Birmingham in Second Life

According to the sign at the entry point to this Second Life build, “Birmingham Island has been developed to explore the possibilities for the city of Birmingham, UK, within virtual worlds.” Upon arrival, visitors have the choice to visit the following areas:

b-scape: this display allows visitors to access a variety of maps from the Birmingham area. Some are enhanced using Second Life 3D objects and Flickr photo feeds.

Digital Birmingham—this area offers several visions and ideas about furthering digital technologies in the Birmingham area.

Library of Birmingham

Exhibitions Room—this area offers photos from the Library and Archives collection of the Birmingham Central Library.

Birmingham Council Chambers—there is a re-creation of the Birmingham council chambers that can be accessed through a teleport located within the Digital Birmingham area.

There is also a live weather feed where avatars can experience the same weather occurring in Birmingham. A colored object on the path illustrates the temperature: blue is used to designate cooler weather while red indicates a warmer climate. The data is fed into Second Life once every hour from a Yahoo website.