This is a sick New Game coming out in march… My favorite saga of video games, Resident Evil adds a new twist to the zombie epidemic. Not only do you fight The walking dead but another task force sent to eliminate all remaining survivors. Operation Raccoon City is another game associated with the the original Resident Evil in that it takes place in the city during the time of the initial outbreak.

Scene designer: Matthew Barbara

The Haunted Hotel at City Tech has been a staple in the entertainment department for over ten years.  Every fall semester teachers and students gear up for the long production hours of planning and hard work to get the show up and running.  This production has been my inspiration for my culmination project.  I have taken an interest in scenic carpentry and design throughout my college career, and now I plan to build a replica of Graves End Inn, Haunted Hotel on a virtual world called Second Life.

Second Life is a three dimensional world developed by Linden Lab where humans can live a “second life” through an Avatar on a computer screen.  In this world people have the ability to do the same things they do in the real world such as shop, interact, play, dance, build structures and socialize with other through their avatars.  This program has become the future of the online experience and should be used as a social network like facebook and twitter.  Instead of posting a message or writing a slogan on your wall, you can meet with your friends and chat as a virtual being. We now have the ability to set up important meeting with people around the world or teach a class from home and feel as if we are right in the room.  This theory has been the foundation for everything we build in second life because everything in the world is built by its inhabitants and there would be no Second Life without us.

After building a picture museum for a class in my junior year of college I felt the need to build the Haunted Hotel in the world.  We have so many autoCADD and vector works drawings of the structure along with pictures and images of how we piece it together each year, and the addition of a three dimensional hotel will help as a visual aid to enhance the productivity of the project.  Second Life gives us the ability to walk through the structure as it exists in the actual space all year round.  We can add to it, take objects away, improve the structure, and observe the changes even before we start building anything in the real world. We can also search for props that we want to put into each room and strategically place them in the room and match the real world hotel to the room In Second Life.  In this essay I will review the process of how I built the structure, what I plan to finish for my culmination project, and the future of Second Life’s Graves End Inn.

Second Life Logo

After doing some research and studying the ground plan I had originally developed a scale for the building in second life.  It was set to 1 foot = .5 meters, however the problem I had with this scale is that it was too small for the avatars in the world, but looked the best when relating to objects in the world.  What I mean is that for the furniture, bed’s, doors, and other such object this scale was perfect. On the other hand the avatars and the camera angels would have been too tight in the space meaning that the camera would still be outside of the room as the avatar walks into the room.  So I changed my scale to 1’= 1 meter, although it has made the structure very big, it gives you the best camera angle and space you need to work in each room.

Everything we build in second life starts with a prim.  It starts as a box that is .5 meters in length, width and height. The prim can then be manipulated into anything we want such as a 4 by 8 flat, or if you combine multiple prims we can make more complicated objects such as beds and fireplaces.  On these prims we can add color and textures to make it match the original design used in the hotel.  The walls and structure of the hotel will have to be built from scratch, but most of the prop for the Hotel can be bought on islands that have furniture malls.   There are also islands related to entertainment where we can buy lighting fixtures, consoles, trusses, speakers, and fog machines.  Using all these elements we can recreate the hotel to make it look as realistic as possible.

To start my project I had to figure out a way to place the ground plan into second life. After measuring the ground plan from the lobby to the back of the theater, I came up with 95 feet in length by 65 feet in width.   Unfortunately a single prim is can only be resized to 10 meters in length, width and height, and this would require many more prims than expected just to build the floor.  To solve this problem I researched mega-prims, which are prims that exceeded the normal limitations however cannot be resized after they have been created. So I placed mega-prim at a height of 600 meters above City Tech Island which was 65 by 95 by 5 meters in length, width and height.  Then I imported the ground plan as a picture and added it to the surface of the prim as a texture.  This has been the foundation for the placement of the walls and scenic elements in the hotel, using this prim I was able to extrude all the walls to a certain height, length, and width as they lay out in the real hotel on second life.

I built every wall in the hotel from the entrance to the hotel to the end of the maze as it looks exactly in the real hotel.  I built the light booth, sound booth and a grid which, when we are ready, hang lights from.   I also built a truss structure which I setup above the theatre to hang fixtures or sound equipment.   Although my goal is to recreate the scenic elements I wanted to stress the importance of adding these theatrical elements to the project.  We are always looking for a better way to design lighting plots and strategically place sound systems and second life can help usin our process.  Designers are also looking for a design process or idea for each scene and in second life we are able to build that exact scene and develop a plan for how we want to manipulate it.

In order to recreate the exact feeling of the hotel I had to use pictures from of each wall in the real hotel.  I took pictures of each wall while the hotel was in production this year imported them into Photoshop. Using this program I can crop, resize and change the color or brightness of each picture, to hide shadows and reduce light.  After saving the images as a jpg I was then able to upload it into Second Life for ten lindens each image.  In order to achieve exact likeness everything on the walls in the real hotel will have to be added after the texture is placed on the prim.

Tipsys Parlor

The furniture used in hotel can also be bought in the world by going to the same place we buy real furniture, the mall.  Second life’s inhabitants have created islands dedicated to housing entire malls for people to buy anything we desire.  From cloths and furniture to huge pirate ships and effects equipment, there is a mall for anything we want to do in second life.  For the task of propping the hotel I have had the help of Professor Chip Scott who has helped me in the search for and purchase of prop furniture to match the real hotel.

Although all the scenic elements are not completed in the hotel, it is a standing structure that can be improved each year.  Incoming freshman to the entertainment department, who has not experience the hotel in its entirety, can first take the virtual tour of the structure.  Entertainment devices such as lighting, effects, audio, and video can also be added to the virtual world. Furthermore it is a project that can be taken on by any student or class that wants to learn more about building in Second Life.

I made a demonstration video on how I built Tipsy’s Parlor and a tour of the entire structure click on the link to view. ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxd5oGdqaQ8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6BSZgNoSlA

This is a great idea in many ways; some people don’t have a clue about how to create something or come up with an idea. It will also cost a lot to have your own crew of technicians messing around in the space without a plan. I think it is a good idea to have a separate group draw up the plans and describe in detail how to implement the product in the space. Although paperwork is the last ting we want to do as technicians, without a well drawn out plan nothing gets done, or it’s done wrong and doesn’t work, and in worse circumstances someone can get hurt.

However there is one unfortunate aspect about ESI. They do not develop a finished product. As a technician I always want to build something, not just write about how to make it work. Although I love drafting and computer design I would like to create something in the physical space once in a while. I do understand the importance of paper work and design because without organization and creativity the job would become a lot more difficult and less interesting.

http://www.esidesign.com/flash/about/about_fact.html

The mezzanine floor contained the history of Rockefeller center painted on each wall like a New York City history museum. The first form of technology was the sound effects in this room. There was a faint sound of the city mixed with that of a blowing wind throughout the room, and this gave you an eerie feeling as if you were one of the famous workers sitting on the beam looking down at the city. There was also a video projection of a documentary stretched across three screens as you walk to the elevator.

Surprisingly, the elevator was rigged with lights, sound and projected images as well. When you go up to the observation deck the ceiling of the elevator was transparent allowing you to see equipment used in this installation. The projector streamed live video of the buildings history onto both the ceiling and floor of the elevator. The lighting fixtures were fixed onto the walls of the elevator shaft and would change colors intermittently as you moved up the floors to the top. The sound effects enhanced the video creating a moving movie theatre. From what I could see the three systems were linked together, and set to go when the elevator started to move. The same effect was used in the down elevator as you were leaving the top to the rock.

The third installation I found was an interactive lighting room on the second tier of the observation deck. This interactive room was covered in about 1 foot by 6 inch white rectangular boxes. When a person enters the room he or she is assigned one of six colors and as they move about the room the tiles nearby illuminate in that color and follow them. Behind each box there was lighting equipment that looked like LEDs and there had to be a highly sensitive sensor which indicated that a particular person was standing in that area. Although no speakers were visible there were sound effects in the room that were relative to the movements of the people in the room. If someone were to move too fast or come to close to a wall the lights would flash at random and in different colors around the room. The sounds in the room made me feel as if I were playing an old video game like Super Mario Brothers using a beeping noise whenever a light turned on or off. When there were less people in the room, the attraction was much more successful and ordered, but as soon as more people entered, it became more random and chaotic.

All these attractions were pretty exciting to see and I would definitely recommend everyone to check it out. Just make sure you’re not afraid of heights.

The technology I observed at the Three Legged Dog was like nothing I’ve seen before. In one of the theatre’s rooms, there was a clear screen that stretched from the bottom of the stage to the top at a 45 degree angle. Although we were unable to see a live demonstration, the video recording of the screen in use, showed that images, even another actor, could be projected onto the dark stage and seem as if they were really there. The angle at which the screen stood, made all the images projected onto it seem much more life-like, rather than just a 2D backdrop. This technology allows designers to bring large props into the theatre by simply projecting them onto a screen. The process is easier and the audience gains a more realistic view.  A good discription of how this process works is described in this wikipedia site peppers ghost.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper%27s_ghost

The performance or rather, tech rehearsal, that we observed combined audio, lighting, and video. The area was setup like a thrust stage layout where the audience would sit on all three sides of the acting area. However, the acting took place on the same level as the audience and it made me feel like we were part of the play. The speakers were hung from the center beam of the grid and had a wood frame around them. When we had asked why they were set up in this fashion the technician told us that it directs the sound better so that it can be heard in different sections of the room. As for the lighting, they had unique effects and color designs to reflect the show’s strange, yet interesting story.

The Three Legged Dog gave me a chance to see the inner workings of a theatre I’ve never had the opportunity to visit before. So much technology was used in such a small venue that it surprised me how little space can sometimes matter. I wish I could’ve seen more of it, but I guess I’ll just have to go back soon.

If we were to say that virtual worlds help people socialize in real life it would be like saying that a bowl of ice-cream will help a fat kid loose weight. If anything, a virtual world or any other interactive game creates isolation from other people. Sitting in front of a computer screen for over five hours playing a game or interacting on Second Life is only helping your virtual world not your real life. You lose real connection from people and distance yourself from the life you should be living. I had mentioned the story about my brother on one of my comments about virtual worlds and gaming. My brother plays EverQuest religiously and is the most unsocial person I know, unable to interact with people who are not miles away and behind a screen.

When we break down life to its most basic functions, to survive we must have food, water, and shelter. One important thing that people forget to add to the list is companionship; people need to communicate and feel the presence of another person for comfort. Lack of interacting with people face to face gives you the chance to create the character you want to be. You could be completely honest with your avatar and speak to people with your own true thoughts, but on the other hand, you could also be something you are not. In face to face conversation the person that you are interacting with is allowed to see your expressions and able to gage both your words and body language to believe that you are sincere. But through instant messages, texts, and virtual worlds the information presented could and could not be true. Furthermore, it is open to much more misinterpretation. A person may take what you say one way, while it is meant in a completely different one.

Although I sound cynical when it comes to virtual worlds and communication through technology, I do think they are fun to use and serve a useful purpose. However, like everything, it is best used in moderation. I don’t believe that people should waste their entire lives in front of the screen when there is a whole world to interact with directly exists outside your door.

I think this concept is unique in many ways. It allows us the opportunity to be creative and produce something not found in a typical newspaper or magazine. On all the FM radio stations we hear the same talk show, which consists of the news, weather, and traffic everyday. Most of the time the host of the show comments on Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s whereabouts and what they are eating for dinner. It seems that the media controls everything that is said or talked about and there is no room for new inventions and creative thinking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE

Using blogs and video-audio pod casting everyone can post something online for the world to view. It is like having your own late night show where you can do what you want for no cost or profit. I feel like there is more information and creative thinking when ordinary people have the opportunity to create something instead of just accepting the social norms of society.

Take our pod cast project for example. This is a unique idea with a lot of potential. We could set up a blog that goes with the audio so that people could coment and respond to it. Hopefully if we post our information, local bands in New York will contact us for a spot on the show. However, you will never see Opie and Anthony talk about one underground band a week. I feel all bands work hard to create their own sound and everyone should have the chance to be heard. So instead of playing the foo-fighters song “the pretender” fifty times a day on one station I think that radio should give everyone chance such as a local band from Queens.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that with this new social media online we can hear a band from Queens or read a blog that someone posts. We are not subjected to what the radio stations and media tell us we are allowed to hear, see, and experience. It is a great idea and allows us more opportunity not only to view new things but create our own work for the world to see.

I found it fascinating that the furry robot named Leonardo uses visual recognition to remember human faces and names. Nexi the MDS robot can pick up objects, talk, and move like a human. The most interesting information I learned is that they are developing robots with capabilities of social learning. This means that these robots would be able to learn about the complexity of the human world and quite possibly, become members within it. Although the robots have yet to reach this potential, the technology is clearly there for it to evolve into something as advanced as this. I would definitely want to play around with the technology myself.

Thinking on it more and more I question, could it happen that one day we won’t need humans to fight on the front lines in a war? Could we use robots to defend a country or defeat an enemy? This may just be my imagination but I think it would be great to have a technician behind a computer controlling a robot instead of a human in the line of fire. Then again, this technology is not cheap and if there ever is such an option, I am sure that the cost of a human life in the eyes of a government is less valued than an advanced killer robot anyway.