Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Omnitopia is Such a Lonely Word...

In Second Life, you can be a man or a woman or a furry animal. You can live on the beach or in the mountains or in the clouds. You can walk, ride a Kart 1.0 or fly. Then, why do we so often see things like Coca-cola, New York, and other "first life" artifacts? I believe the answer can be explained by studies in a relatively new field called "Omnitopia." The Center for Omnitopia Studies defines Omnitopia as a "structural and perceptual enclave whose apparently distinct locales convey inhabitants to a singular place."

Watch this video "Capital City: 2nd Life Remix" and then consider some of the marks of Omnitopia lested below? Is Omnitopia at work here? Hmmm....

video

Consider these points on Omnitopia and comment. Are these things at work in Second Life? In animated television shows? In movies? In 1st life?

• Dislocation detaches a site from its surrounding locale.
• Conflation merges disparate experiences into a singular whole.
• Fragmentation splits a singular environment into multiple perceptions.
• Mobility orients a place around movement rather than stasis.
• Mutability enables the perpetual change of a place.

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