space professionals to those who are unsure what N-A-S-A stands for!

PLEASE BRING: Ideas, passion, and food and drink to share.

RSVP: Please (above)

FULL EVENT DETAILS: http://colab.arc.nasa.gov/node/62

About Luna Philosophie and NASA CoLab:
Riffing off of the centuries old conversational "salon" tradition, Luna Philosophie is a time for discussing humanity's evolution into space! is An initiative of NASA CoLab, a new program aiming to increase public participation in the nation's space program, Luna Philosophie occurs on (or close to) every Full Moon, in San Francisco, as part of CoLab's efforts to bring NASA and space to the dynamic creative communities of the San Francisco Bay Area. Each Luna Philosophie meeting has have a different theme, and involves a presentation and open discussion for philosophizing. Anyone who is interested in an open, creative dialogue on human, space related topics is encouraged to attend!

For more information on NASA CoLab, visit:
http://colab.arc.nasa.gov or contact ahoppin@arc.nasa.gov

For more information on Luna Philosophie, visit: http://colab.arc.nasa.gov/luna or contact schaudhuri@arc.nasa.gov

Official Website: http://colab.arc.nasa.gov/node/62