Synopsis | Walking the Digital Dog – Work, Learn and Play in Virtual Worlds:

3D virtual worlds such as Second Life and There.com increasingly hit the headlines. But what exactly are they? What can and can’t they do? How does one get started? Could virtual worlds really be the next big thing for business, social networking, education and entertainment?

They certainly don't replace real life communication, but they do offer richer opportunities for people getting to know each other and collaborate than the web, ping-pong email, faceless phone calls and uncomfortable video conferencing.

Businesses are using virtual worlds to promote their brands, practice for dangerous situations and allow people to experience products before they exist; Asperger’s sufferers are being helped; tennis buffs can experience Andy Roddick’s 140 mph serve; surgeons rehearse operations; and science teaching is being enhanced.

So even if some suggest that virtual worlds are a silly irrelevance and a quirky alternative to true life, the reality is different.

The speaker will share live demonstrations of companies and individuals already using virtual worlds as digital venues in which they work, learn and play. By addressing the four questions posed above, he hopes that those in the Mountbatten audience unfamiliar with “walking digital dogs” and such-like will wish to explore further.

Speaker | Andrew (Roo) Reynolds, IQ Collaboration Development team, IBM - Metaverse Evangelist: 

Andrew (Roo) Reynolds joined IBM’s Hursley Park laboratory in 1997, initially as a software development engineer concurrently studying for a first-class honours integrated Computer Science degree. He is currently a member of the lab’s Emerging Technology Group, playing a central part in establishing IBM’s strong Virtual Worlds early adopter presence.

For the past two years he has acted as a ‘Metaverse Evangelist’, helping people within and outside the company to understand and use virtual worlds, for example enabling a world-wide community of many thousands of colleagues to work together within this medium. He considers that virtual worlds may affect mankind as momentously as writing, the printing press, the telephone, the internet and the World Wide Web.

Roo is married to an artist, who tries her hardest to keep him balanced. His other interests include real travel, photography and collecting rather too much Lego.

History

In 1978 the National Electronics Council instituted an annual prestige lecture and the first lecture was given by The Earl Mountbatten of Burma. Following his assassination the following year the lecture was renamed the Mountbatten Memorial Lecture in his honour. The Lecture, usually held on the second Thursday in November, is delivered annually to an invited audience of distinguished people, including leaders of industry, academics, senior engineers and others involved with the formulation of policy and the administration of our society.

In 1999 the NEC was wound up and the Mountbatten Memorial Lecture is now organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Past Mountbatten lectures