Decatur mulls Second Life-esque ‘virtual world’
December 22, 2008 at 10:23 am by Thomas Wheatley in NewsDecatur, the walkable suburb that is to Atlanta what Park Slope is to Manhattan (think about it), wants to develop a ‘virtual world’ a la Second Life.
According to the city:
Similar to other social networking tools, Virtual Decatur will provide an environment in which residents, businesses, institutions and visitors can interact and connect around a common interest. However, it is it is imperative that the project go beyond the features of traditional virtual environments. The overarching purpose of this project is to allow users to interact with the City in new and innovative ways that are not possible in the real world. It is envisioned that the real world experience may be enhanced through participation in Virtual Decatur.
Possible options include virtual City Hall tours, opportunities to win coupons or discounts at real-life stores, streaming video of city meetings that would allow viewers to comment, and access to city and business information.
The project, which was developed with the assistance of DeVry University game development student Justin Hubbard, is currently accepting submissions. There’s no word yet on what it might cost. Or the more important matter of what the city will do if Dancing Goat’s virtual location becomes a staging ground for online protests filled with pixellated phalluses. There are lots of jokes to be made here, folks, so chime in if you can’t resist.
(A tip of the viking helmet to both Decatur Metro and Brandon Sheats’ Twitter updates for this interesting bit of news. Game Politics and Gizmodo also have given their takes on this. The online reaction has been mixed, with many commenters wondering why taxpayer dollars are being spent on the project and others predicting a swarm of hackers. Others applaud the move and say the city should be given time to test the concept. From what it appears, it’s a first.)
December 22nd, 2008 at 4:33 pm
This is part of Decatur’s economic boosting plan, but I can’t imagine how its net effect will be beneficial for downtown businesses.
Can you virtually stand in line for a table outside Brickstore? That might be okay.
January 1st, 2009 at 10:00 am
Decatur’s plan to open its inner workings to the community is tremendous! People need to know what is going on in government. Access to information is power. The City of Atlanta should take a lesson and do the same. Cronyism, inside deals, and terrible decisions are rampant in Atlanta. Letting people see and know what is going on will make the politicians more accountable. It won’t be a pretty sight, but we’re better off seeing the sausage being made than pretending it’s not ugly.