David Rumsey Maps Launch Event
On March 6th 2008, approximately 30 residents of a virtual world descended upon an event staged 100 meters above Yosemite valley. Far in the backdrop, one could see two towering globes. Both the terrestrial globe and celestial globe are works by Giovanni Maria Cassini (1790 & 1792), now prominently displayed on David Rumsey’s island in Second Life. While this sounds impressive, you soon begin to realize that the entire region around you is home to numerous historical maps. Maps that were given a second life in a virtual world.
It is fitting that paper maps are given a second life of their own, in a virtual world that prides itself in offering its residents a second life. The unique nature of this platform is its ability to be robust, scalable, and most of all fully immersive. Because virtual worlds are so tactile it lends itself well to education - and that is why 30 residents from various parts of the world gathered at David Rumsey’s launch event.
As residents settled in, they were given a chance to view a special presentation appropriately titled “Giving Maps a Second Life with Digital Technologies.” Following the insightful presentation, residents called in to a live Q&A session via conference call. Here residents were given the chance to ask David Rumsey questions regarding his work in Second Life and beyond. Although we’ve known it all along, this is when it truly sunk in for me - the residents of second life really crave meaningful interaction and jump at the opportunity for education. They really do!
The questions asked during the call inspired us to look at the work we have done to date. It challenged us to think of new creative ways to further evolve David Rumsey’s island into a more collaborative and educational space. As a matter in fact, one resident asked “when will we be able to see a collaborative project in second life?” in response to David’s comment on wanting to bring in hundreds of his maps into Second Life. Certainly, the virtual plane is the perfect platform for disseminating hundreds if not thousands of maps. The work however can be a daunting task. This is one of the way that residents can collaborate on a project.
As the event came to an end, residents mingled and explored the various landmarks that helped frame this wonderful event. I have selected the accompanying image because of two important reasons. First, because it captures the awe of Cassini’s globes as residents looked on. The later because these residents really made the event a success. Working as event staff, they were available to guide visitors and educate them on the history, origin, and the technical implications of giving these maps a second life.
On behalf of David Rumsey, and the team at Centric I would like to thank you all for coming to the event, and we look forward to seeing more great things come out of David Rumsey’s island in Second Life.
If you missed the launch event, you may view the video presentation here and as always, there are lots more to be seen at Centric’s Flickr page.
