Our Digital Selves Scheduled For Release On 18th May

Ethnographia Island

“Our Digital Selves” is  scheduled for a full release on May 18th, I’m blogging about it a little early because I’m actually on holiday on a Mediterranean Island right now, hopefully enjoying some sun.

The man behind the documentary is Draxtor Despres, AKA Bernhard Drax. The documentary follows a research project supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Cultural Anthropology and Science, Technology, and Society). The project is supported by the University of California, Irvine; the University of Oregon; and the National Science Foundation.

The lead investigators are Tom Boellstorff, UC Irvine and Donna Z. Davis, University of Oregon. The research project has so far been going for three years, so it’s quite an in depth project.

Starring

To get some insight into what this project is about it’s definitely worth following the earlier link, but here’s some of the blurb :

This research will have implications for improving health care and social support for people with disabilities. But it also will use the insights of people with disabilities to better understand how new online technologies influence how we think about our bodies, how we think about social interaction, and how we think about the role of the internet in everyday life.

The documentary certainly captures the essence of this as we see people using technology to connect with others.

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Our Digital Selves Trailers

Our Digital Selves is scheduled for a full release on May 18th. produced by Draxtor Despres, AKA Bernhard Drax.

The documentary is extremely powerful and follows Tom Boellstorff, UC Irvine and Donna Z. Davis, University of Oregon as they examine how disability manages to find a form of expression via virtual worlds.

A three year research project supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Cultural Anthropology and Science, Technology, and Society) ,the University of California, Irvine; the University of Oregon; and the National Science Foundation.

This is a beautiful, powerful documentary, I advise you to have a tissue and a smile handy when you watch it. The documentary follows people of various disabilities as they engage with virtual worlds and tell a story of how important accessibility and inclusivity is in the digital age.

To get you in the mood I’m going to embed a few videos below the cut, if you’re already below the cut, the videos are below this line!

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Congressional Briefing To Feature Excerpt From Our Digital Selves Documentary

“Our Digital Selves : My Avatar is me” is a documentary produced with a large slice of work from Draxtor Despres, well known virtual world filmmaker and also known as Bernhard Drax.

The documentary follows Tom Boellstorff, UC Irvine and Donna Z. Davis, University of Oregon as they lead discussions regarding the connection between people with varied disabilities and their engagement with virtual worlds such as Second Life, High Fidelity and Sansar.

The documentary itself is part of a research project supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Cultural Anthropology and Science, Technology, and Society). The project is supported by the University of California, Irvine; the University of Oregon; and the National Science Foundation.

Tomorrow, Wednesday May 9th, Congressman Alan Lowenthal will be hosting a Congressional Briefing on Disability, Mental Health, and Virtual Worlds which will discuss the findings of this research project.

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Fantasy Faire House of Garland Quest Still On

Dragon Guard

Fantasy Faire 2018 is enjoying its extension until May 7th and so are people who are still on The House of Garland quest at this year’s event.

Path

The quest calls upon a prominent hero to accompany a prominent knight on a prestigious mission. Previous experience is not required but an ability to think and walk in a virtual world at the same time, is desired.

Once again The Bardic Order of the Fairelands is in trouble and needs your help to assist them to assist the Bard Queen against The Unweaver.

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Fantasy Faire Goes Into Extra Time

Halls and Fairechylde

Fantasy Faire 2018 was scheduled to close on April 29th, but a sprinkling of magic, some backstage trading and some schmoozing with the Lindens has meant that Fantasy Faire 2018 will be open until May 7th!

Now the partying and frolicking for this extension won’t be full on, but there are limited events available and you should keep an eye on the events calendar (best viewed in agenda view) to see which events will be running.

As I write this post the following events are listed (all times in SLT) :

  • May 2nd 16:00 – Encore performance by The Misfits at The Story Well.
  • May 3rd 14:00 – DJ Elrik Merlin
  • May 3rd 17:00 – Litfest Tour  The Halls of Story.
  • May 4th 17:00 – Litfest Tour Astrid’s Nemeton.
  • May 5th 17:00 – Litfest Tour Fairelands Junction
  • May 6th 14:00 – Fairelands Masked Ball
  • May 6th 17:00 – Litfest Tour Ardessa

As I hope you notice, Litfest has been very popular this year.

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