LiteraTour announces:

In cooperation with the Swedish Institute: The LiteraTour 2.0 project, together with the Public Libraries of Stockholm, welcome you to celebrate World Book Day with us - in Second life!

When: Wednesday, 23 April 3pm-5pm Swedish time (Central European Time)
Where: Second House of Sweden (Sweden’s virtual embassy in Second Life).

The event is a celebration of books, languages and intercultural dialogue. It’s one of a number of regular events that we call Literary Language Cafés.

It’s all about sharing literature and languages across the borders - both in First Life and in Second life! Apart from learning about our exciting project you will receive a free T-shirt for your avatar… And we also have a musical surprise for you!

If you are in the Stockholm area and you can’t join the event from your own computer, you are welcome to visit one of the following libraries where the event will be broadcast live on big screens:

* Stadsbiblioteket
* Kista bibliotek
* Brommaplans bibliotek
* Östermalms bibliotek

The event will be held in Swedish and English. Everyone is invited!

Read more about the project LiteraTour in Library 2.0

On March 18, the Swedish Institute is showing two Indonesian short films at the Second House of Sweden, in the virtual world of Second Life. The films, “My Pikko” and “Night Shift”, were made during the Swedish Digital Filmmaking Workshop held in Jakarta from October 28 to November 18, 2007.

Workshop participants will introduce the two films; afterwards, join them in a discussion of the films and the workshop.

Anyone with a broadband Internet connection can take part. It’s free.

When: Tuesday, 18 March, 4 pm Stockholm time (8 am Second Life time, 10 pm Jakarta time)

About the films:

My Pikko (Colour, Drama, 11 minutes, 2007)

Story and direction: Andi Arfan Sabran
A mother has to make a difficult decision regarding her daughter’s pet bird during the avian flu epidemic in Indonesia.

Night Shift (Colour, Drama, 18 minutes, 2007)

Story and direction: Elizabeth Pamela Andries
Cousins Aziz and Upik work at a 24-hour convenience store in Jakarta. Aziz experiences Jakarta’s nightlife during the night shift, but gets caught in the intrigue of a crime committed by his old friend Jamal, a fellow employee.

More information:
The Swedish Digital Filmmaking Workshop is a project of the Swedish Institute, in collaboration with the Embassy of Sweden In Jakarta, the Faculty of Film and Television — Jakarta Arts Institute and the Jakarta Arts Council.

Swedish supervisors at the workshop were Dramatiska Institutet’s Marianne Persson and Hanna Andersson. Project coordinator is Winda Wastu Melati. Both Hanna and Winda will be at the showing in Second Life to discuss the films and the workshop.

How to visit the Second House of Sweden:
First-time users of Second Life: Get a free account at Sweden.se. Download and install the viewer (Windows, Mac or Linux), log on and you will be instantly transported to the Swedish Institute’s island. There, a short orientation course teaches you the basics of navigating Second Life. After about 15 minutes of training, you’ll be ready to join the activities at the Second House of Sweden.

Seasoned users of Second Life: Using the map, search for “Swedish Institute” and teleport there. You can also use this SLurl.

Contact info:
International media:
Susanna Wallgren, susanna.wallgren@si.se, +46 8 453 79 65

Swedish media:
Jenny Hagblom, jenny.hagblom@si.se, +46 8 453 79 22

About the Swedish Institute:
The Swedish Institute (SI) is a public agency that promotes interest in Sweden abroad. SI seeks to establish cooperation and lasting relations with other countries through active communication and cultural, educational and scientific exchanges. The Swedish Digital Filmmaking Workshop is one example of such work.

This post is also available as a press release (1.6MB).

I’m back in Cairo now after a hectic week in Washigton DC, finally with some more time to give credit where it is due for “House of Sweden goes Virtu-Real”, the wonderful installation that brings together the House of Sweden and Second House of Sweden.

The Swedish Institute commissioned it and funded the installation, but the concept and the construction is by studio un/real, comprised of Mr. Matèrn and Mr. Kobayashi, a Swedish-Japanese architectural duo that first met at the architecture faculty of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

studio un/real had help. For the preparation and construction phase in Washington DC, it had the support of studio un/real team, “a creative collaboration platform for architects, designers, artists and performers.” Specifically, Kristin Gausdal and Markus Wagner were in Washington DC to collaborate on the construction and the technical setup.

The Electric Sheep Company, which built the original Second House of Sweden, was responsible for a crucial bit of technological hacking — they converted an old Ericsson telephone into a device for calling Second Life, and wrote the necessary interface software to make it work.

Finally, there was great support from the staff at the House of Sweden in Washington DC, who facilitated the setup and continue to be unremittingly enthusiastic about the installation. They are also our eyes and ears and hands if something goes wrong with the installation and needs tweaking.

I’m going to take some vacation now, but will be back in a few weeks with more news about upcoming projects this year at Second House of Sweden.

House of Sweden goes Virtu-Real made it to the morning news on Fox News in Washington DC. Click on the image below to get to the site where the video plays. It gives you a very good idea of what we’re doing here.

The inauguration of the “Innovation & Technology” exhibition at the House of Sweden in Washington DC went off without a hitch… And so did the installation “House of Sweden goes Virtu-Real”. I’ve added some more pictures to the Flickr set:

If you missed the inauguration, you can visit the installation yourself until March 16, either i Second Life or in Washington DC.

Below, the press release that was sent out earlier today:

House of Sweden goes Virtu-Real
By Studio Unreal + Team and the Swedish Institute
January 8 - March 16, 2008
House of Sweden, Washington DC — Second House of Sweden, Second Life.

Join us either in the real world or in the virtual world of Second Life to visit a brand-new installation that spans both places: A room that is partly at Second House of Sweden in Second Life, and partly in the real world, at the House of Sweden in Washington, DC.

The installation is part of an exhibition at the House of Sweden running from January 8 to March 16 that highlights Swedish technology and innovation. But if you are not in Washington DC, you too can visit — in fact, your presence in Second Life is crucial to making the installation “House of Sweden goes Virtu-Real” work.

What does the installation do?

• In the real world: As you approach the installation, a projection on a glass wall allows the room to continue into Second Life, where you can see avatars in real time visiting the room in Second Life. Beside the screen there is a “pixel cave”, a booth with an old Ericsson phone and smaller screen that lets you see the virtual room from the side. Pick up the phone, and a virtual phone will ring in Second Life. Anyone visiting the room in Second Life can answer the phone (by clicking on it) and talking to you.
• In Second Life: Visit the installation at Second House of Sweden, just behind the reception desk as you enter. Once there, turn on video to see a live view of the real-world exhibit along one wall. Remember, they can see you too! There is a big pink phone in the room. Touch it, and a real phone will ring at the exhibition. If somebody there picks up, you can have a conversation. Remember to have voice chat enabled.

The installation is conceived and created by Studio Unreal + Team, an architectural collective with roots in KTH, the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The installation is commissioned and funded by the Swedish Institute, a government agency involved in public Diplomacy.

Some photos of the installation and its construction in Washington DC:
http://flickr.com/photos/stefangeens/sets/72157603670628229/

More information about the installation at:
http://secondhouseofsweden.com/

More information about the real-world exhibition.
http://www.swedenabroad.com/Page____69190.aspx

Location of the Second House of Sweden:
You can visit Second House of Sweden from here:

To register for Second Life (free):
http://www.sweden.se/templates/cs/Secondlife____16359.aspx

Opening hours:
In the real world, 12-6pm Wednesday to Friday, 12-4pm Saturday and Sunday (Washington DC time)
In Second Life: 24/7! (Tough when the exhibition is closed, there will be nobody to talk to in the real world.)

…and the Second House of Sweden project comes full circle as it takes over a room in the (real-world) House of Sweden in Washington DC. Today, everything is ready — studio unreal has been putting the final touches on the installation, press photos have been taken, and at 7pm tonight (1am Swedish time) the inauguration takes place.

I took some photos of the real-world half of the installation. You can see the whole set on Flickr.

You too can visit the installation just by showing up at Second House of Sweden in Second Life.

Happy 2008! And now back to work experimenting with public diplomacy in virtual worlds…

I’m currently in Washington DC at the (real) House of Sweden, which houses Sweden’s Embassy to the United States. I’m here because on Tuesday, January 8 we’re inaugurating an art installation at the (real) House of Sweden that exists partly in Second Life. The installation is one of several in “Innovation & Technology”, an aptly named exhibition highlighting Sweden’s tradition of technological innovation that runs until March 16.

Everyone is invited to attend the virtual opening of the installation, “House of Sweden Goes Virtu-Real”, at Second House of Sweden in Second Life. Here is a sneak preview…

If you’re in the (real) House of Sweden, you’ll approach a glass wall through which you see a continuation of the room in Second Life. There is also an old Ericsson phone there, with which you can make a phone call to the visitors of the room in Second Life.

If you’re in the room at the Second House of Sweden, one side of the room is continued in the real-world embassy. Here too you’ll find a phone, which you can use to call people at the embassy.

The installation was conceived by studio un/real + TEAM, a Stockholm-based architectural collective with roots at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), and funded by the Swedish Institute. You can see some of the team members at work on the installation in the photos above.

The official inauguration is at 19.30 Washington DC time, or 1.30 Swedish time (i.e. early Wednesday), and everyone is invited, but if that time is a bit inconvenient for you, drop by anytime during the day on the 8th, as we’ll be putting the finishing touches on the installation and showing off the exhibition to the press.

Last December 13, Sweden’s Saint Lucia procession in Second Life was the first widely covered Swedish-themed event in Second Life, organized by Swedish Second Life resident Tina Dahl and a small band of friends. In the year since, Second Life has seen a veritable explosion into the public consciousness, and as a result far more Swedes are now involved in the virtual world — which means far more Swedes to partake in this year’s Saint Lucia ritual.

This December 13, then, expect a far more elaborate Saint Lucia procession, with contributions from many Swedes in Second Life. Below is the press release, or download this flyer (jpeg). If you want to read up on Saint Lucia before the day, here’s a great primer. This is one of the best rituals in Sweden’s annual calendar — and now you can attend one from absolutely anywhere. No more excuses!

After last years huge succes of Lucia in Second Life – Lucia will visit us all again!

Every year the 13th of December, Santa (Saint) Lucia arrives to Sweden to announce the Christmas season. This year, again, she will be in Second Life.

The Lucia Celebration features traditional Swedish songs, with a woman, representing Saint Lucia, dressed in white robes, with a headdress of candles, a halo of light to repel the darkness.

LUCIA in Second Life – 13th of December Svenskt Resurscenter – sim (128 128 0)
Swedish time: 21.00-21.30 and 22.30 to late.
Second Life time: 12am (PST)-12.30am (PST) and 1.30 PM (PST) to late.

Do not miss the opportunity to attend this celebration of light and meet a real Swedish Lucia, complete with an entourage of singers, a Christmas tree, Santa (the real one!), Swedish freebie gifts, Swedish live music and disco. The entire amount of all sales/donation will go to Swedish Red Cross in Second Life. Donation boxs will be all over the sim.

Very welcome – all residents in Second Life,

Lucia 2007 by the People of Sweden.

PS: Who is the Lucia 2007 are a well protected secret untill the 13th of December.

For more info about the Lucia in Second Life 2006/2007 contact: Tina (PetGirl) Bergman in Second Life or by email.

So what did we learn by holding a film festival in Second Life? We got the answers to several questions we had. We even got the answer to a question we hadn’t asked ourselves.

Here’s what we wanted to learn by holding a two-day festival of Swedish short films: Can you sustain a multi-day event in Second Life? (Will people show up to the second day?) Can you show a half-hour long film in Second Life? (Is the technology mature enough for half-hour films, and is Second Life conducive to this kind of sustained attention on the part of avatars?) Can you generate a meaningful debate on film in this context? And the question we hadn’t asked — What happens when a griefer shows up, intent on disrupting the events?

I’m glad to say that yes, multi-day events are sustainable. The festival was attended on both days, but there was an even bigger audience on the second day, likely due to word of mouth.

Technically, too, a half-hour film is sustainable. Everything held up, and we received no complaints about the quality of the video image. Subtitles were legible (though we wrote a memo to self that they could be a bit larger in the future).

As for film debate — here the audience proved a bit shy:-) But this may be because Second Life residents are not necessarily film buffs, and were instead just there for a good time watching an interesting movie. In any case, as the commentary in the screenshot below shows, members of he audience had no qualms in making their approval known, even if they didn’t have so many questions for the directors and producers.

Click on image to enlarge

On the first day, just as the film got going, a griefer interrupted the proceedings by having his avatar wear a processor-sapping item of clothing and later by having photos flying around. This is the first time since the opening of Second House of Sweden that we’ve had to deal with a griefer, and it was a good reminder that we need to be vigilant. It took us a while to pin him down and ban him, in part because he managed crash our Second Life clients before we knew what was going on.

Before the next day’s events, it was time to beef up security measures — we simplified the banning process for the entire region, and also learned som tricks for quickly identifying a griefer and ejecting him before his antics become a nuisance. We had no further trouble, while the griefer did us a favour by reminding us to stay on our toes.

On 22-23 November 2007, the Second House of Sweden is hosting a series of three critically acclaimed Swedish short films at its amphitheater in the virtual world of Second Life. The producers and directors of the films will be on hand to introduce their work; after each viewing, join them in a discussion of their films.

Anyone in the world with a broadband Internet connection can take part. Here’s the programme:

Thursday, 22 November, 7AM Second Life time (4PM Stockholm time, 11PM Shanghai time):

Music for one apartment and six drummers (10 minutes — 2001)
Six drummers participate in a well-planned musical attack in the suburbs. As an elderly couple leaves their apartment the drummers take over. On everyday objects they give a concert in four movements: Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom and Living room.
Kostr film

Sweden/Sverige (8 minutes — 2000)
On the Swedish south coast a man is gazing out at sea. He pulls out a compass and finds north. He starts to run. Three days and three nights later he reaches his goal: Treriksröset. He has passed the state of Sweden.
Kostr film

The directors of these two films, Ola Simonsson och Johannes Stjärne Nilsson, will be present at the viewing to discuss the films.

Friday, 23 November, 7AM Second Life time (4PM Stockholm time, 11PM Shanghai time):

Punkspark (29 minutes — 2007)
Three young punks (the Sex Pistols kind) occupy the garden of an Upper- class family to organize a punk rock music festival…
Audience award for best short story film at the Gothenburg Film Festival, Audience choice for best short film at the Jönköping Film Festival
Stavro Filmproduktion AB

Both the director, Johan Löfstedt, and the producer of Punkspark, Patrik Axén, will be present at the viewing to discuss the film.

How to visit the Second House of Sweden:
First-time users of Second Life: Get a free account at http://www.Sweden.se/secondlife. Download and install the viewer (Windows, Mac or Linux), log on and you will be instantly transported to the Swedish Institute’s island. There, a short orientation course teaches you the basics of navigating Second Life. After about 15 minutes of training, you’ll be ready to join the activities at the Second House of Sweden.

Seasoned users of Second Life: Using the map, search for “Swedish Institute” and teleport there. You can also use this SLurl.

Contact info:
International media:
Susanna Wallgren, susanna.wallgren@si.se, +46 8 453 79 65

Swedish media:
Jenny Hagblom, jenny.hagblom@si.se, +46 8 453 79 22

About the Swedish Institute:
The Swedish Institute (SI) is a public agency that promotes interest in Sweden abroad. SI seeks to establish cooperation and lasting relations with other countries through active communication and cultural, educational and scientific exchanges.

Download this press release as a PDF (3MB)

On Monday we had our final Swedish lesson in a series of four that we’ve held over the past six weeks. We already had some great feedback from the first three lessons, and had learned a lot about what works, what doesn’t, and how we can make it even better. I wasn’t sure if many people would show up for the final lesson; but in fact, we had more than any other previous lesson, and from an amazing range of countries: Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, Japan and Scotland are some that I remember.

I’ll be writing up our findings properly in the coming weeks, but here is a quick preview of my thoughts: There is a lot of demand for Swedish lessons out there from people who don’t have easy access to such lessons; immersive distance learning works, but the learning curve can be steep; it’s important to have structured lessons; and finally, instead of just asking people to show up, a better model may be to have people apply, and then use Second Life as the immersive aural part of a course, complemented by worksheets and video that they can watch at their leisure. But we’ll see — it certainly is promising to be able to reach people who would otherwise never have any “face time” with a live Swedish teacher.

Finally, there was also a film crew from SVT, Swedish television, in the room when the lesson took place. Look out for a report by them next week!

Many thanks again to Lars Larsson (aka “Kvint Larsson”) for his pioneering role as virtual Swedish teacher-)

Wow.

It’s difficult to know beforehand what kind of turnout you will have for an event in Second Life. Because one sim/server can only really host a maximum of 60 simultaneous users, there is always the small risk that your event is way oversubscribed. But you also never know until the event starts whether anyone will show up. The hardest part to get right, I’ve found, is getting the word out about an event to the right people, so that you get the ideal group of 50-or-so enthusiastic collaborators.

And that is precisely what we got for the inauguration of the Linnaeus exhibition at the Second House of Sweden last Friday, November 2. I wrote “collaborators”, because a large number of visitors we’re fully dressed in 18th century period costumes, to take part in the costume competition. It was quite a sight to see the Linnaeus garden and room filled with such finery. The pictures do it more justice.

You can see my whole set on Flickr here. There are more shots taken by Linn here.

Another bit of technological finery was on display when we broadcast a 7 minute video interview with Anders Backlund, a lecturer on pharmacognosy at Uppsala University and a Linnaeus expert. Because Anders was on a plane at the time of the inauguration, I recorded a Skype video conversation with him earlier in the day — me in Cairo, he in Uppsala, then shown to everyone in Second Life. It’s a mash-up of existing technologies (I used Ecamm’s Call Recorder) but the overall effect worked really well. All this was broadcast “live” using Wirecast to a Quicktime Streaming Server run by Qbrick.

When the film was over, it was time for the judging of the costumes. Swedish SL builder Kaja Lurra and my SI collaborator Nex Canning and I were the judges, and after a lot of agonizing, we came up with three winners. Congratulations to the first prize winner, Kissowa Kamachi (who got L$20,000) second prize winner Freyja Nemeth (L$15,000) and third prize winner Ran Garrigus (L$10,000)!

Don’t forget, there is a plant-building competition running this whole week, with more prizes.

Here’s something I didn’t know before that is somehow relevant to Second Life geeks. From the Wikipedia article on Carl Linnaeus, aka Carl Linné:

When Linnaeus’ father went to the University of Lund, he coined himself a Latin surname: Linnaeus, referring to a large linden (lime) tree, the warden tree of the family property Linnagård (linn being an archaic form of Swedish lind, the linden). Nils Ingemarsson Linnaeus gave his son the name Carl. So the Swedish name of the boy was Carl Linnaeus.

In other words, had Linden Lab (the makers of Second Life) been founded in Sweden, they’d likely have been called Linné Lab; or conversely, Carl would have been called Carl Linden.

In his three-hundredth anniversary year, Carl Linnaeus is branching out — into a virtual world.

On Friday, November 2, at 4-5pm Stockholm time (8-9am Second Life time), the Swedish Institute is inaugurating a new permanent exhibit about the famed Swedish scientist at the Second House of Sweden, Sweden’s virtual embassy in Second Life. To kick off the exhibit in style, we’re planning a range of activities.

About the exhibit:
The exhibit consists of the Linnaeus Room inside the Second House of Sweden, and the Linnaeus Garden, on the archipelago. You can teleport between them.

• In the room, watch Herbarium Amoris, a photographic tribute to Linnaeus by Swedish photographer Edvard Koinberg. (www.herbariumamoris.se)
• Pick up a free PDF book about Linnaeus, available in nine languages (a L$2600 value, USD$10)
• Discuss the scientific question of the week posted on the Linnaeus300.com website.
• In the garden, enjoy the typical Swedish flowers, each one hyperlinked to more information.

There are special events planned on Friday, November 2, 2007:

See you there!

How to visit the Second House of Sweden:
First-time users of Second Life: Get a free account at http://www.Sweden.se/secondlife. Download and install the viewer (Windows, Mac or Linux), log on and you will be instantly transported to the Swedish Institute sim. There, a short orientation course teaches you the basics of navigating Second Life. After about 15 minutes, you’ll be ready to join the activities at the Second House of Sweden.

Seasoned users of Second Life: Using maps, search for “Swedish Institute” and teleport there. You can also use this SLurl.

Several institutions thinking of doing something like the Second House of Sweden have been asking us for metrics. As we’re a public agency, we’re only too happy to oblige, especially if it encourages further projects like this:-)

Overall, we get between 300 and 400 visitors per day to our two sims. Around 80 people per day register via our branded online registration page www.sweden.se/secondlife; the others teleport in. These numbers are an order of magnitude smaller than the visitor numbers of the websites that the Swedish Institute manages, but such a comparison would be deceptive, for two reasons:

1. The pool of potential visitors for the Second House of Sweden is limited to Second Life users, and conservative numbers put that figure at around 1 million regular users, vs the 1.25 billion that use the internet.
2. The experiences of visiting the Second House of Sweden is best compared to visiting a real space, because that is what it is trying to emulate. How many visitors does a real-world cultural center get in a day? What is the cost involved in servicing these visitors? What would the cost be to bring visitors from far-flung places, where there are no such cultural centers, to a real-world cultural center? When these kinds of questions are asked, building a virtual embassy makes eminent sense.

Several metrics support our conclusion that the embassy makes for a good proxy for a real-world Swedish cultural experience:

We already know that the users of Second Life are technologically savvy, curious, and future-oriented — that’s sort of a prerequisite for being in Second Life, and it is exactly the target group we believe is most receptive to the message that Sweden is a modern, tolerant, nature-loving country. But we also know that our visitors are incredibly spread out geographically. Look:

Furthermore, we also see our visitors spending a much longer time at the embassy than on a conventional website; around three times longer, in fact: (This charts shows average visit length)

From these charts, we conclude that it makes good sense to experiment with Second Life. It allows us to pursue immersive and prolonged cultural contacts that have a clear social aspect — the latest example being the free Swedish lessons we are currently giving:

Finally, some other stats that may be of use; here’s when most people visit, in Second Life (=California) time:

Basically, European evenings are the most popular times to come by.