Footage from Second Life will this week appear on All New Dr Phil, a daytime television show in the United States. The footage from Second Life will appear in an episode entitled Won’t Work, Won’t Go to School: “My Son Just Wants to Game All Day”.
The blurb for the episode on the Dr Phil website states :
Sarah says her 23-year-old son, Justin, is so consumed with playing video games that he dropped out of college, can’t hold a job and has lost more than 50 pounds — and she fears he’ll die if he doesn’t stop. Justin admits he can play 16 hours a day — sometimes lasting up to 30 hours straight — and says he would rather live in the virtual world than the real world. When Dr. Phil opens Justin’s eyes to the dangers he faces, will it have an impact?
The issue is a very serious one but there’s a bit of a twist regarding the Second Life footage. Justin, the man featured in the article, does not engage with Second Life. The usage of Second Life footage is to exemplify that digital experiences have come a long way since the days of Pac-Man.
Linden Lab have a blog post on this subject, in which they explain :
The episode is focused on helping a young man who is sadly struggling with a number of problems, including an addiction to playing an online game. He’s not a Second Life user, nor is Second Life presented on the show as a negative experience. Instead, it’s shown as an example of how far digital experiences have come from the days of Pac-Man and Pong, and Ebbe briefly speaks with Dr. Phil about some of the incredibly positive ways Second Life is being used by people around the world – from education to entrepreneurship, creative self-expression, and more.
Ebbe being Ebbe Altberg, CEO of Linden Lab.
Dr Phil does make an appearance in Second Life in the episode and the blog post explains a little bit about who helped Dr Phil get inworld and who helped with the Second Life footage :
In addition to a number of Lindens who helped make it possible for Second Life to be included in the program, we’d like to give special thanks to Naughty Mole, Abnor Mole, Ancient Mole, Bat Mole, and Draxtor Despres for their help in creating Dr. Phil’s avatar and filming some inworld footage showing his explorations of Second Life.
Immersive Drax, he gets everywhere! I have never watched Dr Phil and not being in the United States, I won’t see this episode on Tuesday. The subject matter though is an extremely serious one, so I hope it is handled with care.
For those who want a sneak peek, here’s a trailer and right at the start you’ll see some Second Life footage.
To check out local listing times, visit the Dr Phil website : http://www.drphil.com/
I appreciate there are severe addiction issues with virtual worlds and these should be discussed. However, I hope the positive side of virtual worlds will be discussed as well. For example, persons with severe disabilities can have meaningful and very positive social interactions where they might otherwise have no social interaction outside of caregivers. Or educators who actually teach classes or the positive interactions and friendship bonding with people all over the world. These are very important issues, too!
Yes there are many positive stories about Virtual Worlds. The Drax Files has covered quite a few and there’s a story doing the rounds now (although I think it’s a year old) about the work of Dr Valerie Rice and the research she has done with the military in Second Life regarding stress.