“INSIDE INNOVATION” COLUMN

Using Second Life as a testing ground for real-world applications

UC Irvine computer scientist Crista Lopes was happy to do all her work in the real world – until February, that is.

Now she also devotes time to programming in the computer-based world Second Life, where she is creating software to control a virtual rapid-transit system called SkyTran. Her software keeps SkyTran’s virtual cars from getting into virtual collisions at virtual interchanges of virtual tracks.

After the control software is ready in Second Life, her plan is to transfer it to a real-world version of SkyTran, proposed by the Irvine-based transportation company Unimodal Inc.

In the programming process, Lopes said, she discovered that the simplified physics of Second Life are close enough to the physics of the real world that Second Life can be used as an inexpensive simulation tool by small- to medium-sized companies. It’s a low-cost alternative to the sophisticated simulation programs in use by industrial designers at big-bucks enterprises such as NASA and the military, as well as Boeing and other aerospace contractors. …

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Also in that file:

• Step-by-step guide to trying out virtual SkyTran in Second Life.
• Video about virtual SkyTran and an interview inside Second Life.

Posted in: Academic innovators • Cross-pollination • "Inside Innovation" columns • Female innovators • Games and gaming companies • High tech • Internet • Military and aerospace • Tips for innovators • UCI • Unimodal Systems • Videos and files that link to videos |

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