Greetings.

I've recently connected with an incredible group of people.  They are challenged by visual impairment, ranging from partial to complete blindness, and they are using Second Life to build new communities and amazing new tools.

Warning: if you continue reading, you will probably never again experience Second Life in quite the same way.

Lately, I've been reflecting on how people with varying levels of blindness experience the world, meeting with them in Second Life and listening to their experiences.  Most people immediately think of Second Life as an environment that relies completely on a visually rich 3d space.  But I have learned that there are beautiful visions of this virtual world far beyond what can only be experienced through sight.

Next time you are exploring Second Life, try putting on headphones, closing your eyes, and really listening to the world of sounds around you.  Hear those birds in the trees to your left?  How about that ticking clock on the desk in front of you?   Is that the sound of the wind blowing through the grass?  A plane flying by at high speed?  Who's talking over there to my right? The potential to create sound-rich spaces is incredible in Second Life, and live musical performances add even more artistic opportunities.  For people who are visually impaired, this makes Second Life an amazingly rich immersive place.

Second Life also erases physical world geography, allowing folks from around the globe to meet and connect.  Combinations of voice and text allow people to communicate in a variety of ways, and teleporting in Second Life makes it easy to get to exactly where you need to be.

But perhaps most amazing thing I have learned is how people challenged by visual impairment in Second Life are creating tools that allow them to perceptually experience and navigate the virtual world in novel ways.

So, not only is everything in the world of Second Life incredibly malleable (i.e., objects, identity, environment), but one's very  perception of the environment can be  dramatically reshaped by  user-created tools existing and operating  within the virtual world itself. 

The  Virtual Guide Dog project is a one example of a tool that allows the perception of Second Life to be tailored to people who are visually impaired.  Created by an amazing team of individuals called  Virtual Helping Hands, they have been developing something special.

Its name is  Max. 

Max is a handsome German Sheperd with kind brown eyes and a wet black nose.  He is designed to help the visually impaired navigate Second Life by finding any object (including another avatar) and leading his avatar owner to the object. Max also gives his avatar owner constant feedback (via text and audio) on what is in the immediate area, facilitating not only navigation but also providing a sense of what is in the area that might be of interest.

Max's launch begins on Saturday, June 20th with a "Vision Quest" designed to help participants experience what it is like to work with a guide dog and write stories about those experiences.  If you'd like to participate or learn more, please  see this website for details or contact Jena Ball (aka Jenaia Morane in Second Life) at Jenaia@tvwsp.com.

The official celebration of Max's arrival in Second Life will be on  Helen Keller's birthday, Saturday, June 27th.  On this special day , Virtual Helping Hands will be hosting  Helen Keller Day in Second Life.  This will be a community event with the stated goal of "inclusion for everyone in employment, education, entertainment, and social engagement through Second Life."

A day dedicated to raising awareness of our fellow Second Life Residents who cope with disabilities, featured events will include:

• Keynotes by Keller Johnson Thompson (Helen Keller's great grandniece), Pathfinder Linden, and Marcie Roth (Executive Director of National Coalition for Disability Rights)
• Speakers and panel discussions on Education, Employment, Entertainment, and Social Engagement
• Guidedog Wheelchair Races
• Where's Max Flickr contest
• Accessiblity Building Contest
• Sound Sculptures
• See with Sound presentations
• Dog Park Play with SL canines
• Gold Mine Game
• 3D Wiki Game
• "Style-Enabled" fashion show
• Guide Dog Memorial Park

People coming together around the world, creating tools that redefine what it means to perceive and interact in virtual worlds, raising awareness of Real Life accessibility issues, and connecting with each other to build community and support for people dealing with all kinds of disabilities.

Pioneering stuff.  And it's all happening right here, right now, in Second Life.

-Pathfinder Linden