The Literary Holodeck Project

Attending SL Views 5 was inspirational.

BUT....what is MORE inspirational are the people flooding in to work on the Literary Holodeck Project.

The LHP is an open access/open content Holodeck that produces scenes from literature. While Laura Nicosia and I generated the root list, many folks have added on to the list and others have volunteered to build the scenes listed. The main list can be found on the Literature Alive! site. Many thanks to Eloise Pasteur for her generous donation of time, and to George Kurtz for the donation of land for the workshop!

What makes it most brilliant is represented in this conversation at 5AM my time with Aaron Griffiths/Isa Goodman (all permissions granted for posting). Aaron has volunteered to build the set for Elie Wiesel's Night in SL. This build will be part of the holodeck and can be used by anyone:

[2:21] Isa Goodman: Heya
[2:21] You: Hi Isa!
[2:21] You: excellent barbed wire
[2:22] Isa Goodman: Just the fence so far... modelled off photographs
[2:22] Isa Goodman: and the sign the same
[2:22] Isa Goodman: Will have the brickbuilding in some form
[2:22] Isa Goodman: with the block numers on the door
[2:23] Isa Goodman: Any block number specific to the book?
[2:23] You: there were a few
[2:23] You: but let me grab this for you
[2:23] You: gimme one sec
[2:23] Isa Goodman: I know 10 was Mengele
[2:23] You: yes
[2:26] You: here is one but this speaks more to the feeling of it
[2:26] You: "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never."
[2:28] Isa Goodman: Got it
[2:29] You: so, my hope is to create more of a general barracks
[2:29] You: place for standing
[2:29] You: then have the students fill in details
[2:29] You: with the text
[2:29] Isa Goodman: k
[2:29] You: but, there will be some things that we add
[2:29] You: before we pack it up
[2:30] Isa Goodman: k
[2:30] Isa Goodman: Like?
[2:31] You: well, we will imbed some things we absolutely want them to have
[2:32] You: like journal articles
[2:32] Isa Goodman: of course
[2:32] You: definitions
[2:32] You: resources
[2:32] Isa Goodman: At the moment I'm just creating props based on photos
[2:32] Isa Goodman: Then we can assewmble them
[2:32] You: that is the best we can do
[2:33] You: take pics of Auschwitz
[2:33] Isa Goodman: Very much a stage setting
[2:33] You: and then try to create them here
[2:33] You: exactly
[2:33] Isa Goodman: YEs... evoke the feeling of more
[2:33] Isa Goodman: and the flag pole you mentioned
[2:34] You: well, i think that might be hard in SL
[2:34] You: i am very drawn by the image of roll call
[2:34] You: having to run out
[2:34] You: stand
[2:34] You: wait
[2:34] You: for people not to call you human
[2:34] You: just to make you less human than you were
[2:35] You: before deciding if you could live ot die one more day
[2:35] Isa Goodman: Yes
[2:35] You: that strikes me
[2:35] You: I dont know how to make that here
[2:35] Isa Goodman: Particle systems and fade in ranks... is possible
[2:35] You: lol
[2:36] You: well, you speak Greek to me
[2:36] You: see, I have the back end passion
[2:36] You: but not the skill
[2:36] Isa Goodman: and to myself... but we can get some effects that will engage the students
[2:36] Isa Goodman: and give more credence to the display
[2:36] You: Eloise is up on all that too
[2:36] You: yes
[2:36] You: when they come here
[2:36] You: they should feel that they have made the choice to live
[2:37] You: and to live is a choice they can make
[2:37] You: but not all humans - over time- have had equal choices in that regard
[2:37] Isa Goodman: Yes
[2:37] Isa Goodman: k
[2:37] Isa Goodman: ... a big ask... but I'm sure we can pll it off
[2:37] Desideria Stockton thinks you didnt want to get me blabbering on
[2:37] Isa Goodman: *smiles*
[2:37] You: well it is hard
[2:38] You: the challenge is to pull off emotion with content
[2:38] Isa Goodman: I'm up for it *grins*
[2:38] You: anyone can build a cinderblock barrack
[2:38] Isa Goodman: yes
[2:38] You: but, to build in the piece that will TEACH people to be humane by capturing the human spirit, tugging it, and letting it fly again - THAT is a test for an artist
[2:39] Isa Goodman: lol
[2:39] Isa Goodman: Then we'll see wont we *smiles*
[2:39] You: lol
[2:39] You: How do you feel about doing this?
[2:39] Isa Goodman: This is not the hohlodeck btw... just a sandbox
[2:40] Isa Goodman: Fine... though I go elvish for comfort
[2:40] You: nah, tis ok
[2:40] You: lol
[2:40] Isa Goodman: Is a dark subject
[2:40] You: yes
[2:40] You: very
[2:40] You: BUT
[2:40] You: there is light
[2:40] You: he survived to tell a story
[2:40] You: that story teaches us to love
[2:41] You: so, yes, the darkest hours bring about the most brilliant lights
[2:41] Isa Goodman: as always
[2:41] You: you are capturing the dark
[2:41] You: but the students weave it to light
[2:41] Isa Goodman: Yes... that will be their task
[2:42] Isa Goodman: OK.. so thats it so far... will call you with progress later on in the week
[2:42] You: May I post a record of this chat?
[2:42] Isa Goodman: Yeah sure
[2:42] You: What you are doing here goes to the heart of all of these projects
[2:42] You: taking words
[2:42] You: any random words
[2:42] You: and making them meaningful
[2:43] You: in a 3D place it might be a little harder
[2:43] You: in 2D we could show a movie
[2:43] You: but you have to make the movie
[2:43] Isa Goodman: *grins*... thats the fun of it
[2:43] You: and capture the dark side of human nature
[2:43] You: to allow for the light side to emerge
[2:43] Isa Goodman: well not that bit
[2:43] Isa Goodman: lol
[2:44] Isa Goodman: but is all part of the process
[2:44] You: has it changed you at all?
[2:44] You: or affected you?
[2:44] Isa Goodman: As I've said... I wear elvish a lot... not my normal attire but feel the need for an opposite to this
[2:45] Isa Goodman: if that makes sense
[2:45] You: yes
[2:45] You: that makes perfect sense
[2:45] Isa Goodman: OK
[2:45] Isa Goodman: did to me... hehe
[2:45] You: ok, go ahead and create
[2:45] You: I am off to find the perfect tools for Drexel
[2:45] Isa Goodman: OK... and thx for the opportunity
[2:46] Isa Goodman: k
[2:46] You: thank you for volunteering!
[2:46] You: that is the beauty of this enterprise
[2:46] You: the collaboration
[2:46] Isa Goodman: yes... k... later
[2:46] Isa Goodman: *smiles*
[2:46] You: and - truly- the community creates t he content