Stanford University to host Metaverse U conference February 16th and 17th

Feb. 1, 2008 - PRLog -- Stanford University, in conjunction with the Stanford Humanities Lab, will host the Metaverse U conference on Saturday, February 16th and Sunday, February 17th, 2008. Technology leaders, artists and academics will come together and exchange ideas in a public forum, about the hot topics of virtual worlds and Second Life. Conference highlights will include virtual art galleries and a Saturday afternoon panel discussion with three of the leading thinkers on virtual communities: Howard Rheingold, Cory Ondrejka and Raph Koster. Metaverse U aims to challenge traditional conference models with collaborative and inclusive opportunities for participants, both virtual and corporeal.

"Virtual worlds have garnered tremendous interest since their recent proliferation, both in the media and in academia. Given Stanford University's prime location in the heart of Silicon Valley, we think the time has come to explore the cultural, technological, legal, and economic issues surrounding virtual worlds." Henry Lowood, Metaverse U conference organizer and curator for history of science & technology collections and film & media collections in the Stanford University Libraries

Discounted advance admission rates, (corporate $400, academic $200, student $100), are available through February 11. Registrants will have access to all conference activities, including networking events, and lunch on both days. Tickets will be sold at the door for $500 (cash only) and no student or academic discounts will apply. On-line registration is open now.

To ensure that its impact extends well beyond the actual conference, video from Metaverse U will be streamed live to the web, free of charge. After the conference, these videos will be archived and made available on a Stanford University website, to become part of a global conversation on virtual worlds.

Metaverse U falls between two other major events in the Bay Area: the next Metaverse Roadmap workshop, hosted at Stanford University on Friday, February 15th, as well as the 2008 Game Developers Conference that starts on Monday, February 18th. Accordingly, seasoned academics, journalists, and industry leaders in both virtual worlds and games will be flooding the Bay Area.

Sampling of participants:
Jeremy Bailenson (Stanford)   
Jon Brouchoud (Wikitecture)
Beth Coleman (MIT)       
Parvati Dev (Innovation in Learning)
Wagner James Au (New World Notes)   
Brewster Kahle (The Internet Archive)
Raph Koster (Metaplace)    
Daniel Huebner
Kari Kraus (University of Maryland)  
Rob Lanphier (Linden Lab)
Mike Liebhold (Institute for the Future)   
Howard Rheingold   
Rebecca Moore (Google Earth)  
Jerry Paffendorf (Wello)
Byron Reeves (Stanford & Seriosity)  
Christian Renaud (Cisco)
Jeffrey T. Schnapp (Stanford)     
Reuben Steiger (Millions of Us)  

Relevant Links:
Metaverse U homepage / Registration:     
http://metaverse.stanford.edu/   

Conference Schedule:
http://metaverse.stanford.edu/agenda/metaverse-u-schedule

Koster, Ondrejka & Rheingo profiles:   
http://metaverse.stanford.edu/koster-ondrejka-rheingold

Contacts:
Corrie Goldman, Stanford Humanities Outreach Officer
Office (650) 724-8156 or  corrieg@stanford.edu

Henrik Bennetsen, Metaverse U Conference Chair  
hbe@stanford.edu

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Located between San Francisco and San Jose in the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanford University is recognized as one of the world's leading research and teaching institutions. Stanford's current community of scholars includes 16 Nobel laureates, four Pulitzer Prize winners and 24 MacArthur Fellows. Stanford is particularly noted for its openness to interdisciplinary research, not only within its schools and departments, but also in its laboratories, institutes and research centers.

Website: www.stanford.edu/