Second Life Rocks the DNA Lounge for Mixed Reality Bootie

Speaking of powerful real world applications of Second Life, here's a cool one I'd like to see more often: Multimedia entertainment at the world's top dance clubs. Last Saturday, there was a kickass proof of concept at San Francisco's famed DNA lounge. Pictured below, a Second Life video feed from an SL club, broadcasting on the mainstage above hundreds of raging club kids attending the Bootie SF party:

Mixed reality photo by Keela Latte of Club Republik

The Bootie show was celebrated concurrently at Club Republik, which was hosted by Keela Latte, who logged into SL from the DNA in San Francisco. After the break, what her view of the club looked like, and what it looked like from Second Life:

Mixed reality photo by Keela Latte of Club Republik and Wizard Gynoid
Bootie SF DJs Adrian and Mysterious D, with SL hostess Keela Latte

Comments

[Erbo Evans]

I'm not surprised this happened at DNA Lounge; its owner, Jamie Zawinski (or "jwz"), is a very "tech" person, being a former employee of Netscape and a developer who worked on the Netscape and Mozilla browsers. "But now," as he says, "I've taken my leave of that whole sick, navel-gazing mess we called the software industry. Now I'm in a more honest line of work: now I sell beer." :-)

His Web site and blog are both well worth reading.

[Wizard Gynoid]

speaking as a RL nightclub "professional"... lolz... i would have really liked to have had the view of the corresponding RL nightclub scene projected on a screen or prim in the SL club, so we could see what was going on on their side. it's only fair.

[soror nishi]

/me agrees with Wizzy...that would have been cool.

I have the rather uncomfortable feeling, as with brooklyn is watching, that if the voyeurism isn't reciprocal I am an exhibit at a freak show.

[TriloByte Zanzibar]

I also agree with Wizzy. Perhaps at a future installment (I understand they've been doing this for some time, and will likely link up RL & SL at the club again in the future.

As for Soror's comment, of course the SL side is an exhibit at a freak show, but a nightclub isn't needed to make that the case ;-) Actually, in the context of a projection on a wall in a club like the DNA, it's just one more bit of sensory overload in a venue with multiple floors, platforms, rooms, sound systems, and projection systems... to say nothing of the colored lights and the people.

Sorry we missed this go-round, our weekend schedule just didn't allow for it. Hopefully next time :-)

[Little Lost Linden]

"speaking as a RL nightclub "professional"... lolz... i would have really liked to have had the view of the corresponding RL nightclub scene projected on a screen or prim in the SL club, so we could see what was going on on their side. it's only fair."

Hey Wizard\Soror. Did you watch the RL stream that was broadcast on the website when you were inworld on Sat night?

When you say "so we could see what was going on on their side" it sounds like you weren't watching the live RL DNA stream that was being webcast at http://www.dnalounge.com/webcast/ .

Just curious if you were watching it or not? I was viewing the 10 different video cameras that were live inside DNA the whole night. It was pretty cool. It was what made it so much fun.

It would have been nicer if the 10 RL security cams were on a prim but in the meantime, a multi-monitor display works just as good. (SL on one monitor, the DNA Lounge webcast on the other monitor).

[Jenn Forager]

We've done RL/SL mash-ups a few times now, most notably at the ZONTA Benefit in Washington, DC earlier this year. Beyers Sellers delivered a knock-out jazz performance and afterwards, some of his audience stuck around to watch the real-life stream. Those attending the RL benefit did not really understand what it was being projected up on the wall of the ballroom, until JenzZa Misfit organized the Second Life group by adding them all to her Huddles HUD and had them dancing to the RL DJ's music. Then someone in Second Life said, "wouldn't it be great if they played "Thriller" and we danced to it?"

Just like that, JenzZa had the dance loaded, I passed the request to the DJ and he, recognizing the impression this was likely to make, lowered the lights and gave it a great set-up. The audience was electrified to realize that not only were there real people behind these avatars, but clearly there was some serious fun to be had. It made quite an impression.