The Second Life edition of the iSummit '08 conference launches a contest for the 3D design of its logo. Winning virtual iSummit logo designs to be turned into physical objects - thanks to Shapeways.The Second Life edition of iSummit '08 on Japan Sapporo island in Second Life is launching a global contest to design the 3D version of its logo, calling all content creators in the virtual world to tap into their fantasy and turn on their creativity to bring the 2D iSummit logo to life.
The contest is going to be run in different categories, for increased dynamics, interactivity, and renderability. The first category can take advantage of the lifelike nature of Second Life's environment, where an object can for example sway in the wind. The second category enables creators to program an object to react to the vicinity of humans, by communicating with them in innovative ways. The third category awards the creator who achieves the contest's goals, while still keeping the model so that it can be physically rendered, and
printed.
"Online worlds, like Second Life, are social environments, where shared emotional spaces enable like minded groups of people to collaborate, communicate, design and create in innovative ways, achieving extremely high levels of efficiency and satisfaction," said David Orban, aka Davidorban Agnon, the virtual worlds visionary coordinating the Second Life edition of iSummit.
The winning design of the renderability category will be turned into a physical object by Shapeways, the 3D-printing company pioneering consumer oriented co-creation and production services.
"We are glad that the vision of Shapeways for collaborative design communities is shared by iSummit," said Peter Weijmarshausen, CEO of Shapeways. "Bridging virtual worlds like Second Life, to the physical world of fabricated objects is an innovative, sustainable, and stimulating initiative that we enthusiastically support!" he added.
After the launch of the contest, open to all, the participating Second Life residents will have a month to come up with their designs, and position them on Vulcano Island in Second Life for the public to vote and the jury to judge. The Award Ceremony for the winning designs will
be held in the middle of September this year.
About Shapeways
Shapeways is the first online 3D consumer co-creation community. Harnessing the power of a global network of production service partners, Shapeways ensures the most cost-efficient, reliable manufacturing and order fulfillment for digital manufacturing today. Shapeways is spinning-out from the Lifestyle Incubator of Royal Philips Electronics, located in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
About iCommons
Founded in 2005 and based in Johannesburg, South Africa, iCommons is an international non-profit organisation that works to grow the digital commons by providing a platform for international collaboration among commons-based communities. "Our vision is of a
world where there is widespread participation in global innovation, digital culture and knowledge-building initiatives based on equitable access to technology, education, science and culture," said Heather Ford, Executive Director of iCommons, "a world where people are
using the organising power of technologies and the spirit of the commons to work together to solve crucial global challenges."
iCommons hosts the annual iSummit to bring together open education, access to knowledge, free software, open access publishing and free culture communities from around the world to share best practices and discuss strategies towards the growth and enlivening of a global
digital commons. The iSummit is an annual exploration of the emerging opportunities for co-ownership, co-creation and widespread distribution and sharing of knowledge, culture and creativity in the digital age.
Contact information
For press related inquiries about the iSummit '08, please contact Stephanie Traynor, stephanie 'at icommons 'dot' org
For information about iSummit '08 in Second Life, please contact David Orban, david 'at' davidorban 'dot' com
For information about Shapeways, please contact Jessica Hasson, jessica 'at' shapeways 'dot' com
Picture by BobChao on flickr.com, CC BY-SA 2.0
