Eden takes the Edge into Second Life

The Eden Project is bidding for £50 million to build its next great phase, the Edge. From next week, those who want to get a feel for the groundbreaking new building can do so in the Second Life virtual world.
In real life, the Edge is one of four projects competing in the Big Lottery Fund’s: the People’s £50 Million Contest. The winning project will be decided by a public vote. Internet voting begins on November 26 and after a series of ITV programmes, phone voting is during December 7-10.

The Second Life version of the Edge is Eden’s first venture into this virtual world. It’s a groundbreaking move for the project as the virtual Edge is part of an online presence taking in other popular web spaces like Facebook, the social network, and YouTube, the video-sharing website.

Anyone with a suitable computer and broadband internet connection can sign up free to Second Life. All they have to do is download the software from secondlife.com and they can visit this version of the Edge by entering the coordinates SGI 184,155,40.

For those who don’t play Second Life but still want a virtual trip through this interpretation of the Edge, Eden is releasing a film on YouTube (www.youtube.com) showing the virtual Edge in all its glory. This compliments a number of Edge-themed films already on YouTube, including testimonies from celebrity supporters such as Ray Mears, Philippa Forrester, and Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen.

The Edge in Second Life was built in conjunction with Coventry University and the Serious Games Institute, facilitated and supported by Cisco Systems.

Howard Jones, Eden’s Organisational Development Director, said: “This is our first exploration of next generation web content.

“Not only that, we believe it is the first time that the major social network sites have been cross-related so that membership and content can be shared and given real purpose.

“This is a major step forward and what better purpose than the Edge - where we have begun to create a simulated world of palm trees, souks, caverns and meeting places - even spaces where you can watch films or link to videos about the Edge. In Eden style, we have really gone for this and are venturing into hugely exciting territory.

“The key thing to remember is that this is a bit of fun and an experiment. The Second Life simulation is just that. It allows people to explore what might be. To get the first feel for what may be created, though there is a clear separation between what can be achieved in a virtual environment and the reality of what we intend to build for the Edge.”

Eden already has an Edge group on Facebook (www.edenproject.com/facebook) but has been working with students from the University of Plymouth to create an Edge-themed “virtual pet” application.

People who add the application will see a green creature on their profile page which travels between users answering questions about the Edge. It has artificial intelligence and will learn as it is asked more questions.

Details and links to the Second Life, Facebook and YouTube content will be posted on Eden’s dedicated Edge site at www.theedge.org.

The Edge represents the next great phase at Eden. Its scale and ambition will make it an international icon of sustainability. The building will be a model of cutting-edge architecture and technology, harvesting water and energy from the sun, wind, and rain to show how we all might live in the future.

It will be a testament to one-planet living, built to the lowest possible carbon footprint and designed to last. Inside there will be amazing desert, oasis and water gardens on a scale never attempted undercover.

Second Life is a 3D virtual world entirely created by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by nearly ten million people from around the globe.